San Jose Sharks

Fear The Fin Player Card (click to enlarge; a glossary of terms used can be found here; all data courtesy Behind the Net, Hockey Analysis, Time On Ice, CapGeek and NHL.com; stick tap to Japers' Rink): Galiardi with and without his most frequent linemates: 2013 Sharks 5v5 Forward Usage Chart (via Hockey Abstract): Galiardi's Past Four Seasons (via Hockey Analysis): Has T.J. Galiardi finally arrived? The Good: Given the controversial trade that brought him here, the standard against which T.J. Galiardi will forever be judged by some Sharks fans is Jamie McGinn. The results on that front were somewhat mixed this season, which itself is an improvement on how things appeared last summer after Galiardi struggled to draw into the San Jose lineup following the trade deadline while McGinn, riding an inflated shooting percentage and the chance to play with a center not named Michal Handzus, tore it up for the Avalanche. While his scoring numbers may not entirely reflect it, McGinn showed some real growth offensively in Colorado this year by averaging nearly three shots on goal per game. The hockey gods didn't smile on him to nearly the same extent that they did late in 2011-12 so he ended up with just 11 goals on the year and was once a healthy scratch, albeit in a decision made by the now justifiably unemployed Joe Sacco. But in many respects, Galiardi was just as good if not better in the truncated 2013 season than the man he was traded for. Looking purely at even-strength production, which seems sensible since McGinn would stand just as poor a chance as Galiardi of seeing significant time on the San Jose power play, Galiardi scored more even-strength points per 60 minutes than McGinn and also managed marginally better puck possession numbers. Furthermore, when given a chance to thrive alongside Joe Thornton and Brent Burns, Galiardi's speed and effectiveness on the forecheck proved to be a pretty perfect complement to the two hulking forwards. Including playoff action, Galiardi registered 42 shots on goal in 19 games on Thornton's wing, a fairly impressive performance even if shooting percentage woes limited his output over that span to just three goals. Galiardi was also an underrated but extremely effective penalty killer in mop-up duty and probably deserves a longer look in that game state next season. The Bad: Somewhat due to the Sharks' forward depth (or lack thereof), the start of Galiardi's 2013 season was largely a continuation of the rather dismal end to his 2011-12. Galiardi struggled to produce any semblance of offense despite being deployed in protected minutes. As a result, he couldn't earn the coaching staff's trust and found himself in the press box more frequently than on the ice early in the year. That obviously changed but as snugly as Galiardi fit on a line with Thornton and Burns, it's probably safe to say his place there is still on something of a trial basis. He still needs to improve at using his considerable skating ability to provide puck support for his linemates in transition and a return to the days when he was a legitimate penalty-drawing agitator would be nice as well. While he answered many of the questions facing him coming into this season ("does he even belong on the Sharks?" being the most consequential), there's still some uncertainty as to Galiardi's long-term role. The Future: A restricted free agent on July 5, Galiardi will cost the Sharks $997,500 to qualify and likely a bit more to sign. While the aforementioned uncertainty with this player might justify another one-year deal, I wouldn't be surprised to see Galiardi inked for a couple of seasons in order to guard against the Sharks having to grant him a substantial payday next summer should he pile up the points playing regularly with Thornton and Burns. And there's no question that's the roster spot he should occupy on opening night (assuming Burns does remain up front) but it's entirely possible he plays his

SAN FRANCISCO - Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the home of "Authentic Bay Area Sports," has partnered with You Can Play to produce a series of public service announcements for the You Can Play Project, a social activism campaign striving to eradicate...

Logan Couture has been extended by the Sharks, which is great news, along with Todd McLellan. Mike and Doug also pick some free agents that might be on the Sharks’ radar.

