Post by Isaac on Jun 28, 2016 14:44:02 GMT -5
San Jose Mercury News
After finishing as runners up in what could only be described as a successful 2016-17 season, the iSharks look to regroup and win it all this year. Gone is Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski, replaced by some more grit in Emile Poirier and Steve Downie. Patrice Bergeron looks to return and prove health in his first season. Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton start what will likely be their final iNHL contracts, both at or near the top of their games still at the tender age of 38. Michal Neuvirth is back to prove the doubters wrong about his career year. Here's how the iSharks will line up as we inch closer to the season's start.
Goalie:
The iSharks' starter is the 29 year old Michal Neuvirth, who seems to have found a home in San Jose after bouncing around the league since losing the starting job in Washington to Braden Holtby. The reigning Hasek trophy winner has been on a tear since coming over from Philadelphia and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. Behind him sits Adam Wilcox, who beat out the older and more expensive Antti Niemi for the backup job. The 24 year old Wilcox, who came over from Buffalo in exchange for a 2019 5th rounder, is very technically sound with great rebound control and has starter upside. If Neuvirth does half of what he did last season, the iSharks are set at the goalie position until highly touted goalie prospects Zach Sawchenko and David Otter are ready.
Defensemen:
The iSharks' defense corps are led by the Orr trophy runner up Brent Burns and stay-at-home extraordinaire Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Last season, this was considered a weak spot, but this year GM Isaac Reid has dedicated himself to improving. Second year man Michael Brodzinski will pair with trade acquisition and shot blocking specialist Kris Russell, and breakout offensive defenseman Sacha Guimond will pair up with free agent signee Trevor Daley. Behind them, names like Dylan McIlrath and Roman Polak wait, while top prospect Sergei Zborovsky is nearly iNHL ready. The iSharks can expect a lot of points coming from their blue liners, and conversely should play just fine in their own end.
Forwards:
The iSharks will once again roll 4 lines in an equal fashion. Hertl and Pavelski are no more, but the added depth and possession monster Patrice Bergeron means that they'll barely notice the difference. The first line of Chris Tierney - Mark MacMillan - Mark McNeill have played extraordinarily well since they were placed together, with two-way forwards like Tierney and McNeill setting up MacMillan to unleash a lethal shot. Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau will stay together, on a second line centered by Colby Cave. The third line will likely have Joe Thornton centering for Russian goalscorer Nikolai Goldobin and new addition Emile Poirier. Both the second and third line can be expected to light up score sheets, as will the fourth line of Steve Downie, Bergeron, and Valeri Nichushkin. All 4 lines are offensively driven and are centered by good-elite centers, especially in the faceoff circle. The iSharks could turn into some extreme possession monsters.
Special Teams:
The iSharks have always had an elite powerplay unit, and even losing Hertl and Pavelski doesn't seem likely to change that. Players like Bergeron and Cave were quite simply squeezed off powerplay duty thanks to the extreme level of depth. This off-season, however, the iSharks vastly improved their PK, bringing in Bergeron and Russell to help lead the way. It is very possible that the iSharks could finish in the top 5 both on the powerplay and on the kill as well, which will be necessary as new acquisitions such as Steve Downie have no qualms about spending time in the box.
Bold Predictions:
We at the San Jose Mercury News polled our writers on some bold predictions, and here are the most interesting/most mentioned among them.
1. Colby Cave exceeds 50 points this season. Not many 22 year old former undrafted signees are even in the iNHL at this point in their careers, but Cave is coming off of a season where he put up 38 points in 82 games, despite constantly being shuffled around the lineup. This year, cemented in a role between last year's iSharks' points leaders Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau, 50 points is very plausible.
2. Steve Downie scores 20 goals. He's only done this once in his career, and in 2009 with the Lightning. With the iSharks' unusual offensive tactics, a guy like Downie who will likely set up in front of the net will be in prime position to grab rebounds and punch them in. It's unlikely that he'll have the 46 points of that obvious outlier season, but he could hit 30-35 with 20 goals.
3. Michael Brodzinski leads all iSharks defensemen in points. This would require some major regression from Burns, who seems to be improving with age, and probably some luck, but the former 5th round pick has been a star in practice, and started to translate his performance to games in the playoffs. It's entirely possible to see him pair up with Guimond later on in the year and produce some magic.
4. Zach Senyshyn wins the Calder. This would require an early injury and Senyshyn to be the first guy called up over the likes of Kevin Labanc, Lasse Jul Korsgaard and Michael Mersch, but if that does happen, Senyshyn could go on a tear in San Jose, as he fits the profile of several other players to come to San Jose and break out. A major piece in the Hertl trade, he would not have come the iSharks' way had GM Isaac Reid not viewed him as a win now piece, so even if he spends 10-15 games in the AHL, if the time calls, he could easily be the top rookie in the league.
