My Thoughts on the Evander Kane Situation, Part 3

 More developments have been released regarding the Evander Kane off-ice saga. 

The NHL has confirmed from its recent investigation that they found no evidence that Evander Kane bet on his own games or threw any games that he played in. In addition, the NHL will perform a separate investigation involving Evander Kane after new sexual assault and domestic violence accusations were brought against him by his estranged wife. While the investigation is ongoing, the Sharks announced that Evander Kane won't be participating in training camp and preseason games, even though he is still listed on their roster for the time being. 

The Sharks made the right decision by excluding Evander Kane from training camp activities and preseason games as these new allegations against him sound pretty serious. Regardless of the latest and upcoming investigation results, I want the Sharks to terminate Evander Kane's contract and get him off their books as soon as possible. In addition, many of Evander's teammates don't want to deal with him anymore, and his production on offense can be replaced. This will and should help the Sharks improve their locker room atmosphere and paint less of a dark cloud around the organization.

In other news, the Sharks played their preseason opening doubleheader on the road in both Anaheim and Vegas last night. San Jose dropped their first game to the Ducks 6-3, while they defeated the Golden Knights 4-2, splitting the doubleheader. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

Sharks News & Notes (9/20/21)

 It's been a minute since I last wrote one of these, so let's get you up to speed heading into the beginning of training camps: 

• The Sharks' last restricted free agent is off the board, agreeing to a one-year, league-minimum deal with forward Noah Gregor. Last season with the Sharks, Gregor recorded five goals and one assist for six points in 30 games. In addition, he recorded three goals and six assists for nine points in ten AHL games with the Barracuda last season. Noah Gregor is certainly not the Sharks' best forward, but he is up-and-coming with plenty of potential.
  

•  As of now, all but roughly ten players in the entire NHL will be fully vaccinated by the start of the 2021-22 regular season. This is amazing as the NHL leads the four North American major pro sports leagues in vaccination rates, and teams are much less likely to have to postpone games due to COVID outbreaks.

Stay tuned for more news and notes as the new NHL season starts in less than a month. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, NHL Discussion via Instagram 

Sharks News & Notes (9/9/21)

 Here's a new edition of Sharks News & Notes heading your way now: 

• Former Sharks forward and UFA Marcus Sorensen has signed a four-year contract with Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League. I don't see this as a big loss at all for the Sharks, especially since he didn't perform well and was tossed around the fourth line last season. Over five seasons with the Sharks from 2016-17 to 2021, Sorensen scored 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points in 226 games. In addition, the Sharks are in reset mode, so it was best that they let Sorensen go in order to better the team for this coming season.
  

• The Sharks hired John MacLean to replace Rocky Thompson as assistant coach. Like Thompson, MacLean will be in charge of the power play, but will also be coaching the forwards. MacLean was previously an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils from 2002-09, Carolina Hurricanes from 2011-14, and Arizona Coyotes from 2017-20. He was also a former NHL player who spent 18 seasons and played nearly 1200 games with four different teams over the course of his playing career, recording 842 points and 1,328 penalty minutes. Most of his playing seasons were with the Devils, having won the Stanley Cup with them in 1995. He also won the Cup as an assistant coach with the Devils in 2003 and had a brief tenure with the Sharks as a player during the 1997-98 season. Overall, this is a great hire for Team Teal due to his level of experience and great capability of getting the Sharks' power play back on track from last season, which was ranked one of the worst in the league.

Watch this space for more as headlines continue to develop and preseason games take place later this month. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, Hockey Reference 

Sharks News & Notes (9/5/21)

 Here are the latest headlines surrounding the San Jose Sharks and the NHL as a whole: 

• Starting September 20, the Sharks will require their fans to show proof of full vaccination in order to attend games at SAP Center this coming season until at least November 1. This follows a recent California state public health order for events and venues with over 1,000 people. I feel this is a necessary step for the time being to stem any further outbreaks in the community and prevent society from getting set back any further from returning to more of a sense of normalcy.
  

• The Sharks have waived forward Ivan Chekhovich for the purposes of buying out his contract. He had a roller coaster of a tenure with the Sharks organization, having primarily spent time with the Barracuda in the AHL. Chekhovich will now be departing for the KHL now that he and the Sharks have parted ways.
  

•  The NHL has confirmed that its players will be allowed to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. There will be a break in the upcoming NHL season from February 3-22 to include the All-Star festivities in Vegas and to allow for NHL participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics. This will be the first Olympics to include NHL participation since the Sochi games in 2014 and the first best-on-best hockey tournament since the World Cup of Hockey back in 2016. Olympic hockey is much more entertaining when the best players in the world are included, and I will try to keep close tabs on Olympic hockey as much as possible this coming year.
  

• For the upcoming 2021-22 season, the NHL will have stricter policies and protocols for players and personnel who remain unvaccinated after the start of the season. Starting next season, unvaccinated individuals won't be allowed to interact with other players and hockey operations personnel within 12 feet of each other or travel with teams to and from away games. The good news is that roughly 95 percent of NHL players are fully vaccinated from what I've heard.
  

• Sharks assistant coach Rocky Thompson will step down from the team as he has a medical condition that prevents him from getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The NHL's new COVID protocols would prevent Thompson from doing his job properly, as he was in charge of coaching the defensemen and power play last season. The Sharks will announce Thompson's replacement at a later date.
  

• Reports have suggested that Tomas Hertl will wait and see how the 2021-22 season goes before discussing with the Sharks about a contract extension. Hertl becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season. Hopefully the Sharks and Tomas Hertl can eventually work out an extension because I would hate to see him go to another team, especially anytime soon.
  

Watch this space for more as headlines develop and preseason games take place later this month. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App