PREVIEW: San Jose Sharks Roster SHAKE-UP—Can Mason Marchment Secure His SPOT Over Tyler Toffoli?

With the increased talent among the Sharks Top 6, there's going to be plenty of training camp battles to watch. Your Locked On Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, my name is JD Young, and on today's episode of Locked On Sharks, we're going to dig in into some of the training camp battles. The training camp starts next week. Today we'll be looking at the top six, trying to kind of see who's a lock to make the top six or play majority of their time in the top six, who is competing in how I ultimately think the Sharks break training camp and start the regular season in their top six. So let's start with the easy part of who are locks to play top six minutes for this team. And it's actually pretty hard to be honest, there's a couple of locks like for sure that we'll get to in here a second. But just kind of going into this year's training camp and looking at the roster and the way that the Sharks have constructed this roster, there's a lot of like legitimate competition on this year's team. And that like is, we know that that is something that Mike Greer and Ryan Wersowski preach right, that competition competition they're not going to give away jobs. And you can see it, especially when you look at kind of that middle six and you know, a lot of the conversation takes me with this top six, but it's going to bleed over into that third line as well, right? And because this is one of the more talented teams that the Sharks have put together in a while. And I know the bar has been like below the ocean floor compared, you know, in previous years. Um, you know, you're starting to see, right, all those top end picks making their contribution and the Sharks going out and adding talent to this off season, including a guy like Mason Marchment, right? And you know, you had to keep for sure what at the deadline last year or before the deadline last year, right? You have Senberg, who's going to be in the mix as well, as well as Shirtashov and like, this is a much more competitive top six group than what the Sharks have put out recently. So I'm going to say the like legitimate top six guys who are relaxed to make the top six. One, Macron celebrity, of course, who is the shark's best player by far, not even really close to be honest, right? Just got paid a massive contract that will extension that will kick in next season, right? You know, he did hold the crown for biggest contract for a short period of time before Kale McCarty has certainly got his deal. But, uh, Mackle celebrity, right, he is the engine for this team. He is as Macron goes, his team goes, uh, the future captain, right, and we're already starting to kind of see and put together things like, uh, our good friend, Huffle Hockey, who, uh, right, they had the video with, um, you know, Tafoli, Thornton and Macron, and they're all playing, you know, they guessed the, you know, they had the little headband game that they're playing. And, um, right, Tafoli, we're in his A, of course, Macron wore an A last year. So why was it Macron wearing an A this year, question mark, um, you know, like he's going to be the captain of the team and he's going to play the most minutes among all the forwards and he will be up there amongst the team leaders when it comes to minutes, uh, this season, like Macron is going to play a ton and, right, uh, 21, 22 minutes a night, it is probably the expectation for Macron, it's the number one center on this team. And again, one of the, easily the sharks best player and one of the five to 10 best players in the NHL is we'll continue to kind of dive into into that, uh, here pretty soon. But, you know, I think it's fair to say, Macron and his coming off is 150 points is going to play the, uh, be a top six fixture, uh, as long as he is healthy, uh, breathing and wearing teal, he will be playing a ton of minutes for the San Jose sharks. So, uh, I, I think the other easy one is Will Smith, right, um, Will Smith, who's entered the roster of his ELC, of course, uh, him and Macron have basically been, you know, stapled at the hip, uh, for, you know, two seasons now and, um, Will Smith, who was having a great season till his injury last year and is a player who I'm very high on this season and expect him to put together a monster campaign. And yes, Will Smith, 100% has his flaws, but, um, he makes Macron a better player and Macron makes him a better player. And I don't see why you would mess with that chemistry. And, uh, I know there's, you know, questions about what Will Smith's going to get paid if he's going to be deserving of it and stuff like that. But, uh, Will Smith is set to have a massive, massive role with the San Jose sharks this season and will probably be, you know, flirting with 30, 35, 40 goals this year. Point for game type of player. Uh, and I think for Will Smith, then like should be playing first line minutes with this, if Macron is out there, Will Smith should not be far behind is basically, uh, how I'm going to kind of put that with him. But, um, the other player who I think is a, at least out of camp, I'm going to say is a lock to play be in the top six is actually one of the sharks newest additions, Mason Marchment, right? Uh, you just signed Marchment to a five year deal at 6.75 million. Uh, Marchment who has a history of playing top line minutes, top six minutes, uh, you know, in previous stops, um, you know, last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets, playing, we played a lot with Fantilly on the top line there at 32 points in 39 games with, with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Uh, we know these sharks have