Couture's extension worth $30 million According to sources, the answer is $30 million over five seasons. The extension will make Couture, who was the ninth overall pick in 2007, the second-highest paid player from that draft class. Couture led the Sharks in goals (21), was second in points (37), accrued only two minor penalties and averaged 18:05 minutes of ice time while appearing in all 48 regular-season games. Tied for seventh in the league with 84 goals over the past three seasons, Couture has also been a bright spot in the playoffs having collected 17 goals and 33 points in 49 career postseason games. San Jose has five players due to hit the unrestricted free-agent market July 5: forwards Raffi Torres, Scott Gomez and Tim Kennedy; defenseman Scott Hannan; and backup goalie Thomas Greiss.

Tucked away in a piece about how former Shark Dany Heatley is ineligible to be bought out this offseason due to the tragic lightsaber injury he sustained at the hands of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Minnesota Wild beat writer Michael Russo included a morsel relevant to San Jose's interests: Ironically, I'm hearing the man he was traded for – San Jose’s Martin Havlat – also has offseason abdominal surgery and thus can’t be bought out. As you'd expect in this situation, there has never been any sort of indication from the organization itself that it's interested in using one of its two compliance buyouts on the two remaining years of Havlat's contract. But given the Czech winger's lack of production and frequent time on the shelf since being acquired by the Sharks in exchange for Heatley two summers ago (as well as the reportedly acrimonious relationship between player and team this past postseason) the writing was just about etched into the wall. Per this report (which, I should stress, has yet to surface elsewhere but Russo is a reliable source), a buyout won't even be an option. As we mentioned in our review of Havlat's season, he had an impressive run down the stretch in the regular season alongside Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture on the Sharks' shutdown line so keeping him around for one more season (especially since the Sharks don't necessarily need the cap space until next summer anyway) isn't crippling. At the same time, if "abdominal surgery" is code for "sports hernia," San Jose could be without Havlat's services for the first few months of the 2013-14 season and without many viable options for filling his spot. That discussion decidedly constitutes jumping the gun but anyone who was counting on Havlat's time in teal ending as soon as this summer's buyout period begins might want to lower their expectations.

Fear The Fin Player Card (click to enlarge; a glossary of terms used can be found here; all data courtesy Behind the Net, Hockey Analysis, Time On Ice, CapGeek and NHL.com; stick tap to Japers' Rink): Thornton with and without his most frequent linemates: 2013 Sharks 5v5 Forward Usage Chart (via Hockey Abstract): Thornton's Past Six Seasons (via Hockey Analysis): The Good: After nearly eight years in teal, it's pretty clear what the Sharks have in Joe Thornton. He's the engine driving the best power play in the NHL, an elite playmaker, one of the league's best faceoff men and, particularly in recent seasons, a legitimate two-way force. Despite a somewhat uneven campaign, Thornton led the Sharks in scoring for the seventh time in his eight seasons on the team, including his third straight as captain. He also turned in yet another fantastic postseason performance, easily the team's best forward against Los Angeles in the second round as the Kings simply didn't have an answer (well, apart from Jonathan Quick) for the size and speed of Thornton, Brent Burns and T.J. Galiardi. Speaking of Burns, Thornton deserves a good amount of credit for easing his transition to forward; converting to a position he hadn't played in a decade was presumably made much less difficult for Burns by having the luxury of being attached at the hip to one of the league's best passers. The Bad: Particularly down the stretch in the regular season, there were quite a few nights when Thornton wasn't very effective on either side of the puck, underscored by his third period benching in Columbus on April 9th. That would have been somewhat more forgivable if the Sharks hadn't been hinging their entire gameplan on Thornton's line kicking ass at even-strength; with Logan Couture assuming Thornton's old power-versus-power role and Joe Pavelski drawing second-tier competition, Thornton and company were matched up against opposing bottom-six forwards on a regular basis in the season's second half but weren't territorially dominant or offensively productive enough a lot of the time. That changed late in the year and in the postseason but with Thornton having been essentially removed from the penalty kill and no longer drawing the tougher forward matchups, he needs to produce quite a bit more even-strength offense. The Future: Should the Sharks look to re-sign Thornton when his contract expires next summer (and it seems likely they will), the three-year, $22.5 million extension agreed to between Pavel Datsyuk and the Red Wings this morning provides a convenient high-water mark; I'd expect Thornton to come in for at least a million per year less than that. While Jumbo is assuredly never going to be a 90-point scorer again and may not return to being the Selke-worthy two-way dynamo he was in 2011-12 (mostly because Couture has somewhat taken over that role for the Sharks), San Jose can certainly still get a ton of value out of any deal they sign Thornton to if he's used the way he was in the latter half of this regular season and into the playoffs. While playing protected minutes with Burns riding shotgun didn't always work out perfectly for Thornton in 2013, that group's effectiveness in the postseason certainly makes a compelling case that the experiment deserves to be revisited. The Vote: Based on your expectations for him, view of his potential, the situations in which he was used and how he compared to players utilized in similar roles across the league, grade Joe Thornton's season below on a typical grading curve of A+ to F. Poll How would you grade Thornton's 2013 season? A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F 41 votes | Results

