Mid-Season grades: San Jose Sharks Defensemen

Our midseason grades for the San Jose Sharks continue today with a look at the defense. We took a look at the Sharks’ goaltenders earlier this week, but some of those grades hinged on what the defense in front of them did. Because, let’s be honest, there have been times when defensive breakdowns have hung the Sharks out to dry. Watch what happened in Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs if you need a reference point.

Defensive breakdowns have been a theme for the Sharks this season and whether you believe that’s an issue of roster construction, coaching or a combination of the two, the fact of the matter is, this is what we have to work with. It would be unfair to paint all of the defensemen with the same brush simply because the team as a whole is underwhelming, so we’re going to do our best to grade them individually.

A quick note before we jump into things. We’re grading on a curve, in part because if we were to grade these players on a leaguewide basis, I’m not sure many of them would graduate. So, we’re looking at the impact that they’ve made on the team just as much as their performance on the ice.

I also used Evolving-Hockey’s team defense goals above replacement (GAR) to help me with rankings I wasn’t quite sure about. It helped me give higher marks to some players and lower marks to others because the underlying numbers did not support my eye test opinion.

Sharks defenseman who failed to make the grade

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – F

Leading off this list is Marc-Edouard Vlasic. It feels very much like the once-underrated shutdown defenseman is done. I wanted to put Evolving-Hockey’s player card in here to show all of Vlasic’s stats for the season to support my argument, but he has hash marks where his rankings are supposed to be. That means he hasn’t played enough minutes this season to warrant a ranking. Ouch.

In previous seasons, the coaching staff has played Vlasic and his $7 million AAV because he was passable enough to gain a roster spot. Plus, the team’s depth wasn’t very good. However, now, the coaching staff has options and would rather bench one of the highest-paid players on the team than play him. It’s not a good sign.

Stats wise, Vlasic has just one point this season and is a minus-12. I could dive deeper but it seems like I’d be beating a dead horse.

(Note: I will give Vlasic credit for playing possibly his best game of the season in Montreal on Thursday. He played 20-plus minutes and was not horrible defensively. However, also give credit to the hometown boost. It’s hard to say whether this was a turning point or an aberration at this point in his career.)

Barely passing the class

The rest of these rankings really lean on that curve we talked about. The Sharks’ defense has been bad, but most of the players get a barely passing grade when you take into account that the players around them are doing just as poorly. You can’t just hang the defense on one player. Also, I’ve given a lot of players extra credit to bring their grades up, so here we go.

Matt Benning – D, adjusted grade – C-

Benning’s play wasn’t great in the 14 games he was on the ice for the Sharks this season. Now that he’s had season-ending hip surgery, we know he won’t play any more games this season. He gets a C-minus instead of a lower grade because it’s hard to say how much of the poor play he showed this season, including his poor positioning, had to do with not being 100%. If his hip was bad enough to need surgery, there had to be games where he didn’t have the full mobility he needed to play at the NHL level.

Last season, Benning was a surprise on the blueline. While he didn’t help offensively, he was defensively sound and limited scoring chances. He seemed to lack that ability this season, so we’re going to attribute at least some of that defensive lapse to his health.

Nikolai Knyzhov – C

Knyzhov’s placement on this list is average because that’s what the defenseman has been. He’s played ten games for the Sharks this season and he’s been fine. Knyzhov generates some offense, though not a whole lot, and he’s defensively responsible. There’s nothing exceptional about how he has played this season to make us say he’s been great or bad.

And maybe that’s the problem. Knyzhov has done nothing exceptional to force the Sharks to keep him with the team. He’s the callup when the Sharks’ blueline gets banged up, but he’s never impressive enough to force management to let him stay.

Calen Addison – C, adjusted grade – C+

This is one of those instances where I thought the player was better than where he currently ranks among defensemen on the Sharks. Addison is in the lower half of Evolving-Hockey’s GAR chart. That wouldn’t be such a big deal, except that the defenseman was brought to the Sharks to see if he could work the point on the power play. His main draw was that he is a puck-moving defenseman ready to prove that he can take on a larger role with a team with less depth than the Minnesota Wild.

To date, Addison hasn’t put up stunning numbers. He has 7 points (1 G, 6 A) in 27 games with the Sharks. That is not what you’re looking for out of an offensively-minded defenseman. That said, it’s a little too soon to write him off completely. Addison is 23 and has room to grow in his role. As we know, transitioning to a new team takes some players longer than others. With the Sharks being so shaky on defense and the lockerroom headspace questionable, we’ll give the kid a tiny bit of extra credit for bringing stability to a blueline that couldn’t move the puck to save its life before he arrived.

Kyle Burroughs – B-

Before some of the arrival of players like Addison and the recall of Henry Thrun, Burroughs was one of the better defensemen on the ice for the Sharks. What he lacked in skill, he more than made up for in grit. Burroughs has two major penalties this season and, according to Natural Stat Trick, leads the Sharks in hits. He has 91 hits this season and has taken 70 more. He’s also willing to lay down in front of the puck to protect his goaltender. The defenseman has 73 blocked shots this season.

But whether it’s luck, skill or a combination of the two, Burroughs is not helping the team score.

The two bars on the left of Evolving-Hockey’s RAPM chart show that Burroughs is below league average in goals for per 60 minutes (GF/60) while being better than the league average in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60). Basically, he’s on the ice when scoring chances occur, but the team is not converting on the chances as much as they should.

