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Don't Count on Avery in
Teal
Rash of injuries may force
action
12/14/08 - By Mike Lee
A real
test is brewing for the Sharks. While the NHL's best team continues to roll
along its merry way into the new year, the injury bug has suddenly started to
show its ugly head. Jonathan Cheechoo has missed the last 6 games. Jeremy
Roenick is likely to miss a minimum of three weeks in order to tend to his
shoulder. Sharks GM Doug Wilson may be forced into action if he wants his team
to stay at the head of the pack.
Defenseman Brad Lukowich just
returned from a two-game stint on the mend, and Joe Pavelski is in wait and see
mode after suffering an upper body injury on Saturday night. The Sharks called
up Jamie McGinn on Sunday night, only 24 hours after Lukas Kaspar got the call
up from Worcester.
So with all these injuries mounting, do the Sharks
need to panic?
Worcester has been a revolving door for the Sharks
already this season. Riley Armstrong, Tom Cavanagh, Brad Staubitz and Tomas
Greiss have all had stints in San Jose thus far.
With Tomas Plihal,
Cavanagh, Kaspar and McGinn on the current NHL roster, it may be time to start
thinking about how to plug that gap.
One option that is unlikely, is
bringing in the NHL current super bad boy Sean Avery. Cut loose by the Dallas
Stars on Sunday, Avery now finds himself in search of a new job.
Don't
let the curious behavior fool you. If the Sharks had the cap space, San Jose
would be an interesting fit, because of their long string of playoff failures.
The Sharks added more talent to the lineup during the off season, but they did
little to upgrade in the grit department.
That alone is the big fat
bulls eye, for any opponent the Sharks square off against come playoff time. If
Wilson can give Claude Lemiuex a contract, why not Avery?
And that's where the dollars come in. San Jose would
need to move a contract in order to create any relief in the salary cap. Wilson
is unlikely to tweak any of the big player contracts that he currently has,
because he doesn't need to. He's not going to mess with a good thing, vacancy
of grit or not.
If the Sharks do any kind of deal, it involves Kyle
McLaren, who continues to languish in Worcester. The veteran defenseman has a
hefty contract himself, that the Sharks would love to unload just for the sake
of saving the cash, but they're not going to give him away.
There have
also been rumblings from Worcester that McLaren is getting antsy. Look for the
Sharks to unload him for a couple of draft picks. Wilson needs to restock after
purging picks the last few years in trade deadline deals. While a 3rd and 4th
round pick may not sound like much, they would go a long way in helping San
Jose restock its minor league system.
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