Fear The Fin Player Card (click to enlarge; a glossary of terms used can be found here; all data courtesy Behind the Net, Hockey Analysis, Time On Ice, CapGeek and NHL.com; stick tap to Japers' Rink): Sheppard with and without his most frequent linemates: 2013 Sharks 5v5 Forward Usage Chart (via Hockey Abstract): Sheppard's Past Four Seasons (via Hockey Analysis): The Good: After successfully rehabilitating from the injury sustained in an ATV accident prior to being acquired by the Sharks, James Sheppard found himself as a regular in the Sharks lineup. He was one of the few San Jose Sharks who had started the year in Worcester, where he put up 23 points in 34 games. Once the lockout ended, Sheppard was called up and was able to bring a solid, if unspectacular, physical presence to the Sharks fourth line. Although 'hits' are certainly not the most reliable statistic, it is telling that Sheppard finished the year hitting people at about the same rate as Ryane Clowe and Douglas Murray. The highlight of Sheppard's season has to be his one and only goal. It may not have been the prettiest, or most skilled, but you have to credit him for lighting the lamp for the first time since the 2009 season. And it ended up being a game winner against the Ducks. The Bad: Despite that goal, and decent-for-his-role underlying numbers, his scoring rate seemed to dip big time. The Sharks just couldn't seem to put the puck in the net with Sheppard on the ice. At even strength, the Sharks only scored on 3.7% of the shots they took when Sheppard was out there. This is very problematic for a San Jose team that had almost no scoring depth outside the top six. Defensively, James Sheppard was mostly invisible this season - take that as a good or bad thing. Nothing he did really stood out, but I wouldn't say he's a liability against other teams' bottom six skaters. Sheppard was a non-factor on the penalty kill, a role he had served in Minnesota. With plenty of experienced two-way forwards in San Jose, James only played a total of 16 seconds shorthanded. The Future: According to CapGeek.com, a qualifying offer for Sheppard would cost the Sharks $866,250 - a minuscule increase on his cap hit. Considering his potential as a former top ten overall pick, I see absolutely no reason why the Sharks don't resign him, either for one year on his qualifying offer, or possibly on a 2 year deal for roughly the same amount. I think, with a bit more time to develop, he could turn into a quality 25 point depth forward within a couple years. Perhaps even sooner if he's able to spend more time on the left side of Joe Pavelski on the third line. The Grade: Overall, James Sheppard played like a fourth line player for the Sharks. That was his role, and that's how he got paid. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But considering how terribly he was developed in Minnesota, and the fact that this was his first year back from injury, I think you have to be content. I'd probably give him a C or C-. Scratch that. James Sheppard is worth his weight in gold based solely on his ability to create great memes. Fear The Fin seemed to know that from the start with 600+ comments on the post announcing his arrival in San Jose. With the last name Sheppard, we were sure to get multiple Commander Shepard Mass Effect photoshops. From there, we also got the phrase "Who the fuck is James Sheppard!?" and the resulting "Doctor Who the fuck is James Sheppard" photoshop. Plus, he totally looks like Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter. How many nerdy memes can this guy create? James Sheppard is the gift that keeps on giving. A+. The Vote: Based on your expectations for him, view of his potential and the situations in which he was used, grade James Sheppard's season below on a typical grading curve of A+ to F. If he had the best season you could possibly imagine him having, give him an A+. If he was about where you expected him to be, give him a C+ or C and if he

