Questions linger about Sharks’ roster
San Jose searching for third line center, a defensive partner with Ferraro next season
General manager Doug Wilson’s offseason makeover of the San Jose Sharks looks nearly complete, though he does still have a bit of room to spend under the NHL’s salary cap for next season.
In a two-week period, the Sharks said goodbye to Joe Thornton, Melker Karlsson and Aaron Dell, brought in Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Donato and brought back Patrick Marleau, Stefan Noesen and Matt Nieto.
The moves leave the Sharks, per CapFriendly. with roughly $2.3 million of space under next season’s cap of $81.5 million — perhaps enough to add another piece up front or on defense.
But Wilson wants to leave some spots open for competition once training camp begins — whenever that occurs — and perhaps use that cap space to address needs after the season gets underway if the Sharks are in contention for a playoff spot.
“We need to reestablish our game,” Wilson said Sunday. “We think we have the bones of a good team, we have some competition, we have some young guys coming in.
“Would it be nice to add some things? We probably have to reestablish certain areas of our game and earn some things to be added, but we certainly have that flexibility to do that.”
Earlier this summer, comparisons were made between this Sharks offseason and the one they had five years ago when they also missed the playoffs.
Wilson brought in Joel Ward, Paul Martin and Martin Jones to address certain shortcomings. Joonas Donskoi also turned into a terrific find after he was signed as a free agent out of Finland.
Ward and Donskoi became mainstays in the top nine forward group, Martin proved to be a perfect fit as a defense partner for Brent Burns and Jones showed he was capable of being a No. 1 goalie.
But with this year’s offseason moves largely done, questions about the Sharks’ roster remain.
What other winger besides Kevin Labanc will play on the right side in the top six forward group? Who will be the third and fourth line centers, and who will be the sixth and seventh defensemen?
Donato or Patrick Marleau would be two candidates to play on the right side on either the first or second line. Marleau filled that role at times for the Sharks last season. Donato is excited for the opportunity for a bigger role, and the Sharks want him to seize this chance after he averaged just under 11 minutes of ice time per game with the Minnesota Wild last season. Noah Gregor could be in the mix, too.
Still, there could be a revolving door at right wing this season.
“Competition is a healthy thing,” Wilson said. “Having the ability to add a piece as we go forward, or two pieces, is important. Cap space grows within the season. How we decide to use that will be decided going forward here with the opportunities that arise.”
There’s also a matter of finding two more centers to play behind Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl.