I just wanted to take some to reflect on this years San Jose Sharks team.  The Sharks have clearly been the 2nd focus of GM Tommyboy, however that doesn't mean he hasnt put the time and effort into this Shark team.  

This season has been rough for the Sharks.  Jimmy Howard was not protected in the draft and the Sharks quickly went from a contender to a bottom feeder in a hurry until they landed their goalie.  They started by Trading their backup Dipietro and LW David booth and picked up a potential future star in HOLTBY83 along with tough guy ben eager.  Holtby had a decent year with NJ last year and has the potential to be a star in the future.  His name even came up in goaltenders for team canada in the off season last year.  SJ also had picked up REIMER84 who had a good year with the avs the year before.  In my opinion SJ is now stronger in net.  

Although the first couple of sims show otherwise, san jose has made moves that have shocked the hockey world.  They have got back some solid pieces in the process and have jumped from last place to 10th place for the last sim. Here's a list of players who have left and who have joined the sharks.

GONE:BURROWS85, MARTIN85, NIKITIN81                        
IN: Cammy85 Bieksa85 Stralman78

ANALYSIS
This was simple.  Bieksa is a beast and was the key to this deal.  Burrows is injury prone and SJ was Finished with him.  Stralman came off a good year in nhl so had some value.

GONE:Hartnell84 Zubrus80 Orpik83
IN: Nystrom78 Lindholm72 Kucherov80 Methot83

ANALYSIS
This was for depth and future.  Hartnell will be and is still missed.  But SJ picked up 5th ovr pick Lindholm72 and rw Kucherov80 was an upgrade IMO over zubrus.  Methot for orpik was like winning $50 on a scratch ticket so that was nice also.

GONE: Seguin88 Lander76 Lovejoy80
IN: Krejci87 Sam Bennett71 Boychuk85

ANALYSIS
Never wanted to break up Seguin and benn.  Seguin finished 4th in nhl scoring last year (surprised arent ya?) He will go up.  Hattrick is a huge dallas fan and had offered Krecji, Sam Bennett, and Boychuk straight up.  I threw in Lander76 and lovejoy80 to even it out some.   Sharks landed Bennett before he was drafted to the gms favorite nhl team (FLAMES) and this trade will be key in the future)  In the sim Krejci produces so getting boychuk an 85 d who was traded later was key and bennett will be held until krauzer ends up bugging me enough


GONE:RNH87 Paille79 Boyes82 Methot83
IN:Lecavlier Boedker83 Stewart85 Weber79

ANALYSIS
This deal was to strengthen SJ's wingers.  Vinny can still produce in game well enough on a 2nd line, and paille79 for boedker and then boyes for stewart85 was the key.  Stewart is a pwf and works better then cammySNP on the 1st line with a ply and snp.  Methot for weber was to try and get Ellis78ofd back into the lineup.  

GONE: Cammy85
IN: Reaves78 Bollig69 CGY 1st rnd Pick and 8K

ANALYSIS
This deal was to solidify stewart as the #1 rw.  I feel kucherov could produce well enough on line 2 so this one was for the future.  Securing 8k, and Cgy's 1st round pick was key.  There are some good players in FA and there is 30 more games to go anything could happen.  Reaves will be a line 4 and bollig i hope will go up a tad in rating as he will get ample opportunity with the flames in next years nhl.  This trade was a win for both teams.

GONE: Boychuk85
IN: KUEMPER71 SPROUL69

ANALYSIS
Getting boychuk85 in the Philly deal helped out a lot.  Once again I wanted Ellis to be in my lineup.  Boychuk was expandable.  SJ didnt have a young goalie in their system so seeing kuemper in last years nhl playoffs was enough bait for the sharks to bite on.  Fear was extremely against trading kuemper during the nhl playoffs and for good reason. Sproul is red wings draft pick and at 21 in the ahl had 32pts in 72games along with 5pts in 10 playoff games.  He's a red wing draft pick, its a risk worth taking in my opinion.


So there you have the majority of SJ's moves during season 5.  This team is up and down but the future is getting stronger for them and as long as I can be patient it should pan out.  San Jose has a great young D core which should get rating increases next season.  Gudas had a good year with tampa, Gio had an amazing year with the flames and I bet he's an 86 or 87 next year, Ellis will go up a couple of rating points as well as scandella.  Overall they will become stronger.  Jamie Benn leads this team and who knows where it will go, the future is bright in San Jose and there is never a dull moment in the shark tank.

For the Shark Tank Feeder, Im tommboy.  Good day, and good luck!