MVN - Most Valuable Network

Sharks Sign Marcel Goc

Goc has 775,000 reasons to celebrate for now

The San Jose Sharks roster is nearly set.

Over the weekend, the Sharks re-signed resricted free agent Marcel Goc. While as per team policy terms of the agreement were not disclosed, it was reported by TSN that the deal was one-year, $775,000.

This is a great move for the Sharks for several reasons. The team is low on forwards after letting Curtis Brown and Patrick Rissmiller leave. They are getting a player who is not yet 25. More than that, he is a known quantity who is familiar to and with his teammates and is capable of making plays but comes at a relatively low cost.

In 2006-7, Goc was used as a penalty-killer and is a good skater. He played in 51 games during 2007-8, scoring five goals and recording three assists. He has greatly improved in the faceoff circle, as well, winning 51.4% of those battles.

However, he was a horrific -15 in the regular season, and that explains why he did not play much down the stretch or in the playoffs. When he did get into the lineup (four games, no points, +1, 50% in face-off circle) he was pretty effective, though. He had a key performance against Dallas in which he blocked a couple shots and created a couple scoring opportunities in helping the Sharks to a win.

The Sharks have yet to finalize a deal with Ryan Clowe, their only remaining free agent. We have been hearing for weeks (since before free agency began) that the team was close to a deal with Clowe, which makes one wonder why it has not been inked yet.

There should be considerable interest in the physical forward with a scorer’s touch. The soon-to-be 26-year old missed 67 games in 2007-8 with a knee injury, but came back strong at the end of the year and played well against Calgary in the first round of the playoffs.

He had 3 goals and 5 assists in the regular season (-1) and five goals and four assists (-2) in 13 playoff games. For his career he has 44 points in 91 regular season games (+1) and 15 points in 25 post-season games (-5).

Because he is restricted, the Sharks would receive at least a second round draft pick as compensation, and depending on if Kevin Lowe wants Clowe, maybe more…I mean, Lowe can see himself in Clowe, once you drop the “C” in Ryan’s surname.

If someone signs him to more than $2,615,625, they have to give up a first and third round pick to get him; even if it is less they will forfeit a second round pick. Clowe would have to be offered almost $4 million to net the Sharks the first, second, and third round picks Lowe gave up to Anaheim for Dustin Penner.

I believe Ryan Clowe when he says his stated preference is to stay in San Jose, but I would imagine Clowe wants to see what is out there for interest. Since there is little chance the Sharks could match an offer of nearly $4 million, it would be hard for Clowe to pass up were it offered. With Christian Ehrhoff getting an average of over $3 million a year, it is reasonable to think that Clowe would be offered more.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 11:20 pm and is filed under 2008, team evaluation, Offseason. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.