Mike and Doug return from the week off with so much to talk about.  Sharks have a new goaltender, lose a great player, and see many prominent NHLers change teams.  The Dudes being the work of figuring out what all happened, and how this affects the Sharks.

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Leaving town tomorrow, so unfortunately I don’t have the time to properly write up what’s been happening, so I figured I’d create a new post for draft weekend discussion.  Topics of interest:

• Drafting Charlie Coyle 1st round (who?)
• Ducks getting both Cam Fowler (at 12!) and Emerson Etem
• Trade of Keith Ballard to the Canucks
• Sharks re-signing Wallin and Nichol (Wallin?  $2.5M?  I sincerely hope we only saw an injured Wallin last year)
• Possibility of trading Nabby’s rights for something
• Seto?
• Hamhuis sweepstakes
• Anything else your little hearts desire

I hope you’ve been following our thoughts recently on twitter. Link on the right there.

HAHAHAHA MONEY!!!

I never know to express the action of signing again. If I don’t hyphenate, it looks like they are resigning, like Nixon.  But is re-sign really correct English?  And why am I writing about this when the two major Sharks free agents have, uh, accepted new contracts?

Now, per Bob McKenzie’s twitter, we see that Marleau has signed a new contract worth $6.9M per year for four years, and Pavelski’s is good for $4M per year for the same duration.  First of all, I’m surprised that Marleau’s number was so high, but I guess it makes sense after a 44-goal season.  Like others have mentioned, I thought it was somewhat likely Marleau would get a ‘lifetime’ contract, for 7 or more years, with a more manageable cap hit.  Given that Marleau’s wife is from the Bay Area, and he certainly has roots in the community, it would seem a long-term deal would be right up his alley. But for a player who’s main asset is his speed, I can see the logic in only paying him until he’s 34.

Pavelski’s deal, however, could be a little on the low side.  During a podcast discussion we figured his salary range would be between $4M and $5M (between Kesler and Staal, in line with Plekanec’s production), and we just made it.  $4M for a good two-way second-line center that may be named the captain in two months?  Sounds like a good deal to me.  I’m not going to go into the whole cap situation just yet, but this should enable the Sharks to sign Devin Setoguchi to a new contract as well.  $3M sounds like the right number, given he only had 19 goals last year.

In other (good) news, Pollak reports the Sharks did a minor deal with Atlanta that greased the skids for Chicago sending Dustin Byfuglien there.  That’s Doug Wilson, always the facilitator.  Because of a certain maximum number of contracts that could be held per the CBA, ATL was up against the limit, and the Sharks were the white knight.  DW took a couple of low level prospects (and a seventh round pick) off of Don Waddell’s hands so the Thrashers could accept Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel, and Akim Aliu’s contracts.   I like that deal for Atlanta, and I like that deal for the Sharks.  Get the big lug out of the West.  It does give the Hawks some cap relief, but it cost them a top 6 forward and a great prospect in Aliu.  Atlanta, for once, seems to have this trade solidly in the win column.

All this, and we haven’t even made it to the draft yet.  Go Sharks.

Even though we are months away from the first preseason game, there is still a ton of hockey to talk about.  The Dudes are joined by Jon Swenson of Sharkspage to process the biggest news of the offseason so far- the departure of Evgeni Nabokov.  Now that the captain and the #1 goalie are gone, there are tons of different ways the Sharks can go here- Mike, Doug, and Jon try to explore some of those avenues.  Then, Mike and Doug try and predict what will happen to the marquee free agents out there.

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The news came down from Pollak (and the Sharks own site) that Evgeni Nabokov, who has been with the Sharks his entire career, will not be back for the 2010-2011 season.  Avid readers of this blog and listeners to our podcast know that we have advocated this move since the season ended.  That’s not to take anything away from Nabby- he’s been a stalwart goalie for the Sharks for many years, but given the Sharks cap situation and their bevy of young netminders already in the system, there’s no more room for a 35-year old goalie who will likely make something near his 2009-2010 salary of $5.3M.  With Marleau, Pavelski, Setoguchi, and others to be signed, the money wasn’t there.  It’s also not certain the money should be there, as Nabokov’s career and post-lockout SV% numbers do not put him in the ‘elite’ category.

