The San Jose Sharks are one of the clear rebuilding teams in the NHL. With that comes taking on contracts, getting younger by acquiring talented prospects and draft picks, and selling off pieces.
General manager Mike Grier has done a great job of this over the past couple of seasons, moving on from the high-end veterans and bringing in plenty of young talent, some of whom have already developed into NHL talent on the roster.
A major change still to come is on defense, as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period got into the situation in San Jose, as “one area management wants to focus on improving appears to be the backend moving forward.” The team has many expiring contracts and wants to bring in young NHL talent to fill the roster instead, who can be a part of the future.
Exactly What Are the Sharks Looking for on Defense?
The Sharks have a good young core up front with Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, and more, but the back-end isn’t as solid, full of high-end options, and young.
Henry Thrun was traded away to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the offseason and Jack Thompson was just placed on waivers after the season had begun. The two pieces that the Sharks have to build around on defense right now are Sam Dickinson and Shakir Mukhamadullin, but a recent waiver acquisition brought in 22-year-old Vincent Iorio from the Washington Capitals.
The Sharks want to match their future outlook on defense with the rest of their team. Pagnotta said, “They’ve got (Yaroslav Askarov). They’ve got a ton of young talent up front, with Misa included, but this is gonna be a team that is going to continue to look to really solidify their backend…and they’ve got some kids in the system, obviously, but I think this is a scenario where they really wanna strengthen their blueline.”
With Luca Cagnoni in the system as well on defense, it isn’t bad, but there is plenty of room to upgrade and solidify the future at every position. “And this goes back to the summer, this goes back to probably even last season, where they’ve been looking to bring in young defensemen that are going to fit this team moving forward and kind of like what they’ve got obviously up front,” Pagnotta continued.
How the Sharks’ Defense is Going to Change
The San Jose Sharks have an intriguing look on defense. Mukhamadullin, Iorio, and Thompson are all in the final year of their deals before becoming RFAs, and Dickinson is only in the first year of his entry-level deal, but there have been many veterans brought in to fill the roster in the meantime, not only to be bodies in the NHL, but trade chips this season.
The defensive UFA group that the Sharks have to maneuver this season includes Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Leddy, John Klingberg, Vincent Desharnais, and Lucas Carlsson (likely full-time AHLer). Even Orlov, who has one more year on his deal after this season, could be a trade chip if there’s interest.
The situation in San Jose looks to be headed in the direction of veterans out, young talent in, to match the age and development of the rest of the team. This team isn’t just building for a short time and Grier looks to know how he wants the Sharks to unfold.
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