Nikita Okhotiuk – D, adjusted grade B-

Okhotiuk’s season with the Sharks hasn’t been great, but we’re going to attribute that to growing pains. The young defenseman is on a new team, in a new system and his supporting cast doesn’t exactly ease him into the role gently. According to Evolving-Hockey’s GAR chart, he’s one of the worst defensemen on the team, just above Vlasic. So, why does he get a passing grade?

First, Okhotiuk is projected to be a defensive defenseman, so he’s never going to have a great GAR. Defensively, he’s been good. He’s a solid minus-13 on a team that has a minus-89 goal differential. Given that he’s played 29 games for the Sharks this season, that’s not a bad stat. Okhotiuk is averaging 17:18 of ice time per game in what appears to be his first full season of NHL hockey.

Most of all, Okhotiuk is young. He’s 23 and only turned 23 in early December. He’s still learning as a defenseman, a role harder to develop than a forward in the NHL. He gets extra credit for being on a really bad defensive team as he’s learning to play.

Henry Thrun – B

It was disappointing but understandable when Henry Thrun was sent back down to the Barracuda at the start of the season. The Sharks were not in a good place, and Thrun was waiver-exempt and a victim of his own circumstances. However, since being recalled from the Barracuda, Thrun, unlike Knyzhov, has done things to prove that he deserves to stay with the Sharks even as other players get healthy.

Defensively, Thrun has been sound. He’s not exceptional, but he’s steady and he helps limit scoring opportunities. Offensively, he’s helped drive the play and move the puck out of the defensive zone. He has played some time on the power play and while it does not show on the score sheet, he has been relatively successful in helping to generate scoring chances.

Thrun was rewarded for his hard work on Jan. 9, when he scored his first NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thrun is another example of one of San Jose’s young defensemen learning the ropes this season, and he is one of the players that gives Sharks fans hope that next year it will be better.

Sharks defensemen making the grade

Jan Rutta – B-, adjusted grade A-

Rutta has been a pleasant surprise this season, especially given how poorly he performed during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I thought Rutta would fill a bottom pairing or seventh defenseman role this season, only playing when there were no other options. However, he has been defensively sound compared to other Sharks’ defensemen. And he plays the game the “right way,” as coaches like to say.

While Rutta is in the bottom third of Sharks’ defensemen in GAR, it has more to do with his inability to drive the offense than it does his defense. He kills penalties and he’s relied upon to shut down scoring chances. That’s his role and he fills it well enough. Rutta averages 19 minutes of ice time per game and is only a minus-13. Again, this team has a minus-89 goal differential. Minus-89.

He gets an A-minus in this exercise because of a key intangible he brings. He is the veteran defenseman who has won a Stanley Cup or two. He’s seen a lot in the league, and he’s able to impart that knowledge to the young Sharks learning to play in the NHL. His impact on players like Thrun, Okhotiuk, Addison and Ty Emberson will be invaluable as the players continue to develop.

Even if Rutta is not with the team in four to five years, some of those players will be.

Mario Ferraro – B+, adjusted grade A-

Is Ferraro one of the top defensemen in the league? No. But he’s been one of the better, if not the best “defenseman” on the Sharks this season. (I’ll explain the quote marks around defenseman in a moment.) Ferraro leads the team in blocked shots (120) by a wide margin and has played every game to date. He’s done okay against some of the top lines in the league.

Ferraro’s problem isn’t one of his own making–it’s management’s. The Sharks keep trying to slot him higher in the lineup than he should be. Ferraro is not a top-pairing defenseman, even though he looked like it when he started in the NHL. It turns out that being a Wookie Whisperer is different than carrying the load all on your own.

Still, Ferraro has value, especially when he’s put in a position to succeed. He’s a middle-pairing defenseman. This offseason, it will be imperative for the Sharks to draft or trade for a top-pairing defensive prospect so Ferraro can start playing a role on the blueline that he is better suited for.

Ty Emberson – A-

Emberson would get a lower mark on this list, but then I looked at Evolving-Hockey’s goals above replacement (GAR) chart for the Sharks’ defense and received a happy surprise. Out of all the Sharks defensemen, Emberson has the best rating.

I think what made Emberson seem like less than he was is that Sharks fans were expecting to get a player that would help generate scoring for the team. Turns out, Emberson isn’t as offensively gifted as the Sharks had hoped. However, he is defensively sound and you could do worse as a rebuilding team than stacking a team with solid young defensemen.

Looking at Evolving-Hockey’s player RAPM chart, you can see that Emberson is in the better half of the league when it comes to defending. His expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) are better than the majority of the league. Also, the team generates more goals than expected when Emberson is on the ice. Notice how the GF/60 is closer to the league average than the xGF/60. It means the team has scored even when it wasn’t expected to.

Any doubt about Emberson’s grade on this list can be balanced out by this final fact: he was a waiver wire pick up. The Sharks didn’t trade for him. The team didn’t draft him. He was free. That’s a pretty good deal.

Jacob MacDonald – A

Top marks on this list go to MacDonald for exceeding all expectations. He has done literally everything the coaching staff has asked of him and he’s done it pretty well. MacDonald has played defense. He’s played forward. The only thing he hasn’t done is strap on the pads and stood in front of the net, but he probably would if Head Coach David Quinn asked him to. He’s found a way to add value to a team that’s overpopulated on the blueline, and for that, he gets top marks.

The fact that he’s tied for sixth on the team in goals scored certainly doesn’t hurt, either.