That is what the coaching staff is for. Wasting cap room hurts teams.

His age is a concern. His production could drop. But perhaps that's good to improve draft postion next year. Sharks need more high end talent.

@@DanRaidersWarriorsSharksGiants Monkey see. Monkey do. Coaches can’t “show” how a professional acts day in and day out. Also helps to have a good cop bad cop.

I'm so tired of this narrative. WE HAVE NOTHING BUT VETERANS. The entire godamn but except 3 players (Eklund, now Celebrini + Smith) are veterans. Zetterlund and Ferraro are now vets. We need to make room for young guys like Gushcin and Bords so they finally get a fair chance.

You don’t make room for the young guys, they have to earn their spot on the roster. And until they can we need to facilitate our other young players with solid veterans.

None of those forwards you mentioned will be regulars in the NHL this season (at least to start the year), unless there are a lot of injuries. There is promise there, but it was never the plan for Musty, Edstrom, or Halttunen to make the leap right away this season, they aren't quite ready.

Musty can’t join the AHL, it’s either the OHL or NHL for him

As much as I agree with the sentiment here, the problem is that we're not worried about people like Musty, Halttunen and Edstrom. Daniil Guschin has every right to walk at this point. He's not going to get a chance because we keep bringing in these guys. Mike Grier is basically saying that he's a career AHL'er when in reality he should be on the Sharks bottom six for a full season and gaining confidence and playing at that level. The worst part? Swap Guschin's name with Bordeleau, Cardwell, Afanaseyev, Graf, Bystedt, Robins, or any other mid level prospect we have that I'm forgetting, and that statement is STILL TRUE. I just listed SEVEN guys competing for roster spots they should ALREADY have, and I haven't mentioned the established NHL'ers who should have the spot to. Kostin, Kunin, Bailey, Dellandria, Goodrow, Grundstrom, G. Smith, and anyone else I am forgetting. Combined, thats FOURTEEN guys competing for FOUR slots. We should have signed defensemen, because which defensive prospects, aside from Mukhamadulin, are ready for the show? We should bolster our defense, not our offense, because we simply have no more ROOM in our offense

Even worse than this is the fact that the overcrowding is so bad that even the Barracuda are starting to feel it. Again, FOURTEEN. Why are our prospects having to seriously be concerned if they are gonna get ice time in our FARM SYSTEM?

@@MattHockeyGuy I agree! We really needed to bring in another puck-moving defenseman, and we should never have signed all these low-potential vets.I'm OK with Wennberg and Goodrow (though I would have preferred they get Foegle), but the others were pointless.Last year we had huge problems getting the puck out of ourD-zone...and all the top forwards in theworld can't be effective until this happens....Sadly, Grierhas waited solong that the top gettable D's are gone....and there are rumors that theSharks may trade Ferraro,which to me would be making this problem even worse. I wonderwhat you thjink of the Sharks taking a shot at getting Klingberg?He's not a great defender, but good puck mover and PP guy. Paired with Ferraro,maybe it could work? It's a risk - he just had hip surgery - but he also wouldn't cost much..

We were actually 31st in scoring last year, slightly ahead of Chicago. It’s true that the forwards that Grier brought in might be able to bring a higher compete level defensively, but at the same time, you learn by doing. While in the short term it may be better for the Sharks, it’s not something that will help out the prospects in the long term if they don’t get the games in the NHL. We shall see how the young prospects react to the very real scenario that they are “pushed out” of the league this year.

@@professorhockeySee Professor? We were actually 31st in scoring we are good! hahaha I am sure the prospects aren't happy but, remember this: The Sharks are likely going to flip some of those guys at the trade deadline if they can and we both know that top teams like good bottom 6 guy with penalty kill ability and some sand paper in their game. Odds are we will create some room at the trade deadline which will create some space for the younger prospects. Also, do you remember when Logan turned Pro and we were all hoping for a skilled young guy to add to the mix and push the team to greater heights? Todd Mcclellan was coach and he held Logan in the minors for the better part of two seasons and was not very complimentary of Logan's all around game. Todd fielded questions about Logan several times during that minor league stine and Todd was stern about what Logan needed to do to be a Shark. When Logan finally did make the roster he was very good straight away with not much defensive gaps in his game even as a young guy. I would expect the guys to get a Bordello call up after the trade deadline and get a goodly chunk of games if they can play responsibly like Bordelo did last season.

