S.J. camp features few open positions
Just 103 days since the Sharks watched the Penguins skate with the Stanley Cup at SAP Center, San Jose opens training camp Friday to prep for the 2016-17 NHL season.
Sixty-four players are expected, although seven of the more recognizable Sharks had a head start while participating in the ongoing World Cup of Hockey, which further shortened their already truncated offseason.
Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi and newcomer Mikkel Boedker will join the team as the tournament comes to a close. Meanwhile, competition for few jobs will be waged mostly at Sharks’ Ice in San Jose for a team hoping to take one more step than it did last season.
“There’s a lot of heavy lifting between September and April in order to give ourselves that opportunity,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said.
San Jose shored up two areas of concern over the summer with the acquisitions of defenseman David Schlemko and Boedker, a speed-burning forward.
Schlemko, 29, will be an upgrade for departed free-agent Roman Polak, who — despite his strong physical play — was exposed by Pittsburgh for his lack of speed. Schlemko is more in the mold of the modern puckmoving defender even if he doesn’t possess flashy offensive skills.
Boedker, 26, improves the team’s already impressive depth up front. He scored 80 goals and 213 points in 445 games over parts of eight seasons with the Coyotes before being dealt to Colorado late last season.
Pencil Boedker in among established regulars Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl, Melker Karlsson, Chris Tierney, Matt Nieto, Tommy Wingels, Thornton, Pavelski, Couture and Donskoi, and that fills four forward lines. So, without a trade or demotion, the team’s most intriguing prospective forwards in quite some time might have to bide their time.
Eyes will be on Swiss-born winger Timo Meier, the ninth overall pick in 2015, who doesn’t turn 20 until four days before the season opener. Meier came close to making the team with an outstanding camp last year, according to DeBoer. So after another year of seasoning, it’s logical to assume the 6-foot-1, 212-pound scorer might be a nice fit alongside Thornton and Pavelski if the Sharks want to revisit Hertl’s eventual move to center ice.
Meier isn’t the only camp hopeful looking to make a breakthrough. Free-agent winger Marcus Sorensen, 24, would like to follow Karlsson and Donskoi by jumping from a European pro league into the NHL. Gifted Russian scorer Nikolay Goldobin is joined by Kevin Labanc and Rourke Chartier as skilled youngsters looking to make a lasting impression.
“The exciting part for me is the stability of the core coming back, the fact we’ve added a couple of really good pieces, and the young guys who have the potential to step in and play with us,” DeBoer said.
The defense, too, appears all but set before camp starts with Justin Braun-Vlasic, Paul Martin-Burns and Schlemko joining Brenden Dillon. Dylan DeMelo and Mirco Mueller could be in a competition for a seventh spot on the blue line. Touted prospects Jeremy Roy and Julius Bergman are poised to impress.
Martin Jones returns in goal following a successful first season as a starter. Rookies Aaron Dell, Troy Grosenick and possibly even Mantas Armalis will vie for backup status.
“The message is the same about what we talked about last year,” DeBoer said. “It’s getting better every day, and earning the opportunity to compete in the playoffs. Once you get that, as we saw, anybody can win.”