Doug Wilson

Ever since Doug Wilson took over as the San Jose Sharks general manager he has been trying to concoct a Stanley Cup champion.

I suppose every general manager does this. What separates Wilson from the majority is that he has been incredibly successful in most areas.

Doug Wilson has again shown why his savvy in contract negotiations makes him an elite general manager.

According to the team's website, the San Jose Sharks have signed Logan Couture to a two-year contract extension that will keep him in teal beyond this season.

The NHL trade deadline came and passed at noon pacific mime Monday and, as many predicted, Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson made no further changes to his teams roster.

Wilson admitted to being keen to what was happening on "deadline day," as most all GM's in the league were, but he had made his moves to solidify the Sharks roster weeks before the league's roster freeze.

The deadline is now just a few days away, and there have been a very entertaining and interesting bunch of trades so far.

All the experts were proven wrong in thinking that the salary cap and parity in the league would drive down the number of trades.

From wild to mild, chances are your teams have made the moves they think best position themselves for the NHL playoffs.

Free agents, a change of scenery or a pure hockey trade, we've seen more than a few deals that make sense this year.

The NHL Trade Deadline is just five calendar days away. That hasn't stopped the trades or GM's phones from ringing. With many teams still looking to fill needs with limited assets, it figures to be a eventful week leading to the deadline.

While many experts may surmise that the San Jose Sharks are done with their trade process, the fact is they are not. Despite being snug up against the cap, there are a multitude of reasons for this line of reasoning.

Antti Niemi will eternally be a piece of history; not only to Chicago, but to his native country for being the first Finnish goalie to win the Stanley Cup.

In Chicago, he helped bring the Cup home after a 49-year drought.  He was also part of the Blackhawks exasperating summer which allowed him to become an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Sharks GM Doug Wilson is a widely respected GM, known for his shrewd moves, salary cap management, and having a gameplan when constructing his team. He's brought the San Jose fanbase a respectable, talented, and deep roster capable of winning regularly in the brutal Western Conference and to consistently be a force in the regular season. More importantly, the man has a goal, a vision, a plan as it were in building a winner capable of taking home hockey's greatest prize.

Having gone through numerous debates with friends and foes about who's the best hockey player—Sid the Kid or Alexander the Gr8—I decided to kick the debate up another notch...who is the best manager to attract and retain the stars in their franchises?

We will let you, the hockey fans, vote on this hot topic.

Here are five candidates who are looked upon as the cream of the crop:

With the departure of goalie Evgeni Nabokov, Shark fans look toward the 2010-2011 season with a measure of trepidation and uncertainty as well as excitement. For those fans who have a sense of doom or fear about the upcoming season, you aren't jumping to conclusions.

It's not every day your hockey team lets the NHL's winningest regular season goaltender the past 3 years walk with no real "replacement."

Just this past Friday, the San Jose Sharks announced that they had signed Chicago Blackhawks' restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to a 4-year, $14 million contract.

Now as a restricted free agent, this offer kicked into a gear a period of seven days in which the Blackhawks had to decide whether or not to match San Jose' offer.

And despite most fans and experts believing Chicago would take the full seven days to mull over their decision, yahoo sports is reporting today that the Blackhawks have indeed matched San Jose's offer.