The Blow-Up Option: Five Steps the San Jose Sharks Should Take This Summer

Man, if you're a Sharks fan, this has got to be getting old.

Not only are the Sharks and their fans suffering through yet another year of shattered hopes and quashed dreams, but for the third summer in a row, the debate of whether or not to blow up this team will begin to rage like a California fire.

I'm not a Sharks fan, but as a Red Wings fan, I do have a soft spot for elite, high-profile teams, and as a native Californian, I have followed the Sharks closely over the years.

For the record, I really thought this year's Sharks team was going to finally get it done. Back in November, I wrote about how much they reminded me of my Wings back in 1997, the year they ended their 42-year Cup drought.

Unfortunately, I was wrong, and the Sharks are once again in the familiar position of facing more questions than answers post-playoffs.

However, as an outside observer, I don't think it's appropriate for me to argue on one side or the other of the "to blow up or not to blow up the team" debate.

That's something Sharks fans can more passionately argue about than I can.

However, assuming GM Doug Wilson has his thumb on the detonator (and assuming he will not be taken out in the blast), it appears to me that there are several moves, five to be precise, that could be made to make this team stronger next year and beyond.

Before we got on with this, let me acknowledge that "blowing up the team" could mean different things to different people. It could include trading players, letting free agents walk, or a combination of those two; whatever the case, it certainly means bringing in new faces.

Lastly, understand that the following suggestions are designed to be completed in the sequence in which they're presented. These are sequential steps that, though not exhaustive (more than this will need to be done), could leave the Sharks a better, more complete team.

Though, admittedly, I don't how you can get better or more complete than the team that just got swept in the Western Conference Finals, but I digress.

As always, I welcome all comments, counter-arguments, and points of contention, so post away!

Step One: Let the Free Agents Walk

What's that they tell people in AA—"the first step is always the toughest?"

Well, that certainly applies here.

Not so much for Rob Blake, and perhaps not all that much more for Evgeni Nabokov, but letting Patrick Marleau go makes this step understandably difficult and painful.

Not only is he the longest serving Sharks' player, spending all of his 11 NHL seasons in San Jose, he's their former captain and one of the few players that appeared ready to win in the Western Conference Finals.

He has certainly made his case for a new contract in San Jose (which assumes he wants one, something that's yet to be determined), but if the Sharks really want to blow this team up and go in a new direction, Marleau is one of those guys that will need to leave to do so.

As for Nabokov, another lifelong Shark, waving goodbye to him (and his five-hole) may not be as tough for the team and the fans.

While he is still an elite goalie, his inability to consistently show up in the postseason, despite repeated chances, is reason enough to wish him the best and send him on his way.

Regarding Rob Blake, I have one word: "retirement."

These three guys alone will clear up $15.8 million in cap space.

Now, what to do with that money is a big question, but relax—the answers are coming.

Step Two: Sign Chris Mason to a three-year, $9 million deal

OK, before you get too pissed off, hear me out.

While essentially trading a goaltender like Nabokov for a guy like Mason appears like a significant downgrade, from a team perspective, it does make some sense.

Mason is coming off his first 30-win season and did so with the St. Louis Blues, a marginally competitive team at best.

While he's likely not Vezina-bound (but hell, with guys like Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton coming out of nowhere, who can guess?), Mason does provide his team with solid, occasionally great, goaltending.

Additionally, paying a relatively small amount for a starting goaltender will allow Thomas Greiss to get in more than the career-high 16 starts he had this season. When you're not paying $6 million a year on a goalie, you've got a bit more freedom to let your younger guy get a legitimate shot at the net.

Paying Mason $3 million a year will also help to increase his tradeability. If Thomas Greiss pulls a "Jimmy Howard" or "Antti Niemi" and makes an unexpected rise to be San Jose's No. 1 tender next year, an affordable contract on a good goalie will be a handy thing to have when considering upgrades on forward or defense come the trade deadline.

Bottom line: Mason should provide decent enough goaltending to allow San Jose to continue to rely on their offense rather than defense to win games.

This isn't to say the defense is without its flaws.

Enter Anton Volchenkov.

Step Three: Sign Anton Volchenkov to a five-year, $20 million deal

Not only will the Sharks need a replacement for Rob Blake, they could also stand to get a bit meaner on the blue line.

