Dan Byslma Should Coach The San Jose Sharks

After last night’s loss to the Senators the San Jose Sharks are eight points out of a playoff spot with nine games to play.  For years the Sharks have been a team that was on the precipice of the Stanley Cup… at least on paper.  It’s a team that has had high expectations year in and year out but has yet to meet them.

At such a pivotal juncture as this, the question that usually comes up is, “Is this a problem of construction or coaching?”  Essentially, do we need to fire the GM or the coach?

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A case could be made for both.  When it comes to how the team is constructed, the main problem is that the Sharks hold a lot of large contracts that they have no real ability to move.  After

Joe Thornton

was stripped of the captaincy, the rumors swirled that he would be traded.  Reportedly Thornton loves living in the San Jose area and would not accept a trade anywhere, and he has gotten his way.  But also, on the side of the general manager, this team is second only to the Red Wings in it’s ability to “rebuild on the fly”.  Doug Wilson has kept this team in the playoffs every year of his tenure and has even added young pieces for the long term success of the franchise such as

Logan Couture

and

Tomas Hertl

.

The other potential sacrificial lamb is head coach Todd McLellan.  McLellan is the winningest coach in team history.  As a disciple of Ken Hitchcock he is highly regarded around the league and it’s widely considered that he would have a lot of interest if he is let go by the Sharks.

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Looking at the San Jose Sharks situation I see one really interesting option heading into the 2015-2016 season.  They have too much talent signed that they cannot trade to start a full rebuild.  In order to take one more shot with the team as currently constructed the team should fire Todd McLellan and go after Dan Byslma.  Byslma has experience handling big stars and guiding them through the playoffs.  While his final few years didn’t win Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh he is still a great hockey mind and is a coach with experience getting his teams high seeds.  As the Sharks I would try to sign him to a two year deal to make a run for the Cup.  If it doesn’t work out, the two largest contracts on the team, Thornton and Marleau, expire after the 2016-2017 season.  Then they can blow it up and start a proper rebuild if need be.