tried to put together a, you know, a kind of bigger forward to play with Celebrini and Smith. And I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the first crack at that, right? And we saw all the key for Sherwood edition. Actually, that was the first thing they tried to do, right? Let's put Sherwood with Celebrini and Smith and see if that work. Of course, like it didn't really work. So, I think they're going to try to go back to that well again. I think you also, right, he was one of your big time additions this off season. I think he's going to get top six minutes, at least, uh, out of camp. So I think he's going to be one of those players, whether he's playing on the first sign or playing on the second line. I think Mason Marchment is a lock to play top six minutes. Um, other than that, I think it speaks to how many kind of questions that the sharks do have in their top six. And not that they have, I think they have the talent. But it's going to be very much, I think it comes down to whether Michael Measer, Alex Wenberg, win that second center job coming out of camp. And that, that is going to, that kind of change, like how that works and who wins that job, I think is really going to affect who plays in the top six, uh, going forward. And, you know, the, if Alex Wenberg does win that job, how long does he hold off Michael Measer? And if Michael Measer wins out of camp, how long do the sharks kind of, I don't want to say keep the training wheels, but how long do they maybe keep younger players off that same line with Michael Measer? So, uh, we're going to explore that here in just a second. We'll talk about, right, that battle and kind of what happens if each player wins and kind of the ripple effect that means for guys like Colin Graf, for talent to fully, um, key for sure, would Igor Scherner shop all of these other guys who are going to be in the mix and then, uh, we'll kind of at the end go through who I think will, uh, who I think the top six will be for the San Jose sharks, uh, opening night. So, we'll get to that in just one second. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandall. How are we rewarding? Are we talking more rewarding than touchdown with time expiring? More rewarding than an 18 point comeback? More rewarding than an online and catching a touchdown. The season Fandall is making an excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all new Fandall rewards club for each year an exclusive offer surprises and more. 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You get an exclusive audio episode of locked on Sharks bonus episode every week newsletter plus more. So make sure you check it out over at locked on Sharks at Supercast or click the link in the show notes to learn more. All right, so we know the locks. Again, I think Marchmana, I feel is a pretty safe lock. You go out. You what you paid him. I think we have the what we've seen from the Sharks. So who else is in the mix? And this is where I think these sharks depth, certain to kind of peek through, right? Tolla Tafoli, Alex Weinberg, key for Sherwood, Colin Graf, Eva Stenberg, Michael Misa, your shirt a shove. So I just named seven players for three spots in the top six, right? And all those guys at some point played top six minutes last year for San Jose, right? And like we know, Worsovsky and just every NHL coach, it's not just Worsovsky. Every coach is going to mix it up here and what we see night one compared to what we might see night two, night five, game five games, you know, 70, whatever, it's going to be completely different, right? But I think it's fair to say those actually know it. Let me even add, I'll even add one more. Quit musty also. I think he is also in it legit. So that's eight players for three spots, right? Celebrity Smith and then March, you know, on the top line or on the second mind, right? That gives you half the spots are taken away and there's eight players left. One, I think again, speaks to the depth of the San Jose sharks that they have that many players who you feel could be top six players on this team. And I think it's really going to make that third line a much better line that we've seen from the sharks in the past almost 10 years. I'd say since they're like playoff friends, this is going to be probably the best third line that they've been able to put together in a long, long time. So you have like legitimate guys who can play all those. So I'm just going to kind of make the case for each one of those and I'll go in order of our good friends over at PCS, so we'll go buy it by cost basically. So to fully, I know last year, not a great year for him, but right, you know one, the chemistry he has with playing with Smith and Seligrini, right? He's a natural score. Again, I know this season he had last year wasn't the best from him with his 19 goals in 79 games in 49 points total, but you know, he is a guy who could easily bounce back, right? And the last time he had a season this low when it came to kind of total production, he bounced back and had, so in the 2018-19 season with the Kings, he had 13 goals. He bounced back hit 18 goals in 58 games before he got traded to the conucks that season. So and then he put up 28 goals the following season with the Canadian. So there's very much a reasonable expectation that to fully could bounce back to being a 25 goal type of score, playing on the wing for in the top six for the Sharks, right? Maybe not a first-length eye anymore, but there's if he comes in and, you know, looking like maybe he's kind of regained a little bit of a step, there's easy and easy path for to fully to, you know, how important he is. He's going to be an A on this team like easy path