SB Nation - Derek Joslin

Off the Post - November 22

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:11 -0000

[UPDATE] - The NHL suspends Danny Briere for 2 games for his hit on Scott Hannan... is it just me, or has he been a little violent lately?
[UPDATE, thanks to Section223] - Don't expect Torrey Mitchell tomorrow... and Dan Boyle is questionable.
[UPDATE, thanks to Tarlinian, Pizzle and Section223] - Torrey Mitchell is back from Worcester, though he might not be in Wednesday.
[UPDATE, thanks to idunno723] - Benn Ferriero, Ryan Vesce, and Logan Couture are headed back to Worcester.
[UPDATE, thanks to Nael M.] - The Sharks might be in Europe next season... dammit.
Wooooo! We're #1!
This day in history...
- November 22, 1963 - does it need an introduction?
- November 22, 1999 - Wayne Gretzky is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- November 22, 2008 - the Sharks had 35 points... in just 21 games.
The Sharks Store is holding a Black Friday sale on November 27 - up to 33% off on jerseys.
Broad Street Hockey's recap of a decisive Sharks victory.
How are our former Sharks doing? Five players of note.
- #1 = A look at former Shark defenseman Matt Carle's success with Philadelphia.
- #2 = Christian Ehrhoff is doing pretty well for himself up in Vancouver.
- #3 and 4 = Milan Michalek scored his 100th career goal, while teammate Jonathan Cheechoo notched another goal for a season total of... two.
- #5 = Steve Bernier has three goals in his last two games (both against Colorado).
How awesome is this photo? Thanks to the Sharks Foundation and the Reading Is Cool program.

Three Sharks are in the top 7 for the early Art Ross race, while Dany Heatley in particular leads the pack in the Rocket Richard run-off (granted, A.O. is injured) and in PP goals, and is tied for first in game-winning goals.
Two Sharks fun facts = Heatley finds the back of the net one out of four times he shoots, and Derek Joslin, believe it or not, actually leads the league in something.
Ross McKeon's power rankings return.
Mirtle calculates the number of NHL man-games lost to injury, and San Jose comes in at 13th.
Fear the Fin - ranked 17th among hockey blogs.
Dallas Stars winger James Neal gets suspended for 2 games after hitting Derek Dorsett from behind. Dorsett's collapse is chilling to watch.
Jeremy Roenick shoots the shit, including referencing the Neal hit.
The NHL eyes a second team in the Greater Toronto Area.
The national teams pining for Olympic gold.
Steven Stamkos provides a goal for the ages, against the Anaheim Ducks... a shame it wasn't televised in Tampa. (Note - Stamkos also has points in all but 4 games this season)
Road trip photos, if you're interested.
Pickles' first fight.... ever.

Ehrhoff & Lukowich Moved For Prospects

Mr. Plank — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:21:47 -0000

Bada bing, bada boom. Per sjsharks.com:

San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson announced Friday that the team has acquired center Patrick White and defenseman Daniel Rahimi from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich.

Some initial reactions provided in bullet form, because DW really did bite the bullet here.

The prospects in question (HF breakdowns of White and Rahimi) are really nothing to write home about. If this deal occurs in the middle of the season, I'm livid- while Ehrhoff isn't sound defensively, his power play production is an asset that should net a much higher return. At face-value, the Sharks got swindled here. Let that be clear. Essentially this is a product of his salary, San Jose's salary structure, and GM's realizing DW was painted into a corner. I'm sure he was getting lowballed left and right. That'll Cheech You and Earl Sleek mentioned as much in earlier pieces for Fear The Fin and Battle of California respectively.
Silver lining? Salary cap flexibility. Wilson is now able to either a) fill out the roster with young players on the cheap or b) pursue a trade with much more bargaining power than he had on Thursday. As it stands now, San Jose needs to sign three forwards and two defenseman to compose a 22 man roster. Most estimates have pegged Torrey Mitchell around $.8 M, which means two forwards and two defenseman need to come under contract with $3.53 M remaining under the cap. That boils down to $.88 M per skater, definitely manageable considering those four would be serving a fourth line, bottom pairing, and healthy scratch role.
As for losing Ehrhoff and Lukowich, I proposed earlier this offseason that they were the two blueliners who should be moved. Here's a few quotes from previous pieces that explain that rationale:

Looking at the backend, Ehrhoff's ability as a puck moving defenseman has been replaced by Kent Huskins, making Ehrhoff expendable. The blueline currently is in a bit of a logjam in terms of salary- moving Vlasic would be asinine, and Murray (who we will touch upon later) would leave San Jose with a D corps lacking a physical presence.

-"The Journey", July 12th

With the salary cap situation the way it is, one would have to assume a blueliner is on the move- there's no way San Jose can afford to pay Huskins that sort of money to serve as a 7. Brad Lukowich was disappointing after the first twenty games of the season, and freeing up his $1.56 M salary would go a long way towards getting San Jose's offseason back to a manageable level.