True, adding a second offensive defenseman (Dan Boyle being the first) will be an attractive option, but the Sharks would be better served getting a guy that makes forwards think twice about crossing the blue line than one that can threaten to score from it.

Volchenkov is big, mobile, nasty, and hands down the best shot-blocking defenseman in the game.

Though spending $4 million per year on a defensive defenseman isn't common, the value Volchenkov would bring to the Sharks, particularly if he's paired with Douglas Murray, a terrifying duo if ever there was one, should be well worth the investment.

If you're keeping track at home, you'll see that the annual $15.8 million surplus created by the departures of Marleau, Nabokov, and Blake is now down to $8.8 million.

The good news is, signing the next player won't require putting a big dent in that number.

Step Four: Sign Manny Malhotra to a four-year, $6 million deal

The one-year, $750k deal that made Malhotra a San Jose Shark late last summer turned out to be one of the best bargains of 2009-10.

A cast-off from Columbus, Malhotra wasn't even offered a contract outright. Rather, he was invited to the Sharks training camp with a chance to play his way onto the roster and into a contract.

And boy, did he.

His 33 points (14G, 19A) and plus-17 rating provided value in and of themselves, but it was his 62 percent face-off winning percentage that really made him an invaluable member of the 2009-10 Sharks.

At 29, Malhotra still has plenty of good hockey left in him, and his outstanding play this year will warrant a raise, something many teams will be willing to give him.

However, Malhotra has stated that he really feels he's found a home in San Jose, and if they were to double his pay ($1.5 million per year), it seems certain that he'd be happy to remain a Shark.

Which, in the end, is a very good thing because you need guys like Malhotra on your team if you want to win a championship.

However, the Sharks are going to need more than a solid defensive forward, a big, tough defender, and a decent goalie between the pipes next season.

They will need to replace, or attempt to replace, Marleau's 44 goals.

They will need to make sure they give Joe Thornton (and no, I don't think trading Thornton is a step worth taking) someone to pass to.

Most importantly, the Sharks need a bona fide, undeniable, dyed-in-the-wool, blood and guts leader.

Because honestly, they haven't had one since Owen Nolan left San Jose via trade in 2003.

For all the talent the Sharks have developed and/or acquired over the past few seasons, one would be hard pressed to find the kind of leadership required to take a team all the way to the promised land.

To this point, we've been looking at UFA signings as a way to rebuild the Sharks. However, adding the leader the Sharks need will require a trade, and it's a blockbuster.

Step Five: Trade Kent Huskins, Ryan Clowe, and '10 First Round Pick for Jarome Iginla

Things are a mess in Calgary.

Bad trades have left them with no draft picks in the first round in 2010, they've got relatively little talent in the pipeline, and both Jarome Iginla and the Flames used the word "trade" when speaking about each other after failing to qualify for the playoffs this season.

While trading the heart and soul of their team may seem like an impossibility, the same can be said for letting Marleau walk. However, the reason that justifies both moves is the same: They haven't won with them.

At 32 (he'll be 33 in July), Iginla is still one of the best forwards in the league and will likely have at least three more good years in him before he really starts to tail off.

That's an important thing to consider given that his contract, which pays him $7 million per year, expires in 2013.

Iginla would provide not only the scoring that is sure to come with Joe Thornton as his center-man, but also the supreme leadership abilities guys like Jumbo clearly just don't have.

As frightening as the Dany Heatley/Thornton/Marleau line was in 2009-10, replacing the latter with Iginla would be scarier still.

In return for Iginla, the Flames would get a tough, power forward in Ryan Clowe and a big, safe, steady defender in Kent Huskins for a combined, cap-friendly $5.4 million.

Clowe would never fill the void left by Iginla at right wing, but his physicality and nose (if not a bit inconsistent) for the net is something Calgary could make use of as it attempts to rebuild its team into a contender.

This step, and the four preceding it, would contribute roughly $5.5 million in cap space for San Jose, space they'll need to fill remaining holes.

However, these five moves could go a long way towards ensuring that the Sharks hit the ice for the 2010-11 season a bit tougher, still dangerous, and with the leadership needed to make yet another run at Lord Stanley's Cup.