What was reported by Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday (and his always excellent 30 Thoughts this morning) has just been confirmed by Brodie Brazil: Logan Couture has agreed to a contract extension with the San Jose Sharks. The contract extension cannot be officially signed until July 5, when Couture's current deal is a year away from expiring. However, it shadows the deal the Pittsburgh Penguins made with Evgeni Malkin, not letting a young cornerstone centerman come close to free agency. No word yet as to what the salary or cap hit is on the deal. Over the past three seasons, Logan Couture has emerged as the face of the next generation of Sharks and has helped reshape the image of the franchise. This obviously was a priority for the Sharks and Doug Wilson this offseason, and I'm glad it happened sooner rather than later.

Fear The Fin Player Card (click to enlarge; a glossary of terms used can be found here; all data courtesy Behind the Net, Hockey Analysis, Time On Ice, CapGeek and NHL.com; stick tap to Japers' Rink; statistics mostly accumulated for Coyotes but even-strength rate stats are ranked against Sharks): Torres with and without his most frequent linemates: 2013 Sharks 5v5 Forward Usage Chart (via Hockey Abstract): Torres' Past Six Seasons (via Hockey Analysis): The Good: Considering his reputation, not merely as a cheapshot artist but as a bottom-six agitator best suited for an energy line, Raffi Torres had an extremely productive 2013 season. Torres scored north of two points per 60 even-strength minutes, good for 65th among forwards and ahead of players like Anze Kopitar, Claude Giroux and Pavel Datsyuk (also more than every Shark save Brent Burns and Logan Couture). What's particularly impressive is that this was far from a one-year outlier courtesy the vagaries of a shortened season. Especially on the goal-scoring front, Torres has always been a very productive player at evens and ranks 58th in goals per 60 since 2008 despite having played for five different teams over that span; this isn't a case of a player consistently leeching off superior linemates. You wouldn't know it from looking at his boxcar numbers since he has almost never been used on the power play but Torres is a player who can legitimately drive offense in protected minutes at even-strength, which is invaluable to a team like the Sharks who have struggled to score 5v5 over the last two seasons and have particularly lacked offensive contributions from their bottom six. Torres provided that and more in his limited time in teal following Doug Wilson's last-minute trade deadline move to acquire him from the Coyotes. Alongside Joe Pavelski, Torres gave the Sharks a third line that was not only physically abrasive but a legitimate scoring threat. He also filled in very well on the team's first line against Vancouver in the playoffs after Martin Havlat re-aggravated a groin injury in Game 1. That series against the Canucks also featured Torres scoring a rather memorable and significant goal: The Bad: He's Raffi Torres, which invokes justifiable derision from much of the Sharks fanbase given his history of line-crossing and elbow-launching, some of which has been at San Jose's expense. That came to a head (terrible pun slightly intended) in the second round of the postseason when Torres was suspended for Game 2 through 7 of the Kings series for a controversial hit to the head of Jarret Stoll which looks decidedly worse on the reverse angle than it did at initial glance. Regardless, it was pretty clearly a reputation call on the part of the league to ban Torres for the entirety of a playoff series and therein lies the risk inherent in having Raffi Torres on your roster. As much as, say, Martin Havlat is an injury liability, Torres is a suspension liability both because the league loves using him as a discipline piñata to prove they care about player safety without having to suspend anyone people actually pay or tune into NBC to watch and because Torres never learns his lesson. The Future: Torres was acquired as a rental and becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 5. He earned $1.75 million last season which, frankly, is a pretty significant bargain for someone who's a safe bet to score 15 goals in an 82-game season with zero power play time. Having already invested $100,000 in him, the Sharks are presumably eager to retain Torres at a somewhat discounted rate, which should be possible given that many teams will likely be scared away by the fact that Torres' next elbow to an opponent's cranium could be his last. There are other options out there on the free agent market but given that the Sharks have historically had trouble attracting UFA talent, Torres fit in very well on a line with Pavelski down the stretch and a new deal likely won't carry

