“We now become a tomorrow team,” was how general manager Doug Wilson put it rather dramatically earlier this week

They aren't willing to spend money anymore, hammer. That's the real driver here. Don't expect them to replace outgoing players with anyone of notable cost. They won't be a cap spending team.

They aren't willing to spend money anymore, hammer. That's the real driver here. Don't expect them to replace outgoing players with anyone of notable cost. They won't be a cap spending team.

I don't get why they are cutting costs now though. Did the owners develop money problems or something? Otherwise seems like a reaction out of frustration.

Also, resigning Mike Brown for 2 yrs at $2.4m is inane. He had some nice moments in the (brief) playoffs but they should be able to get a young kid who can do the same thing better and cheaper.

Sharks pick up John Scott as their only foray into the free agent market. I think DW may have lost his mind.

Ownership are idiots. Joe and Marleau will never agree to a trade and are signed for 3 years. Owners should have sucked it up and put the pedal to the metal for the next 3 years then full rebuild. The $10m+ from Boyle and Havlat could have gone to two of iginla, Mitchell, Bolland, Erhoff...same team as last year plus 2 of those could seriously = Cup.

It's abundantly clear to me that the Sharks are going through austerity measures. They want to qualify for revenue sharing while still making the playoffs. To qualify for revenue sharing you can't spend above the mid-point in the cap. They're currently $1.6m below that spot with only Demers left to re-sign. Demers likely puts them over that spot, but Tyler Kennedy is probable trade bait.

If they can spend $8m below the salary cap, get revenue sharing, and still make the same playoff revenue as they have the past few years the owners are laughing.

It sucks because a good piece here and a good piece there would make it work. It sucks because they're just filling holes with stupid players. But whenever there's an injury the AHLers will jump ahead of these guys. Ownership definitely does not want to see the likes of Havlat with his pricetag in the pressbox. John Scott is preferable for that role.

I think you're right in that a good piece here and there would make it work. However if they're going to strip payroll down and look to reload, they might have to bite the bullet and deal Thornton and Marleau sooner rather than later. 35 years old isn't ancient, but their contracts still look good and only have 3 years. Does their production take a big enough drop in the next year or two to really hurt their trade value? It might hurt them short term, but long term could the difference in the trade returns offset it? Tough questions and I imagine one that is weighing heavily on Wilson.

NMCs and NTCs complicate things. Thornton doesn't want to leave, he's said as much.

Pavelski is the guy they should deal. He literally won't have a better season in his life than last year, and even then he wasn't as good as Jumbo Joe. Sell 'em high, he's 30 anyways.

That means captain Joe Thornton and alternate captain Patrick Marleau have been stripped of their letters for the time being, although McLellan doesn’t consider the move a punishment.

“Thornton could end up being the captain. I don’t know, none of us know,” McLellan said. “If it’s real evident he’s the guy, he’ll be the captain … This is not an indictment of the guys who wore the letters. There’s 20 other guys that played here last year that should have been participating and influencing the environment, and they need to step up.”