We’re going to Select-A-Seat tonight, then recording the podcast.  Stay tuned.  Lots of other NHL news to talk about too.

Now that the NHL season is completely over, with the Blackhawks winning the Cup, Mike and Doug talk about the series, and the challenges facing the Hawks and the cap next year.  Rob Blake will make final what we heard last week- that he will be retiring from the Sharks.  Mike and Doug talk about what that means for the defense, and process other rumors and speculation involving free agents.

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The Dudes continue the quest to understand the issues facing the Sharks; this week, they talk to Eric Lindquist, voice of the AHL Worchester Sharks.  Eric gives first-hand info on the Baby Sharks’ top players, and how they might fit into the San Jose roster next year.  Eric talks about Alex Stalock, Mike Moore, Derek Joslin, Nick Petrecki, and several others.

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The Dudes turn to the two big RFAs on the Sharks – Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski.  Mike and Doug try to identify comparable players around the league, and estimate the kind of money required to sign them, as well as the threshold (if any) where the Sharks should let them go.  Also a rash of signings in the past week, and the Dudes give their take on what these young players might contribute to the big club in the future.

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Mike and Doug continue the discussion they began on ChompTalk last Sunday, speaking of the Sharks demise at the hands (wings?) of the Hawks, and Philadelphia’s chances to triumph in the finals.  But most importantly, the Dudes start the important due diligence of examining each of the actors that may not be back next year, starting with Doug Wilson, Todd McLellan, Patrick Marleau, and Evgeni Nabokov

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Something Doug and I talked about on ChompTalk last Sunday, along with Mark Purdy, is the idea that Doug Wilson may be let go, as his vision for the Sharks winning a Cup didn’t exactly pan out.  Could it be that Greg Jamison wants to see a new strategy and philosophy for building a team?  I now think the answer is “definitely not.”

First of all, firing a GM in the Sharks’ position should only be done under one condition – you know who is going to replace him.  This isn’t a house-on-fire situation, where you gotta ditch the guy as quick as possible to stop the bleeding.  The Sharks, despite their playoff disappointments, are not bleeding.  Aside from tiny headed hockey pundits, there’s really only one marquee GM candidate, who is now off the market.  I’m talking about Steve Yzerman, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning today.  Yzerman, who put together the gold-medal winning Canadian team this Olympic year, has been biding his time.  Even since he retired as a player he’s been  getting trained up in various situations, and now was ready to strike and get the job he wanted.

You think it’s a coincidence he waited this long to take the Tampa job?  I think not.  Based on nothing but dizzying intellect and baseless speculation, Doug and I are betting that Stevie Y took the Sharks’ temperature yesterday, after they were eliminated:

Stevie Y: So, hmm… them Hawks are real bastards huh?
Greg Jamison: You got that right.
Stevie Y: I played on Detroit for a quadrillion years; I’ve eaten the Hawks’ lunch so many times I sh!% deep dish pizza.  Any, uh, openings I should know about?
Greg Jamison:  Man, that’s a good line!  I wish I’d thought of it.  But I think we’re going to stick with Wilson.  Have fun with Ty Wishart.
Stevie Y:  Who???

*AND, SCENE*

Unless there’s some below-the-radar magician, Doug Wilson is here to stay.  We’re already dreaming up scenarios and plans for the Sharks to execute, and I’m sure DW is doing the same.  He has shown the ability to modify the plan if it’s not working, plus the not-to-be-overlooked ability to fleece other GMs in trades.  The conjecture season is now in full swing, and we’ll be filling the blogophere (and internet airwaves, such as they are) with enough of that to choke the proverbial horse.  Stay tuned.  We’re not going anywhere.