for him. So Alex Weinberg, right? And we'll just do Weinberg Misa combo here. So because it's the big question, right? If Alex Weinberg wins the job, the second line center job out of camp, I think it frees you up to have a younger player like an Evar Stenberg on his wing, right? And I've been very much an advocate of putting Stenberg and Weinberg together, one just to make Randy Han's life horrible. But having Stenberg and Weinberg together would be I think gives Weinberg what he needs, which is a playmaking winger on his side. We saw how well him and equid played. And I think two for Stenberg and as great as he's been over in the SHL is still a transition, right, to jump into the NHL. And playing with Weinberg, a defensively responsible center who's known for his kind of very much more of a point guard type of center where, you know, making getting the puck to other players in places where they can kind of do their thing. I think it's going to make Evar Stenberg's life way easier, especially early on in the season. So, and then you can, on the third, like for the other winger, right, you could potentially have a sure-and-a-shob, or you could have a defoli, or you could have a key for sure wood, and sure where to Weinberg had plenty of chemistry last season at the end of the year when they got put together. So if you're trying to maybe replicate what worked really well for you last year on the second line, it would be having Weinberg with Stenberg to take the equine place, and then you put key for sure wood there to go with him. If Michael Misa wins the job, and I think that's what most sharks fans are hoping for because, right, Weinberg has a much higher floor, but nowhere near the ceiling as Michael Misa, right. Misa's floor is much lower than Weinberg's is right now, but Misa has a much higher ceiling, right, and Misa could be a potential point-per-game type of player in the very near future. So Misa comes in and looks like he is ready to win this job, and from all accounts, right, he is very much on a man on a mission to kind of win this job, and be the shark's second line center. You do wonder though, does Worsovsky kind of try to surround him with, you know, other talent to, you know, kind of more veteran guys, right. So maybe you got not a veteran, not like a full-on veteran veteran, but a guy like Colin Graf, right, who can play very well defensively as well. He's going to always kind of be in the right place at the right time. We saw those two kind of play a little bit together last season. Do you put him with an Igor Shernershoff, who of course had those two had plenty of chemistry back when they're sagging out days? I know Shernershoff is a younger player, but, you know, you kind of feel like maybe the swing on the upside of just having two guys who already have a bit of a mind meld together, put them out there and maybe kind of see if that happens, and then maybe you do put like at least a start, maybe you do put like a tofully, or you put like a key for sure wood up there with them, and kind of give them a little bit more of a baby sitter on that line, or maybe it is Mason Marchment, right. And you have, that's a big boy line there. If you put Mason Marchment, who again is, you know, six foot five, two hundred and twelve pounds, you put Igor Shernershoff, who's, you know, six foot two, two hundred pounds, then, you know, teeny tiny Michael Misa, who's six foot one, a hundred and eighty five pounds, you put those three together, that's a pretty like that line can do a little bit of everything, right. You've got plenty of speed on that line, you've got physicality on that line, like that that line could really click for you and then maybe throw a call and graph on the top line to recreate the NCAA line going forward as well. So I do think whoever wins that second line center spot is really going to kind of set the table of who else we think will be, I don't want to say eligible, but who else is maybe kind of a favorite to play in the top six. And then I do think kind of the wild card in all of this right is Michael, sorry, is, is, couldn't musty musty who, you know, put up 20 goals last season with the barracuda, you know, as a guy who were, I think we were all ready himself included ready to kind of see him get a taste of NHL action, you know, another kind of big body six foot two two hundred pound forward, who I think really is, especially the second half of the season, was kind of rounding out his game and being a more complete player, does need to, you know, kind of work on his skating a little bit and you do want to see a little bit more power and explosion from him. But if he comes in the camp and is ready to go and really kind of pushes the issue, he could be another guy in there. I do think out of all the guys I mentioned, he has the longest shot just because warm, right? He's still waivers exempt. You can throw him down on the barracuda. Same thing, of course, with Shurna Shove, who's also waivers exempt as well, but he's a player who I think, you know, he has, I don't want to say he's got like a long road, but like just with all the competition at the Sharks added, he probably does have the longest shots of all those guys. But I do, I still believe musty will see some time at some points on the Sharks. So how do I think it shakes out? So we'll get to that here in just one second. All right, do, of course, want to thank you for making it locked on Sharks, your first listen. When you're done with this episode, go check out the locked on NHL show. You got your covered Monday through Friday with all the biggest stories around the NHL. So make sure you're fine along every yoga podcast, and of course, you can watch on