San Jose Sharks Finally To Make Big Changes

Remember all the big changes San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson promised after blowing a 3-0 series lead against the Los Angeles Kings one year ago? The start of those appears to be this Wednesday at the end-of-the-season press conference.

The first shoe appears ready to drop on San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan. Both he and GM Doug Wilson will address the future together and rumor has it the two will mutually agree to part ways. Is McLellan moving on truly in the best interest of the San Jose Sharks?

McLellan has coached the Sharks to a 311-163-66 record in his seven seasons behind the bench. This was the first season under McLellan that the San Jose Sharks failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Four times in those seven years the Sharks were top five in the league in points. Does that seem like the right change to make if you’re Wilson?

To be fair, McLellan has a losing playoff record (30-32) and that whole Kings collapse hanging on him partly. The head coach doesn’t score or play defense. He doesn’t come out to cut off angles on top of his crease. And he doesn’t have final say over the roster.

I’ve already said Wilson should be let go after the way he handled Joe Thornton all season. With one playoff series win in three years heading into this season, that was the time to make bigger changes to the roster. Big changes were coming after the emotion of dropping a series after leading 3-0 and this seemed the logical direction for the San Jose Sharks.

The changes were cosmetic at best. Now Wilson will have a harder time making those changes because of the contracts involved. The same core of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Coture, Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski are all signed for the next two years with contracts of at least $5.7 million according to sportrac.com.

Don’t expect any decisions Wednesday about players. There is plenty of time for that once the draft order is set on Saturday. I expect to hear a few comments about unrestricted free agents Antti Niemi and John Scott and the plan moving forward, particularly in-goal. The San Jose Sharks draft pick will dictate how active Wilson will be in reshaping the roster.

As I said above, I don’t think he should get the chance. Wilson has maintained the core of this team without real efforts to improve it over the last few years. It doesn’t seem like Wilson has made a major move toward improving the team since the 2010-11 season. Coaches aren’t miracle workers, and Wilson has basically put the same team on the ice for years and expected different results.

Now McLellan seems the fall guy for it. It’s not like he suddenly forgot how to coach. After all he is going to coach Team Canada in the men’s hockey world championship. If you’re the coach that gets the job when Mike Babcock isn’t available, you’re a good coach.

So if McLellan and the San Jose Sharks part ways, what next? Joe Thornton isn’t going to scream for a trade. He is the bigger professional but he can’t be happy the GM that antagonized him is still there and his head coach isn’t. Could this be the offseason Thornton waives his no-trade clause?

Wednesday’s press conference is not going to answer most of these questions. If anything Wilson is going to put his foot in his mouth again and we can all speculate whether the San Jose Sharks will follow through on big changes, or if this is another offseason of big talk and little action.

I feel bad for the players in the room, and for McLellan. It’s been a very successful seven-year partnership. The early years were very good. If only for a GM that were less passive in recent years, the San Jose Sharks could have made it over a few more playoff hurdles. Maybe to the Stanley Cup.

Instead the Sharks are falling in the Western Conference. Here’s a question for Sharks fans: would the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs without trading Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian for Drew Stafford and Tyler Myers? Which approach would you rather take in building your franchise?

No risk means no reward and this season it caught up to the San Jose Sharks. It seems Todd McLellan will also leave his job because of it. Hopefully San Jose Sharks fans will hear more than lip service explaining it and get a clear direction about changes to keep the team from a continued downward spiral.

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