Fear The Fin Player Card (click to enlarge; a glossary of terms used can be found here; all data courtesy Behind the Net, Hockey Analysis, Time On Ice, CapGeek and NHL.com; stick tap to Japers' Rink): Marleau with and without his most frequent linemates: 2013 Sharks 5v5 Forward Usage Chart (via Hockey Abstract): Marleau's Past Six Seasons (via Hockey Analysis): The Good: Hey, remember the opening of the season, when it seemed likely that Patrick Marleau would score 96 goals in a 48-game season? That was pretty awesome. Take THAT, Jeremy Roenick, and shove it in your gutless piehole. Yeah. Then the bottom fell out of everything. And while some pundits probably want to blame that on Marleau -- along with the recent IRS scandal, the Red Wedding, and the Xbox One -- the entire team took a sleeping pill, creating a collective mess that lasted from February until March. However, as we all know, the team came together, and using new line configurations while breaking away from a cycle-dependent style, the Sharks evolved from lost franchise to team on the rise. During that time, we saw Marleau's role with the team tweak ever so slightly under new lines. Marleau's points-per-game never caught up to his blistering start, though he proved to have great chemistry with Logan Couture and was critical in a number of #39's big goals down the stretch. In addition, Marleau was front-and-center in San Jose's back-from-the-dead penalty kill, essentially equaling Joe Pavelski as the top PK forward. (Michal Handzus actually led the team in PK TOI, but I think that's because he was too slow to change shifts.) He also faced the highest quality of competition; in the playoffs, his line was constantly used to keep the opposition's top line in check, allowing Joe Thornton's unit (and ideally Joe Pavelski's, though this obviously disintegrated with injuries and suspensions) the freedom to roll against lesser competition. Oh, and speaking of the playoffs, Marleau's first-round performance was one of the main reasons the Vancouver Canucks as we knew them will be imploded. That, along with this GIF, has to be worth something. Todd McLellan obviously trusts Marleau in all situations, no matter what pundits think, and the numbers back it up. Age will take away some of that scoring ability, but Marleau still has his speed and he remains under the radar as a strong two-way forward. The Bad: OK, so that 96-goal season was a tad bit unrealistic. Still, 31 points in 48 games is disappointing (projected out to 52 points over a full season). Of course, Marleau was all over the scoresheet during the first round, and advanced stats showed that he performed strong against the Kings' top line. At 33, though, Marleau's days of being a 35-40 goal threat are probably over, though it'd be nice to see him hit the 500 goal mark over the next few seasons. Like many of the Sharks during the doldrum period, Marleau fell into repetitive offensive patterns, particularly when he played on Joe Thornton's wing. Similarly, the power play's routines during that stretch were entirely predictable -- a trademark of when the Todd McLellan Sharks struggled. Moving Marleau to Couture's wing, along with the transition towards a more speed-based offensive system, was part of the formula for the team's late-season success. While he'll never have an Alexander Ovechkin unplugged controller moment, there are times when you see a play and wonder why Marleau didn't take that extra few strides to reach the puck first -- or stop in front of the next rather than pass by. These types of things tended to happen earlier in his career but they still rear their annoying head from time to time. The Future: With one year left on his big contract, the sensible projection is that Marleau will get a diminishing salary based on his age. Because of his natural skating ability and strong defensive instincts, it seems like the final stage of his career will have him transition into a two-way r