- "Kent Huskins Signs", July 2nd

In that regard, I'm content with the personnel that were given up. I don't think you're able to rid yourself of Brad Lukowich without packaging him with Ehrhoff, and that was probably a selling point for Wilson- my guess is that the Canucks were pushing for Ehrhoff, and DW countered by saying, "We'll make this move only if you take Lukowich." That's an aspect of the deal I think he should be commended for.

A lot of talk says that this sets the stage for Wilson to take another stab at Heatley. I'm not so sure. Regardless of my wariness in making a move for Heatley, let's look at this objectively. You now have given up an essential piece in a deal with Ottawa- every single rumor that has made it's way around the internet this offseason has named Ehrhoff. It's still a possibility, but now San Jose doesn't have the assets to provide Ottawa with the puck moving offensive defenseman they seem to be looking for. I'm not sure that improves DW's chances, even if San Jose is much more flexible monetarily.
If I had to put money down, it probably would have to be on DW making the infamous Kessel Run. There's roughly 18 parsecs until training camp begins, and while Boston is dealing with salary cap issues of their own, most accounts have Wilson pursuing this very hard. It would have to be creative and possibly involve a third team, but I have a feeling this is going to be DW's play. As mentioned before, he's dealing from a position of power, with Boston being the one who is in a bind. Call it a hunch, pure speculation, or a baseless claim, but The Force is strong with this one...

David Pollak of Working The Corners is reporting that Joslin, Demers, Moore, and Petrecki will be battling it out for a spot on the San Jose roster. Here's a quote from a previous piece that looks at the pros and cons of some of these players (after trading Ehrhoff and Lukowich, which was the basis of the exercise):

If I'm DW, I realize I need a defensive defenseman on the blueline. Here's what I had to say about Derek Joslin earlier this season:

"Derek Joslin: Probably the most unmemorable of the four (which was a good thing), Joslin played well enough with the big club for me to be content with him sticking around. That being said, it's just not going to happen. He was sent down yesterday, and it seems as if his time in San Jose will most likely be done for the remainder of this year (barring an injury to one of our seven defensemen).

I liked what Derek brought to the table- he was physical in the corners, made smart and conservative passes on the breakout, was rarely out of position, and could skate decently well- a solid player for our bottom pairings in years to come, with the potential to get top-four minutes on a fairly deep blueline."

Hockey's Future has this to say:

"Talent Analysis

A sound overall game; he plays in all situations and is very composed. Good offensive instincts. A great one-timer. Skating stride is a weakness

Future

He’s projected to be a middle pairing defender in the NHL."

Bringing up Joslin to play with Boyle is pretty risky considering both can be defined as guys who prefer the offensive side of the ice, and the fact that pairing is going to see 17+ minutes a night at even strength. From what I saw he's not ready for the workload at this point in his career, and having him serve as a healthy scratch makes no sense from an organizational standpoint. However, let's float the idea around and say he is brought up. If that's the case, I bump Murray up with Boyle, leave Vlasic and Blake together, and hope Joslin works with Huskins.

Another interesting possibility would be Mike Moore. He's known for his physical play, and although he didn't see any game time in San Jose this season, Moore did get called up during the year. If he's the answer here, I'm still moving Murray up to play with Boyle and sheltering Moore on the bottom pairing with Huskins.

Outside of the organization, it's hard to predict. Ehrhoff or Cheechoo would likely be the only players who would be able to bring back a serviceable NHL defenseman. As for the healthy scratch department, I'm not sure you're going to be able to find someone better than Alexei Semenov on the open market at that price tag. Here's what was said about him earlier this offseason, and I'm still not convinced that letting him walk was the right choice. We'll see what happens.

- "The Journey", July 12th

Your guess is as good as mine here, but I'm thinking we only see one of these guys make the team out of camp, with Wilson taking a stab into the free agent market for a veteran blueliner to fill out the roster. I stand by my previous assertion that Semenov is a worthy 6-7 man in that role.

Thoughts from readers can be found in FTF's initial fanshot. James Mirtle of From The Rink, Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy, PJ Swenson of Sharkspage, and Sean Zandberg of Nucks Misconduct have more reactions.

[Plank Update 8/29]: Sharkspage takes a look at Patrick White (H/T to skilletboy for the link)... Yours truly posts a Fanpost over at Nucks Misconduct to help them understand what they received in the deal. Feel free to chime in... CTGray of Couch Tarts and GeneralDisarray of The Chum Bucket share their thoughts...

Go Sharks.

Poll

Considering all factors, do you like this deal?

