It’s Wednesday and everyone is panicking in my inbox because the Sharks have yet to win a game.
I did my best to give y’all some confidence. Good luck.
How big a deal is losing Boughner? Granted only 2 games, but had such big impact on Sharks D, especially Burns. Also, line changes/call ups?
— Barnabie Williams (@theboywonder_BW) October 9, 2017
It’s hard to quantify Boughner’s impact implicitly. The defense isn’t looking great, though, and with only a minor lineup change in that area, it’s hard to not think that coaching is the issue. I think ultimately, losing Boughner has affected the Sharks, but it’s hard to say to what extent that is to blame.
I think we’ll see Tim Heed and Ryan Carpenter very soon and I wouldn’t be surprised if Marcus Sorensen, Danny O’Regan, or Joakim Ryan get the first call up.
Any reasons for concern after allowing 9 goals in two games to LA and philly?
— Bill Truong (@dolladollabill8) October 9, 2017
Obviously. There’s the added concern that we have already seen Aaron Dell between the pipes after a game and a half. There’s the fact that the Sharks have only put up four goals against those nine scored on them. These are things that are not ideal, especially when the defense hasn’t changed from last year in a significant way. It’s bad, Scoob.
Odds that Wilson’s goes full ham and makes a big move early. (Duchene, Tavares) or let’s this ride and fires deboer by game 20
— Sleeveless Gaming (@NoSleevesGaming) October 9, 2017
Doug Wilson is a big trade deadline guy and I’d argue that he makes his worst trades outside of the deadlines, Joe Thornton and Martin Jones aside.
The last time we saw a major trade in the first half of the season sent Jason Demers to Dallas in exchange for Brenden Dillon – a trade the Sharks decidedly lost, and one that seemed partially motivated by wanting to punish the locker room. If they get into that position again, things aren’t going to turn out well.
I don’t see the Sharks in the market for Duchene, if for no other reason than they already have Logan Couture. Duchene becomes redundant with Couture on the roster. Plus, the asking price has been far too high.
If a Tavares move happens, it’s either going to be at the deadline or during the summer. That better be on Doug Wilson’s radar.
With the first time going 0-2 at home in ten years, should we be panicking? Or, what areas do we think the Sharks should be focusing on?
— Logan Stark (@hala_stark) October 9, 2017
Yes and no. A bit of panic doesn’t feel entirely misplaced, but it’s only been two games.
Special teams, special teams, and uh…special teams. Special teams and face offs. Those are the big areas that the Sharks are struggling.
I’d heard before that DeBoer gets amazing results year 1 and then all downhill from there. Is this start part of that pattern, do you think?
— plduspooky4me👻 (@hugwins) October 9, 2017
I think this can happen with a good chunk of new coaches. You put someone new behind the bench and everyone gets a clean slate with that guy, and with the level of talent on the Sharks, it was a perfect storm for them to be successful that first year.
The problem is a combination of DeBoer over-valuing veterans who have previously been successful for him and his rigid systems. There’s a breakdown between DeBoer and Wilson in this way, because Wilson brings guys in for specific purposes – see Mikkel Boedker, who was supposed to give us speed and special teams experience – but DeBoer plugs them into his system, instead of finding ways to adapt the system to those players’ strengths.
The other thing is that his system is great when it’s new. That’s why the Barracuda saw so much success last year against teams who had hardly seen that system in action. But if the system doesn’t adapt year-to-year, it becomes stale and predictable.
It’s hard not to see it as a pattern. I still think it’s too soon to tell.
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