San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan and GM Doug Wilson discuss their reactions after the Chicago Blackhawks Western Conference Final series, comment on pending UFA's Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabokov, and offer a few notes about what is on the horizon in the offseason.
3 months ago
pj48
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Amazing stuff here, PJ. Damn — BoC just got 800% more legit.
And honestly, I like Nabby and Jumbo Joe more than I did twenty minutes ago. That was cool to see.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on May 26, 2010 8:47 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
It would have been more legit if I did not drop my vid camera during Nabokov’s answer. It was interesting to hear him lobby hard to return to SJ. I think far too much was made of the game at the Olympics when Team Russia collectively decided to watch opponents skate down the ice and score.
I don’t think Nabby was in full 100% world beater form during the playoffs, but out of Turco, Theodore, Toskala, Mason, Ellis, Emery, Biron, Leighton (probably n/a), Niittymaki and Valiquette, which other FA goaltender on the market is better? Greiss has all the tools to be a solid #1 except the mental side. If Nabby would not be insulted by a pay reduction, and a reduction in his role to allow Greiss to grow, sign him up.
Marleau was much more circumspect. He might very well test the market and see what is available, but if he does leave he better choose wisely. Dropping into somewhere like New York, Toronto, Boston or Vancouver could be a disaster given the circus that followed him from a distance in San Jose. Los Angeles might give him cash and a good environment, but do you want to finish out your career as a hired hand or as a Steve Yzerman type getting one organization over the hump?
Plus, he has been paid extraordinarily well over the last few seasons without delivering in clutch playoff elimination rounds. This year was the polar opposite, as he more than double the goal output of the entire team in the loss to Chicago.
He could very easily draw $7-8 million plus in a long term deal on the open market, but would he take $4.5-5 million for 1-2 years, allow for the return of Pavelski, Setoinguchi, Nabokov and Malhotra, maybe the addition of a dman, and make multiple runs at a Stanley Cup with the team that drafted and developed him?
Prior to today, I would have said that was a strong possibility. After today, not as much.
If Nabby would not be insulted by a pay reduction
That’s the key right there. If he’ll take a pay cut for the good of the team and a reduced workload, then keep him. If he wants a lot of money and to play a ton of games so Greiss doesn’t get any experience then that’s not in the team’s best interest.
And watching Marleau speak about free agency I don’t think you can read much into it. It’s the same low-key neutrality you always get from him in situations like this.
Great stuff man.
They call me Patrick Marleau, P.I.
Battle of California
Yeah thats just how Marleau is imo
but it is a good sign that he said, “if it comes to that” when asked about the offers other teams would give him in free agency. The impression i get from him is that he would like to stay in San Jose but he’d like to be shown some respect by the Sharks organization (possibly because of the whole captaincy thing).
At the very least, he definitely sounds as though he’s putting the ball in San Jose’s corner, the only question is how much he expects from them and if they are willing/able to give him what he wants.
Maybe he wants a healthy raise, or maybe he’d be happy with a long term contract making the same as he does now, or maybe he just wants a big hug from Doug Wilson; whatever it is, i say give it to him cuz he’s a great player who’s still improving and the Sharks wouldn’t really be the same team without him, at least not to me.
I heard the “if it comes to that” and got a glimmer of hope. It didn’t seem like he was leaning either way to me. But if I put my teal shaded glasses on, it sounds like he wants to stay.
Proud member of the "Re-Sign Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on May 26, 2010 10:08 PM PDT up reply actions
It would have been more legit if I did not drop my vid camera during Nabokov’s answer.
Heh, yeah — you nearly had 1000%. But even so, it was the right question to drop it.
I thought that Nabby was so shocked by the leaving assumption that he somehow chain-reacted the camera out of your hand. Either that or his reply was too violent to show.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on May 26, 2010 9:36 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
It’s the same low-key neutrality you always get from him in situations like this.
All he knows is that his gut says maybe.
The West Coast is the Best Coast.
by RudyKelly on May 26, 2010 9:57 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Just looking at what I wrote makes it seem less plausible dollar-wise, but I guess you have to consider Malhotra took $500k less to sign a 1-year deal so San Jose could fit under the camp in September. That was more than a third of his 2008-09, $1.2M salary.
Say Marleau accepts a 1-year, $5.5M salary, lets say for a 20% discount on open market price (at $7M). That equals $42.5M for 7 forwards, 5 defenseman and 1 goalie under contract. Offer Nabokov and Pavelski 4 and 3.625 respectively, short term for Nab, mutli-year plus captaincy and a salary equiv to Clowe for Pavs. That equals 50.125 for 15 players. Seto doubles his salary to 2.5, that is 52.625 for 16 players. Malhotra at 1.5M, Nichol .8, that is 53.625 for 18 players. Pencil in Frazer McLaren 500k and Mike Moore 500k (to be replaced by Blake, who comes out of retirement halfway through season a la Niedermayer and Selanne). That is 55.125 million for 20 roster players, about the same salary cap flexibility as last year if it is at 56.8 million. This also assumes my math is right.