Fair enough! I guess we will wait and see how next season goes

@@professorhockey It should definitely be an exciting roller-coaster that's for sure

Re: Couture. That's an interesting theory...didn't think of that.

I’m sure he targeted a RHD, hasn’t panned out yet

I agree that it should be based on merit, and I’d love if it was, but I’m not sure it fully always is. I personally believe that in pretty much every single game that Bordeleau played at the end of last season, he was better than Kunin. Bordeleau in my opinion is generally a better player than him, but I am willing to put money on the fact that Kunin will have a significantly easier journey to making the lineup than Bordeleau.

Afanasyev already wants out to the KHL as reported. That wasn't long. Hopefully this isn't a response to how crowded the bottom 6 is

Personally I think that helps the development of young players, you have to earn your spot and except in literally *exceptional* circumstances - you never have a roster spot just handed to you. Internal competition is a great thing

It’s true that the Sharks can be very active at the deadline this year. Sturm will almost certainly be moved, but I’m not so sure about Granlund and Kunin. Granlund is on a big contract that the Sharks can’t retain on, so it might be complicated, though still possible. Kunin had the chance of being traded last year too and didn’t, so I’m not sure if other teams value him highly considering his on ice performances.

It’s a fair question to ask whether he will be worth the 6 million through the entire 4 years, but I think right now the Sharks are only caring about this first year and what he can do for the young guys.

@@professorhockey yeah, but it gives me bad Vlasic / Burns / Hertl / Couture vibes when a 30+ player is rewarded with insanely long contracts, at leats this time its "just" 4 yrs

Yup, and I’m not surprised to see it

1) a no-trade clause means nearly nothing such a short contract, especially for a team with no cap issues 2) The Sharks are not, and should not, be in the "stockpile draft capital" mode. They need to fill their roster, and sign players who can help establish a culture for the future. 3) Players are not coaches and coaches are not players. Even the best coach in the world does not contribute all the same things veteran players do to the development of young players. Tofoli in particular will be invaluable to the development of all our young forwards. 4) To be honest I do not follow what your point is/what you are trying to say here.... "Both the Toffoli and Wennberg contracts I would want to be paid with draft picks / prospects to take them not take them for free." 5) Hertl was on an 8 year contract, and wouldn't come off the books until 2030. It is an entirely different situation, and these contracts allow for money to free up when the Sharks will need it for players like Musty and Halttunen, assuming they develop into contributors for the team.

I understand your point of view for sure. It certainly might seem like shuffling the deck chairs on the titanic by signing players to a team that will inevitably miss the playoffs. The Sharks definitely could have gone into this next season without either of these players, but think about it like this. Imagine the Sharks did run a second line of Kostin, celebrini and Smith. If Kostin falls off, which is very possible, who would the Sharks stick up with them? Bordeleau maybe, but there’s a real chance someone like Kunin or Goodrow would have ended up there, and nobody wants that. With Toffoli, you are likely finding yourselves a consistent linemate for at least one of your elite rookie talents, which is good stability for their development. When it comes to the NMC, while it can certainly be tough, I don’t expect it to be that big of a deal. Either the contract doesn’t work out and Toffoli falls off (at which point, they wouldn’t be able to trade it anyway) or they most likely wouldn’t look to trade him until year 3 or even 4 of the deal. At which point, he could always choose to waive it to go to a better team if he is still productive, and if not, it’s not the end of the world for the Sharks to ride it out as long as they are smart with their money over the next couple of years too. It’s not an optimal clause to give out for the team, but it’s the price of doing business these days. For the cap space point, it should be noted that the Sharks will likely still have multiple millions of cap space available when all is settled, and actually finding a deal to make anyway isn’t always easy. You mention Vegas, but it seems like they are mostly ok with how things have gone down for them. Is there really a major deal there that could get big value back? The Sharks had a bunch of cap space available this past season, and outside the Duclair trade (which the Sharks would still be able to make with their current cap space), it mostly stayed unused. The flexibility is nice, but especially when you consider the need to hit the cap floor, I don’t think Toffoli’s deal is bad. Finally, for the Hertl point. It’s important to bring up the threshold I mentioned in the video. For the next two years, cap space isn’t a huge deal for the Sharks, and this Wennberg deal doesn’t really change that. The Hertl issue was more that, by the time he still had 3 years remaining, the Sharks would be having to sign Smith and likely Celebrini, while having already signed Eklund. With Toffoli having 1 year left by then at just 6 million, it can be more manageable by the simple fact that it is less money, or by trade if he agrees to waive. By the last two years of the Hertl deal, when the Sharks are likely also signing players like Dickinson to long term contracts too, it would have been an even larger issue. Thanks for the comment! Always fun to have these types of discussions