After finishing as runners up in what could only be described as a successful 2016-17 season, the iSharks look to regroup and win it all this year. Gone is Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski, replaced by some more grit in Emile Poirier and Steve Downie. Patrice Bergeron looks to return and prove health in his first season. Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton start what will likely be their final iNHL contracts, both at or near the top of their games still at the tender age of 38. Michal Neuvirth is back to prove the doubters wrong about his career year. Here's how the iSharks will line up as we inch closer to the season's start.
Goalie:
The iSharks' starter is the 29 year old Michal Neuvirth, who seems to have found a home in San Jose after bouncing around the league since losing the starting job in Washington to Braden Holtby. The reigning Hasek trophy winner has been on a tear since coming over from Philadelphia and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. Behind him sits Adam Wilcox, who beat out the older and more expensive Antti Niemi for the backup job. The 24 year old Wilcox, who came over from Buffalo in exchange for a 2019 5th rounder, is very technically sound with great rebound control and has starter upside. If Neuvirth does half of what he did last season, the iSharks are set at the goalie position until highly touted goalie prospects Zach Sawchenko and David Otter are ready.
Defensemen:
The iSharks' defense corps are led by the Orr trophy runner up Brent Burns and stay-at-home extraordinaire Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Last season, this was considered a weak spot, but this year GM Isaac Reid has dedicated himself to improving. Second year man Michael Brodzinski will pair with trade acquisition and shot blocking specialist Kris Russell, and breakout offensive defenseman Sacha Guimond will pair up with free agent signee Trevor Daley. Behind them, names like Dylan McIlrath and Roman Polak wait, while top prospect Sergei Zborovsky is nearly iNHL ready. The iSharks can expect a lot of points coming from their blue liners, and conversely should play just fine in their own end.
Forwards:
The iSharks will once again roll 4 lines in an equal fashion. Hertl and Pavelski are no more, but the added depth and possession monster Patrice Bergeron means that they'll barely notice the difference. The first line of Chris Tierney - Mark MacMillan - Mark McNeill have played extraordinarily well since they were placed together, with two-way forwards like Tierney and McNeill setting up MacMillan to unleash a lethal shot. Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau will stay together, on a second line centered by Colby Cave. The third line will likely have Joe Thornton centering for Russian goalscorer Nikolai Goldobin and new addition Emile Poirier. Both the second and third line can be expected to light up score sheets, as will the fourth line of Steve Downie, Bergeron, and Valeri Nichushkin. All 4 lines are offensively driven and are centered by good-elite centers, especially in the faceoff circle. The iSharks could turn into some extreme possession monsters.
Special Teams:
The iSharks have always had an elite powerplay unit, and even losing Hertl and Pavelski doesn't seem likely to change that. Players like Bergeron and Cave were quite simply squeezed off powerplay duty thanks to the extreme level of depth. This off-season, however, the iSharks vastly improved their PK, bringing in Bergeron and Russell to help lead the way. It is very possible that the iSharks could finish in the top 5 both on the powerplay and on the kill as well, which will be necessary as new acquisitions such as Steve Downie have no qualms about spending time in the box.
Bold Predictions:
We at the San Jose Mercury News polled our writers on some bold predictions, and here are the most interesting/most mentioned among them.
1. Colby Cave exceeds 50 points this season. Not many 22 year old former undrafted signees are even in the iNHL at this point in their careers, but Cave is coming off of a season where he put up 38 points in 82 games, despite constantly being shuffled around the lineup. This year, cemented in a role between last year's iSharks' points leaders Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau, 50 points is very plausible.
2. Steve Downie scores 20 goals. He's only done this once in his career, and in 2009 with the Lightning. With the iSharks' unusual offensive tactics, a guy like Downie who will likely set up in front of the net will be in prime position to grab rebounds and punch them in. It's unlikely that he'll have the 46 points of that obvious outlier season, but he could hit 30-35 with 20 goals.
3. Michael Brodzinski leads all iSharks defensemen in points. This would require some major regression from Burns, who seems to be improving with age, and probably some luck, but the former 5th round pick has been a star in practice, and started to translate his performance to games in the playoffs. It's entirely possible to see him pair up with Guimond later on in the year and produce some magic.
4. Zach Senyshyn wins the Calder. This would require an early injury and Senyshyn to be the first guy called up over the likes of Kevin Labanc, Lasse Jul Korsgaard and Michael Mersch, but if that does happen, Senyshyn could go on a tear in San Jose, as he fits the profile of several other players to come to San Jose and break out. A major piece in the Hertl trade, he would not have come the iSharks' way had GM Isaac Reid not viewed him as a win now piece, so even if he spends 10-15 games in the AHL, if the time calls, he could easily be the top rookie in the league.