Thomas Greiss

The San Jose Sharks won their fourth consecutive Pacific Division title last year, and their sixth in the past nine seasons. However, with four of the division's five teams making the postseason (and Dallas, the fifth, finishing a mere two points out of the playoffs), the Sharks have their work cut out for them this year.

Antti Niemi signed a four-year extension that will keep him in teal through the 2014-15 season.

At $3.8 million per year, a salary-cap friendly price for a Stanley Cup winning and underrated net-minder, Niemi is currently the longest contracted Shark—and the only player under contract for the 2014-2015 season.

Let's take a look at the San Jose Sharks upcoming year and see where they will end up after the departure of a few players.

Now that the New Jersey Devils officially own the rights to Ilya Kovalchuk, they are approximately $3 million over the cap. The Devils will now have to go the trade route to shed some salary.

The most likely trade candidates appear to be Bryce Salvador, Colin White, Brian Rolston, and Dainius Zubrus.

*Sorry for not having an update for the last two days. I just came home from a 12 hour flight! Updates will once again be daily.*

-John

Ilya Kovalchuk

As you may already know, the NHL's deadline has been moved to 5 PM EST on Friday (today). Could it finally be over today? Let's hope so since training camp is just around the corner.  

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.

Hindsight is a funny thing because it can cause the most solid of choices seem weak and incorrect after the fact has occured. Take for example the San Jose Sharks offseason thus far, where many of Doug Wilson's choices can be second guessed in hindsight.

( See Marty Turco contract, Andy Sutton, Antti Niemi )

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."

If Evgeni Nabokov is the greatest Sharks goaltender of all time, let Antti Niemi challenge for that title.

With the departure of the most notable and recognizable face of the San Jose franchise, Sharks management find themselves faced with two options.  They can bestow their trust upon Thomas Greiss, or they can go out into the market and acquire a new number one goalie.

Option #1: Promoting From Within

The Discovery Channel kicked off Shark Week, its week-long celebration of the San Jose Sharks NHL franchise, today in style, with several brand new programs about the mediocre hockey team.

The yearly tradition of changing the entire channel over from nature programming to sports and focusing on such an obscure franchise has surprisingly worked out great for the network. Families gather around the television to tune in and see what crazy footage the Discovery cameras have captured every year.