​@@tylertheurer9122 Are you out of your mind? 1. Players that cant be traded in a realistic context like Couture, Vlasic and now Toffoli hurt the team that they are there It is just wasted cap room that could go to prospects. 2. That is what contracts like Zetterlund has. He can be traded to anyone Grier wants and his prime is hopefully ahead of him. The 2 new contracts are awful compared to Zetterlunds. 3. The sharks have multiple vets on the team who can do that. Walman and Goodrow were just added. #4. The sharks were paid a 2nd round pick to take the Walman contract from the wings I would have to be paid like that to take on the 2 bad contracts the sharks just signed today. #5. Hertl had a way longer contract and in that context it is different but what is the same is he was paid 8 mill a year when the sharks were already awful. Both these 2 guys were paid 11 mill combined when the sharks are already awful. The Jackets paid Johnny hockey 9.7 mill a year when they were already awful and there is no change there. It is foolish insanity doing that the vast majority of the time. It is not realistic the sharks will win a cup in the next 4 years making it pointless and wasting all the prospects the sharks would have got not giving these out.

Afanasyev just signed a KHL deal 🥲

​@@professorhockey It is not worth it to do what you are saying because the sharks roster is not so bad that Smith or Celebrini are going to be playing with guys who are outright awful. Even if they were well I would say to them play better and you can play on the 1st line where it will not be that way. I think the sharks 2nd line would have been better this season even without these 2 new free agents. The Sharks should put both Mack and Will on the entry level slide anyway so they have more cheap years with the team like the sharks did with Eklund. Making both of them full on NHL players will just make both more expensive sooner. The sharks still have 2 more cheap years with Eklund because they were patient and he is doing well personally even with the bad roster. The problem with the NMC is it is insane for the worst team to give it out. Sharks not going to win a cup and have almost no chance to trade him for a profit even if he agrees to it. This is the type of contract a team that just lost in the playoffs and went to round 2 or more should give. There is 2 general types of cap dump trades. 1. Is the Dulair type where you have a somewhat realistic chance to retrade them for a profit. The Walman contract could become like that too. When MTL traded for Monahan from the flames. 2. Is when you trade for a player / players you do not want at all and have almost no chance to retrade them for a profit but the other team offers the right draft picks or prospects that you agree to it. It would be like the Oilers trading a 1st and their top AHL prospect to ANY team who would take the Jack Campbell contract before his buyout. This type is always going to be more rare as it takes a non playoff team with cap room who is willing to do it. Some players who get bought out obviously have no trade clauses and many put the sharks on them so I am not saying that example was realistic. There is usually always some contracts that are realistic though if you look hard enough. It is not about cap space being a huge deal it is about wasting it. Tyler on the sharks is like johnny on the jackets in the sense these are 2 good players but the rest of the team is not so they do not matter. The cap room that bad teams spend is just wasted when it could go to prospects or even trying to copy the Duclair formula from last season. The sharks could even sign 1 or 2 players who are worth 11 mill combined and have told both of them we plan to trade you at the deadline to a playoff team so we can profit off you. The reason the Hertl contract was bad the moment he got it was the sharks can lose with anyone. 8 mill of cap room can get a team around two "free" 2nd round picks a season more or less. Toffoli will help the sharks win more meaningless games which will hurt them in every round of the draft too. The majority of NHL fans care more about meaningless wins than getting a sure thing top 3 pick in every round of the draft which is insanity. The risk / reward of these 2 contracts just is not there at all. At least with Walman it actually could be worth it.