Sharks Decline Contracts to Three Players

The restricted free agency signings have been completed for San Jose. The Sharks resigned their second line forward Ryane Clowe, goalie prospect Thomas Greiss, the young Torrey Mitchell, and the 7th defenseman Brad Staubitz.
The Sharks did not make qualifying offers to Marcel Goc, Tomas Plihal, and Lukas Kaspar.

So what does this mean in the long run?
The Sharks failed to sign three forwards. Kaspaer was a first round pick of San Jose's in 2004, and scored his first NHL goal last season. Goc was San Jose's top faceoff man in 2008-2009, while Plihal was a fourth-line roleplayer. Assuming Lemieux retires, that means we have a lot of holes in the third and fourth line.

With two centers gone, this almost automatically means Patrick Marleau is not going to be traded, and if anything, will get a contract extention. Jonathan Cheechoo is probably safe for now too. With Brad Staubitz resigned, one has to wonder why so many defensemen have been drafted in the past 3 years for the Sharks. Theoretically, Brian Boucher could be let go during the unrestricted free agency period, and the Sharks probably don't want to pay more than 1 million for him as a back-up. Given how Boucher played last season, a team could use him as a rotational starting goaltender, and he would be worth much more than 1 million a year. With that, they almost had to re-sign Greiss. The most interesting thing would be: does this mean Roenick is leaning towards his third comeback attempt at a Stanley Cup?

The Sharks are always listed as "interested" teams when it comes to big name free agents or players demanding to be traded, but they never appear as the frontrunners. We'll see what the Sharks do starting July 1st with their big name UFAs, mainly Rob Blake and Mike Grier. Blake has already stated interest in returning to the Sharks, but if one or both aren't resigned, there could be a big move in the making.