San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson has set his team on a path forward with one simple mandate - to rebuild while still making the playoffs.
Sorry, Doug. That's not really how it works in the NHL.
In this league, you've got to commit yourself fully to one option or the other - further into the crevasse or up and out of it.
Yes, you can bring up younger players and allow them to develop over the course of a season at the NHL level - though that's not a proven means of improvement. Often players getting lesser time at the professional level don't blossom as they otherwise would with continued minutes at the AHL level. And sometimes a difficult transition can ruin a young players confidence, now and for the future.
Plus, if the team already suffers from reported personality issues, as the Sharks do, you're going to have to ship out pieces in order to change that volatile culture.
Basically, Wilson's plan is a flawed one and because of it, as Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury-News notes, he's now approaching the March trade deadline with a choice to make...
-Trade off older, aging assets like Antti Niemi or Tyler Kennedy and announce the arrival of a full-on rebuild...
-Acquire assets via younger assets already in place and make it known the team has their sights set on the playoffs...
-Stand pat...
Some, including Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News, believe that Wilson may end up choosing option one, considering the slim chance they currently have of making the playoffs.
"Since their epic first-round collapse against the Kings in the opening round of the 2014 playoffs, speculation persists that their core could be shaken up. If the Sharks fall out of contention by the trade deadline, the much-anticipated changes could begin," writes Richardson.
TSN's Darren Dreger voiced a similar feeling. With the Sharks falling farther out of contention, Dreger said it would surprise him to see Wilson pull of any deals that would hamper the future for an immediate result.
"If something happens and the planets align this season where that develops, then good on the San Jose Sharks," Dreger said on an episode of NHL Network's NHL Tonight, according to NicholsOnHockey.com, discussing the potential for Wilson to make a deal. "But he's not going to move draft picks. He's not going to use prospects or young talent to bring in a piece or pieces to make them a stronger team for a post-season push this year. This is all about transitioning from where they're at now to a better and a younger team."
If Wilson can pull off his plan of contending while rebuilding, more power to him. But as this season proves, that task seems farfetched and, ultimately, impossible in the NHL.