Yes

172 votes

No

106 votes

It's a wash

136 votes

414 votes | Poll has closed

Worcester Watch: Don't Call it a Comeback

That'll Cheech You — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:46:24 -0000

	@ 4:05 PST

Series	Providence leads 2-1
Radio	WTAG
Antagonists	Stanley Cup of Chowder

I have never seen a team thrive under pressure like the Worcester Sharks do. Down 2-0 in yet another series, Worcester's offense exploded last night. Forwards T.J. Fox, Jamie McGinn, Andrew Desjardins, Riley Armstrong and Defensemen Patrick Traverse all scored for Worcester; the five goals were the most scored against Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask in these playoffs.

However, Rask doesn't have off nights often, so Worcester is going to have to step up their defensive game if they want to complete their second comeback of this postseason.

After watching two Worcester games, I can see why McLaren (not Frazer, there's two McLaren's on this team) was so important to this squad. Defensively, McLaren is a leader and a veteran presence. Without him, Worcester lacks a solid defensive player who keeps the game-plan going. Joslin is a talent, to be sure, but he needs work on his defensive play.

If you were to simply look at stats from the year, you'd think that Greiss was having a ho-hum season. However, after watching Worcester in the playoffs, I'm beginning to see that Greiss is playing much better than is stats may lead you to believe. If by the off-chance one of our NHL goalies isn't wearing teal at next year, I'd be confident enough in Griess as the backup.

For everyone keeping track at home, there were a few other players who had big games last night. Ryan Vesce had two assists while Brad Staubitz and Lukas Kaspar added one each. I'm thinking that the time they spent in San Jose did wonders for their development. Although Kaspar is yet to really "bring it" on the NHL level, I've been impressed with his play in the NHL. On a side note, DaSilva's six game point streak ended last night, but he still played a strong overall game.

Because of the schedule, Worcester is back home to play game four. If they win tonight, they'll go back to Providence to start a 3 game series.

Prediction: Sharks win 4-2. Goals by McGinn, Joslin, Armstrong, and Staubitz. Staubby drops the gloves with Rask and gives him the Tootoo treatment.

Sharktistical Analysis: Clowe-verfield

That'll Cheech You — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:03:05 -0000

via www.thehockeynews.com

Much of the Sharks success this season has been credited to the offseason acquisitions of Blake, Boyle, and Lukowich. Granted, these guy have been great so far this season and have played a big part in the overall success of the Sharks this season.

However, I'm going to go on record by saying that the biggest offseason move made by the Sharks was the resigning of Ryane Clowe.

Clowe's 07-08 numbers were low due to a knee injury that kept him off the ice for 67 games. Although he played well during the post season, the Sharks took a risk by signing him... knee injuries have the tendency to linger. (see Cheechoo, Jonathan)

But it appears as if that risk has come with an extreme level of reward. Clowe is currently 4th on the team in points (19 goals, 19 assists) and has impressed coaches and fans alike with his improved scoring touch and impressive up and down play.

Clowe's stellar play has meant volumes to the Sharks this season. How did I come to this conclusion? Take a look at the graph below.

The blue section of the graph shows how many points the Sharks have earned during the season (in five game increments); the orange shows Clowe's points during the same increments.

As you can see, when Clowe scores, the Sharks win. I've run the same study for every other Sharks player, and no one is as closely correlated or has as much covariance with the Sharks' points this season as Clowe.

What does this mean? It means that an injury to Clowe would be as devastating to the Sharks' Stanley Cup hopes as almost any other player on the team. Without Clowe, you lose 22% of your powerplay scoring (Clowe has 11 powerplay goals). You lose the solid up and down play that Clowe brings. You loose one of your most physically gifted players. Last, but not least, you lose a strong clubhouse presence and the youthful leadership that he brings to the best team in the NHL.

So, while other players get all the hype, Clowe will keep on carrying the Sharks to bigger and better things this season. If last years playoffs were any indication, Clowe is at his best when it matters most (5 goals and 4 assists in 11 playoff games).

Whatever the outcome of this season is, it will have one thing in common with the end of last season: Ryane Clowe will once again be a free agent. If Clowe continues on this pace, there will be at least a few teams who will throw big numbers and big years at him. Here's hoping that the Sharks are one of those teams. With players like Blake (5MM/yr), Roenick (1.1MM/yr), and Grier (1.775MM/yr) coming off the books, the Sharks will definitely be capable of putting some money in front of our star RW. Three years and 4.0MM average per (3.0MM start with 1.0MM bumps, similar to the recent Michalek contract) should get the job done. Much of this depends on the play of rookies like Joslin, Cavanagh, and Staubitz. If these young guys can prove they deserve a place on the top team in the NHL, the eventual departure of Blake, JR, and Grier will hurt much less.

Hopefully the Sharks' front office sees what I see in Ryane Clowe. If they do see it, they'll do everything they can to keep him in teal for years to come.