YouTube as well. All right, how I would do it, verse, I guess, maybe what I expect, we'll start with that. So how I would do it, if it was me, right, I think I would very much lean into your younger players as soon as possible, right? I would probably go, I mean, the super fun thing would just be through a Stenberg on the top line with Celabrine and Smith, and just say, well, it's going to happen soon around in later. So you might as well just get it over with now. I get 100% like that, that would be so much fun, but we know, like Mike Rear himself said, it is hard to win games. We have so many young players in your top six. I keep kind of that in the back of my head, where I just, I don't think they're going to just kind of like put all the kids on the ice and just say, go have fun, right? I just, it's hard for me to kind of see that happening right away. Do I think it'll happen at some point? Yes, I do. I just, I can't see like opening night against the Panthers, where it's just like Stenberg, Celabrine and Smith go have fun. So it'd be really cool, but I think, though, to be honest, I think it's. Marchment, Celabrine and Smith. I don't, I just, I have a feeling, I got a gut feeling or just what we've saw, the sharks try to do with Sherwood. I think we'd see something like that to start with. The second line, I think if it's close, I think the tie goes to Misa, right? If it's close between Misa and Wienberg, I think the tie goes to Misa. I would probably see something like Sherna Shaw, it's Sherna Shaw of a Misa. I just think it's like a natural pairing with those two, right? We've seen them play together. We've seen them be extremely good. And like I want to put graph there, I really do. I just think so fully is going to probably get the benefit of the doubt, where I think they're going to say like, you know what, last year's a bad year, like, hey, let's put you with Misa. Sherna Shaw, like you're, you know, you can let those two guys kind of go do their thing and then you're right, you're just go tuck home a bunch of goals, you know, three feet from a crease, very easy to see it. So, and then you would probably put together graph, Wienberg, Sherwood line, which is probably going to take a little bit more defensive draws, but I think it's going to be that line that does a lot of the journey work, right? That's what I would probably do, right, and quit musty as, you know, you'll probably be see him down with the barracuda to start this season. So I think he has to have like an absolute like outstanding, outstanding training camp, which not all the realm of possibilities, but that's what I would do. I wouldn't be surprised though if we do see Wienberg, we'll get the second job, the second line center job to start. And especially with the beginning of this shark schedule here, right, you're at home to Florida, big heavy team, right? You're home to the Kings, you know, kind of another, they like to play kind of bigger heavier type of hockey. You play Dallas, which is a team that lost some pieces here, but still that's a really good team. Play, then you play St. Louis, Edmonton, Boston, that like, I could see them maybe, I could see them definitely starting with Wienberg on the second line until we kind of, it tells me so basically pushes the issue of like, and maybe the schedule softens up a little bit, right? Where, I mean, you're playing some really good teams out of the gate and maybe they want to kind of go with the familiar and having Wienberg on the second line start things off here until Mises kind of proves that he's ready to go. And, you know, I think the fact that Mises playing in the rookie tournament, we'll talk more about the rookie tournament in the week, but Mises playing in Trinoshop, both playing in the rookie tournament here, might be one of those, we're trying to kind of give these guys maybe a little bit of a running head start going into the training camp, where they'll have some games underneath their feet and, you know, under their belt and ready to go here. But, I, I get, I think it has to be like, I think Mises be the clear obvious winner of the battle. Like, if it's close, I, if, for me, if it's close, you go at the young player, right? I think with the coaching staff, if it's close, they probably default, especially with how we've seen Krasowski, you know, kind of lean on his veterans. I wouldn't be surprised if Wienberg wins the job out of camp, but it's probably a really short leash with Wienberg, if Mises starts lighting it up, it probably won't be long until that flip flops, and Mises starts to kind of get more of those minutes here. But, it's going to be fun, like again, this is probably one of the deepest teams we've seen the sharks put out since 2018, 2019, again, I know that's not saying a lot because these have been some very bleak times, but you should be excited. This, like, shorter training camp, shorter preseason and stuff, like, guys are on time to mess around. So, I am really interested to see who kind of gets the first crack to play with Celebrity Smith. Where does Mises and Wienberg kind of land in this and stuff? So, that's going to be for today. Tomorrow, we'll look at the bottom six, right, and kind of go through the same thing. We'll look at who's going to kind of blocks to make the roster, who's going to be kind of fighting for those final spots, and why I think the sharks are probably going to be carrying 14 forwards going into the season. So, make sure you're following along wherever you get podcasts, and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and don't tick-tock at Lockdown Sharks. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky @MyFryHole, until tomorrow. Bye, friends.