Dobber’s offseason fantasy hockey grades – San Jose Sharks

For the last 17 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 18th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer…er, winter. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Joe Thornton, Aaron Dell, Jonny Brodzinski, Brandon Davidson, Tim Heed, Melker Karlsson, Dalton Prout, Lukas Radil

Incoming – Kurtis Gabriel, Patrick Marleau, Matt Nieto, Devan Dubnyk, Ryan Donato, Head Coach Bob Boughner

Impact of changes – Having both Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns under contract has tied the hands of the organization due to the cap implications, restricting them to doing tweaks and making changes through trade instead of free agency. Karlsson and Burns have been 1-2 (in whatever order) for pretty much the last several years when it comes to my monthly keeper-league rankings. If you rely on trades to make improvements, then there's a different kind of risk involved. The Sharks upgraded their goaltending by swapping out Dell for Dubnyk. Theoretically. Dubnyk is coming off a horrible season marred by personal issues. But he's 34 now, does he have enough career left from which to rebound? Still, even at worst, it is likely that a tandem of Dubnyk-Martin Jones is better than a tandem of Dell-Jones, and the upside is much, much higher.

Assuming Thornton to Marleau is a small downgrade and Melker Karlsson to Donato is an upgrade, the Sharks improved up front. Donato will see more ice time with San Jose and will probably be given a longer leash to work through his stretches of inconsistency. Donato owners should be happy with the new arrangement. But the overall improvement of this team will rely first and foremost on the health of Erik Karlsson, and second on the ability of Kevin Labanc to get back on track and give this team a secondary threat. Before last season he had been trending to meet and exceed 60 points, perhaps even approach 70. Getting that player back would be huge.

Ready for full-time – The Sharks will be filling out the bottom part of their lineup with prospects and there are no shortage of candidates. The idea being that two or three of them will really step up and carve themselves a regular spot as reliable contributors.

Antti Suomela is a former star in Finland who has acclimated well to the AHL game and has held his own at the NHL level too. Now 26, he is ready and would have to clear waivers in order to be sent down. Last season he had seven points in 20 games with the big club and has third-line center upside for the coming season.

Noah Gregor is a solid energy guy who could be good for the Hits category in 2020-21. He had five points and 50 Hits in 28 games despite averaging just 10 minutes per contest. He impressed the coaching staff enough to get bumped up to the Logan Couture – Evander Kane line towards the end before the season was put on pause.

Brinson Pasichnuk was arguably the top undrafted defenseman coming out of college and the Sharks signed him. The 6-0, 205-pound left-handed shooter compiled 24 goals and 67 points in his last 71 NCAA games with Arizona State. NHL teams have had their eye on him for a couple of years due to his nice shot from the point and how often he loves to use it. He should start the year as the No.6 guy, unless the Sharks sign another rearguard by then. But he will have a chance to move into the second pairing, which would be pretty great considering that would put him with one of Karlsson or Burns.

Alexander True is a late bloomer, which is unsurprising considering he is 6-5. Bigger forwards take longer, which may be part of the reason why he was never drafted. However, his hands are catching up to his body and the Denmark native has put up 80 points in his last 108 AHL games over the past two campaigns. The Sharks really like his progress and they love the size he provides down the middle. However, he can be sent to the minors for one more season without having to clear waivers, so he's behind the eight-ball a bit.

John Leonard is pure sniper who scored an eye-popping 27 goals in 33 games for Massachusetts (HE) last season as a junior. He skipped his senior year to turn pro, but temper your expectations as he will need some AHL time at first. How much time will depend on how quickly he can find the net at the pro level.

San Jose Sharks prospect depth chart and fantasy upsides can be found here

Fantasy Outlook – The Sharks dipped from third in NHL scoring…to 27^th last year. They have no star forward who is good enough to add 20 points to a skilled player's upside. Logan Couture, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier are each real solid forwards and Kevin Labanc has untapped offensive potential…but they aren't game-breakers.

And while the Sharks do have a defenseman who can do that…they also have a second defenseman who can do that, thereby taking away the potential power-play time of any talented new rearguard who joins the team. Goaltending is, of course, questionable. Martin Jones has long been the bane of fantasy owners and Devan Dubnyk is coming off a horrible campaign that we can only hope a fresh start will fix.

The prospect pipeline is finally getting pretty good, thanks to a very strong 2020 NHL Draft as well as solid undrafted free agent signings (True, Suomela, Pasichnuk among others). Sasha Chmelevski and Joachim Blichfeld are probably just a year away, with both holding top-six upside.

Fantasy Grade: C- (last year was B)

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2020 Offseason Fantasy Hockey Grades

Winnipeg

Washington

Vegas

Vancouver

Toronto

Tampa Bay

St. Louis