That is a pretty drastic 25% pay reduction for Nabokov, and a little more than 20% for Marleau if he received $7M offers. Would they accept that? For Nabokov, it would tie him for 16th in goaltender compensation if it was 2009-10. Not an extreme drop, he gets to stay with his team and make another run for a Cup, and if he plays well he can still cash in after another year in teal if he wants. They key would be to allow Greiss at least 20-30 starts.
http://www.nhlnumbers.com/sort.php?pos=G&type=salary0910
For Marleau, it is easy to see a team offering him 7.5 or even 8 million given how many areas he contributes to. One of the most dangerous players the last 2 years on the pk, he has a career 44 goal season to bank on, and was solid in the playoffs and on special teams. I think the loss of the captaincy for Marleau was not a slight, but more of a positive thing adapting his role more to his personality. Keeping Marleau and Nabokov is possible, but they would have to work within the structure of a team instead of trying to maximize each individual contract.
Which of those proposed salaries is most off base? Subtract Moore and you have 2.175M of cap room to try to squeeze in a defenseman. Wallin fits in there, Zbynek Michalek is a UFA in that range. Dan Hamhuis probably wants a raise, but he would be awesome.
For Marleau, it is easy to see a team offering him 7.5 or even 8 million given how many areas he contributes to.
WHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Brian Campbell… there is always one team willing to outbid everyone else and throw the bank at a player in the offseason. Maybe that won’t happen this year.
Yep, I think there is a possibilty another team may go at least to $7.5M. How many of these players have more short handed points, more PK time, or a better faceoff percentage?
Crosby $8.7M 51 goals
Stamkos $3.7M 51 goals
Ovechkin $9.5M 50 goals
Marleau ____ 44 goals
Gaborik $7.5M 42 goals
Kovalchuk $6.4M 41 goals
Semin $6M 40 goals
Heatley $7.5M 39 goals
I hear Tallon is in Florida
He gave Campbell 7 mil for how many years?
He’d be stupid enough to pay for Marleau
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
If Marleau had a unibrow, he’d be able to take a hometown discount then
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by Kevin Sellathamby on May 27, 2010 6:16 AM PDT up reply actions
Nabby definitely sounds like he’d be willing to take a pay reduction. Maybe he’d even sign one of those 10 year front loaded deals to make his cap hit really low; but i get the feeling that he wants to be the Sharks’ number 1 guy, and i doubt he’d want to take a backseat during the Sharks’ next playoff run.
Ideally, he’d sign a 10 year contract where he’d be making around what he made last year during the frontloaded portion of the contract, and then substantially less in the later years. He could server a Chris Osgood-type mentor role to our young goaltending prospects, and he could serve as a pretty quality backup goaltender for years to come.
He's 35 though.
I don’t want Nabby pulling a Chelios for us haha.
Proud member of the "Re-Sign Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on May 26, 2010 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions
Well he’d likely retire before his Chelios years. The contract is only 10 years long in order to make his cap hit lower. Maybe the next few years he’d get 4 million each, then it would drop to 2 million for a couple years, then 1 million or lower (if possible) for the next 4 or 5 years after that. He’d then have a cap hit of 2.1 million which is workable.
Alright, I see how it could work.
Sounds good to me, cap hit wise. But 10 years just seems too long to me.
Proud member of the "Re-Sign Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on May 26, 2010 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions
That’s only because it’s irrationally and ridiculously designed in order to fit some silly salary cap cheat. If Shark fans were in charge of all 30 teams, the league would be bankrupt by Christmas.
But they would have most players locked up into their 50s — yay?
I realize this long-term contract silliness pre-dates this conversation, and I suppose it’s only natural to want the advantages that the Rangers, Red Wings, and Blackhawks have gotten, but I think there’s way too much enthusiasm here for abusing the fuck out of reality.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on May 27, 2010 1:26 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Also, I suppose I should ask — will Nabokov or Marleau be 35 before next season starts?
It’s an important factor to consider before offering any long-term cap-cheat deal to them. Because if either is 35+ and signs, even if they do retire early as planned, THE CAP HIT DOES NOT COME OFF THE BOOKS WHEN THEY RETIRE.
Of course, cynical me says we’ll have a new (season-costing) CBA by then, so maybe there’s still an out, but now you’re banking on lawyers.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on May 27, 2010 1:35 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I suppose I should have just checked their ages — this 35+ clause would apply to Nabby this summer, so I think there’s no cap-cheating really available for him, at least not in the “he can retire early in the contract” vein.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on May 27, 2010 3:06 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah I knew I remembered reading that somewhere. No salary cap chicanery possible for Nabby.
They call me Patrick Marleau, P.I.
Battle of California
Same with Pronger in Philly
But I think he may play until the end of it, becoming the next Chelios, except this one will break your face regularly
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
wow
I feel dumb for not knowing that rule but how did no one in the Flyers orginzation know that?? So they’re down 5 million in cap space for the next 7 years, and Pronger will probably only be worth that much for the next 3 years. That sounds like a huge fuck up…
Unless Pronger leads them to a Cup this year, or in one of the next few years. Then it looks like a brilliant move to bring him in…
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by ZeroIndulgence on May 27, 2010 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions
Well it was definitely a great idea to bring him in either way, but the way they did his contract just does not seem smart at all.
Yeah, because they really could have done whatever they wanted then — Pronger was dealt with only his last year of the Edmonton 5-year deal remaining, and Philly all of a sudden went apeshit with a new contract as fast as possible.
I get that from a PR perspective, of course — hang your wagon on Pronger — but maybe somebody with some knowledge of the CBA should have chimed in as well.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
I don't think they did
I remember there being some confusion from the Philly office after the retirement issue and his age was brought up.
He turned 35 after he signed the contract, but before it went into effect, I think that was the issue as they thought it was based on when he signed not when it started.
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
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San Jose
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