Prospective Look at San Jose

Another year, another playoff disappointment for the San Jose Sharks in 2008. Quite possibly, the only thing surprising about that is that we're all surprised that it happened... again. The Sharks are making a habit of having problems come playoff time and making it to the final dance, despite having a plethora of talent on the team.

The 2007/08 season saw the Sharks sport two of the top 10 players in pool scoring, including the league's best goalie in Evgeni Nabokov. The trade deadline acquisition of Brian Campbell from the Sabres looked to be the final piece in the puzzle that would push them over the summit of expectations and have the team possibly live up to them.

Fortunately for the Sharks, they do have their core of players signed on for next season and/or the long-term. So, the formula shouldn't deviate too greatly from year to year in the near future, unless a huge shake-up happens in the next season or two. The bigger questions that surround the club are going to be what pieces could they add and what can they substract. For next season, they have 14 players signed at an approximate cap hit of $41.8 million. That doesn't leave a great deal of space for future signings, especially if they want to bring back Campbell to the fold, who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Joe Thornton	Craig Rivet	Evgeni Nabokov
Milan Michalek	Matthew Carle	Thomas Greiss
Patrick Marleau	Marc-Eduoard Vlasic
Jonathan Cheechoo	Doug Murray
Mike Grier
Torrey Mitchell
Devin Setoguchi

As the list suggests, a good portion of their forwards are returning for another term and they have a good foundation of defensemen to build from as well. In net, Nabokov still has a couple seasons left on his deal and at this point, Thomas Greiss is the only keeper who backed up Nabokov signed on for next season, so he makes the list.

Up front, the Sharks have three potential restricted free agents to deal with, which will all likely return for another year, but the cost remains a question. Joe Pavelski, Marcel Goc and Ryane Clowe will all be eligible for arbitration this summer and could all get reasonable deals for next season, if they so desire. Pavelski and Clowe could be targets for an outside offer sheet, as they are desirable young players, while Goc has had a hard time really sticking to the team full-time.

As for potential unrestricted free agents, the team has a number of them coming up, but only Campbell really looks to be the desirable one. Jody Shelley, acquired from Columbus at the deadline, is also unrestricted, but may be finding a new home to be bopping heads in.

The overall plan for the Sharks this summer should be suring up their depth players and there is the possibility of moving Patrick Marleau and his big $6.3 million cap hit for next summer. A deal that involves Marleau will likely take place at the Entry Draft, where they could possibly get a pick or two in the deal to try and improve their standing in the youth market. If Marleau could be moved at the Draft, then the door opens up for the team to explore re-signing Brian Campbell to a long-term deal.

As for their actual pick at the Draft, it had been moved to Buffalo in the deal that brought Campbell to the team at the trade deadline. So, as of today, they do not have a first round pick to bolster their stable of young players. The Sharks also do not have a single draft pick until the fourth round, thanks to a number of deals over the past couple seasons. This could accelerate a deal for Marleau for a pick or two in the first few rounds.