The AHL all-stars: Two Girouxes, Rory and a Brodeur

James Mirtle — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:15:07 -0000

The AHL also announced its all-star teams this week, and they give you a decent idea of who some of the top talent is in the NHL's minor league:

Team Canada

Forwards	Defensemen	Goaltenders
Steve Downie, Nor	x-Johnny Boychuk, Pro	Mike Brodeur, Roch
x-Alexandre Giroux, Her	Kyle Cumiskey, LE	Barry Brust, Hou
x-Claude Giroux, Phi	Cody Franson, Milw	x-Brian Elliott, Bing
Mike Iggulden, Bri	Bryan Helmer, Her ("C")
Jason Krog, Man	x-Derek Joslin, Wor
Corey Locke, Hou	Andrew MacDonald, Bri
Brett MacLean, SA	Brett Palin, QC
Mark Mancari, Por	Danny Syvret, Phi
x-Chris Minard, W-B/Scr
Cal O'Reilly, Milw
Teddy Purcell, Man
Martin St. Pierre, Pro
Mike Santorelli, Milw		x-starters

The tough thing about these all-star games is that, not only do you have to hope no one gets injured, but there's also the problem of call ups to consider. Claude Giroux just torched the AHL in his first pro season with 17 goals in 31 games and is now up with the Flyers, perhaps permanently given their injury woes.

At least they don't have to worry about Captain Helmer missing the game. (Great character guy. Was good to see him get some time in the NHL with the Caps as part of his swan song.)

Three Milwaukee players here, all Nashville picks in the midrounds. Franson's a great example of the depth the Predators have on defence now; he's only 21, big and skilled and would be in the NHL with most franchises. (Not bad for a third rounder.)

Purcell looks like a really good NHLer, someone we'll see play a role with the Kings when they're climbing the standings a year or two from now. He probably misses this game, too.

Boychuk leads AHL defencemen in scoring for the Baby Bruins, and I bet the Avs are kicking themselves for dumping him this summer.

And looking at the goalies, I wonder if the Sens will give Elliott a shot in goal if Gerber and Auld continue to struggle. (And in case you're wondering, Mike Brodeur is a distant cousin of Marty. He started the season in the ECHL and has been very good for Rochester in a dozen games so far.)

Team PlanetUSA

Forwards	Defensemen	Goaltenders
Keith Aucoin, Her	Rory Fitzpatrick, Roch ("C")	Jeff Frazee, Low
x-Chris Bourque, Her	Jonas Junland, Peo	Daniel Larsson, GR
x-Nikita Filatov, Syr	Mattias Karlsson, Bing	x-Cory Schneider, Man
x-Nathan Gerbe, Port	x-Jakub Kindl, Gr. Rapids
Martins Karsums, Pro	Ben Lovejoy, W-B/Scr
Tim Kennedy, Port	Bobby Sanguinetti, Hart
Petri Kontiola, Rock	Jaime Sifers, Tor
Drew Miller, Iowa	x-Yannick Weber, Ham
Joe Motzko, Chicago
Michael Ryan, Albany
Ryan Potulny, Spr
Jeff Taffe, W-B/Scr
Ryan Vesce, Wor		x-starters

Vote for Rory paid off! The plucky defenceman gets the captain's 'C' while playing for his hometown Americans despite having a pretty pedestrian season so far.

Aucoin's another veteran worth pointing out: a 5-foot-9 30-year-old playing for one of the best teams in the league, he leads the AHL in scoring by a mile with 48 points in 34 games despite missing some time while playing three games with the Capitals in the NHL.

Filatov's with Columbus at the moment, so his participation's in doubt.

Karsums is a talented young Latvian who I saw at the world juniors quite a bit when they rolled through B.C. two years ago. He's eighth in league scoring and should see time with the big-league Bruins in the near future.

Weber looks like another good one for the Habs, too, who also have P.K. Subban on the way on the blueline.

Kindl... don't tell me you're suprised the Red Wings have another European stud coming on the blueline.

Speaking of Detroit and potential gems, so much for Jimmy Howard as the goalie of the future: Sweden's Danny Larsson has outplayed him by a mile and makes the team here. He was a late third-round pick in 2006.

I know there are some readers who see a lot more AHL hockey than I do; let me know what you think of the teams and some of the players' play to date.

SB Nation - Derek Joslin

Off the Post - November 22

Ehrhoff & Lukowich Moved For Prospects

Considering all factors, do you like this deal?

Yes

No

It's a wash

Worcester Watch: Don't Call it a Comeback

@

4:05 PST

Series

Providence leads 2-1

Radio

WTAG

Antagonists

Stanley Cup of Chowder

Sharktistical Analysis: Clowe-verfield

The AHL all-stars: Two Girouxes, Rory and a Brodeur