Becher on Why It Took Sharks So Long To Rebuild, Celebrini Effect

Becher on Why It Took Sharks So Long To Rebuild, Celebrini Effect

welcome to the sose hockey Now podcast I’m Shang Pang editor and chief of San hockey now you can also find my work at MC sharks and on Twitter at Shang Pang and I’m King McDow you can find me on Twitter at haor hockey my website half- hockey.com or at San Jose hockey now this week big exciting week yes we have a special guest we have John Jan Becker shark’s President we have him talk about the mlin Celeb effect why it took the shark so long to embrace the rebuild and what could happen if the Sharks and the city of San Jose don’t revise the sap Center management agreement which changes radically against the sharks in July 2025 we uh talk a lot about m celini in that interview and that’s actually going to be our our main headline topic for our discussion first is the mlin celebrini ELC we’re going to have some way too ear really two dumb points predictions as well as uh our general reactions and maybe where he slots in the team or where we think he might line up uh with some uh players next year we’re going to talk briefly about the Dickinson ELC who also signed this week as well as emberson who signed a one-year $950,000 uh aav contract and um just a laying out of where the defense is right now and then finally we have a a short um seg mment on the Barracuda and just some of the ins and outs of how the Vets have been kind of shuffled around in the Barracuda since the past couple years so before we get to the Jonathan Becker interview which is awesome and you all should stick around for it because he was a great guest and it’s awesome to have the president of the San Jose Sharks on this podcast for the first time so it was a exciting week um the mlin celebrini watch officially ended last Saturday was it that’s an interesting day to release a such big news but um it’s over yeah we got him we got him um I think just the the cat seemed to be out of the bag after a little bit of time you you had been like very gung-ho that it was going to happen the whole time pretty much and um and there it was and how did you um I I noticed on Twitter that you had put out a he’s definitely going to sign story like 30 minutes before he definitely signed so how how did that go about exactly uh it was 10 minutes before but uh I actually can’t say everything I know about what happened but I will say that from a marketing perspective having this announced on a holiday weekend on a Saturday yeah may may not have been ideal but um yeah but that sometimes things like this happen until sometimes you just you just put a put a story out before people like me I guess can can can leak it or or whatever um in terms of just my just the last couple months right with with all the information that I’ve gathered and people I talk to I I wasn’t 100% sure he was coming out when the Sharks want a draft lottery but sure after talking with people and just getting a sense right of just his personality from people around him and just how much the kid loves a he wants that CH a challenge he wants the whatever the top challenge is part of the reason why he went to the NCAA from what I understand was that that was the most challenging league for a 17-year-old that he can go into basically before getting drafted H because he’ll be playing against men in some cases right in the NCAA which he might not do in other leagues and so weighing weighing all all all all that together it didn’t really make sense for him to go back to college and my mind he had already mastered that game in his one year there right he was a Hobie Baker Award winner for the best college player yep he he did not win a National Championship but like I’ve mentioned many times I don’t get the sense that that’s he’s a kid from Vancouver he’s not Will Smith who grew up loving Boston College right so it’s not the same thing there it’s not that kind of tie there right and so I think for Ma it would have come down to it would come down just simply what’s better for him in his career and and that I think that was pretty clearly the the NHL I think because even the call like a lot of times when we talk about a 17 18 year old right like they got to build up their body a lot and granted Macklin is still 18 years old so he’s not in terms of just the physical part of it he’s not fully kind of developed or formed right but for 18-year-old and you can tell that he’s he’s pretty well built though he’s strong yep and so all these things sort of indicated to me along with with with with talking to people that are kind of in in his sort of you know I wasn’t talking to like his to Macklin I wasn’t talking to Rick cini about it necessarily but you know people that that know him or or around it kind of right that it just it it was really trending that that way and it was almost so automatic that I didn’t really report it over the the couple months or in the month or so after they draft him because it seemed pretty clear to me he was going to come out even if it wasn’t like 100% even though it wasn’t decided and so the only time I’ll would ever mention is on a podcast if we talk about it like I think he’s coming out I think he’s coming out right and anyway so I think the last check on things though was or the last sort of barriers for him coming out might have been if the Sharks did not add anyone around him in free agency if they basically gave the team to hey here are the keys good luck with the 2023 24 sharks that might have given him pause that that’s a little bit too much to give to 18yearold I think that but I think that the Sharks addressed that though with claiming Barkley Gad and I I I wrote about this that as much as a lot of fans denigrate Gad right GD is respected League wide and so that’s that’s a pickup that speaks to to hockey people that speaks to I believe to to mlin cini obviously Tyler Tooley bringing him in right like yeah I don’t need to sell you Tyler to Foley I don’t need to sell anybody Tyler to Foley right eight time 20 goal scorer three time 30 goal scor w a Stanley Cup so I don’t need to sell anybody on on to Foley and then the other guys they brought in like brunstrom delandria Jake Walman just guys that the forwards I mentioned that right they have that mixture of hard to play against great attitude Wallman is very very talented offensively great shot so very tangible improvements to the team and to the room and all that stuff right that were clear for both mlin CBR and W Smith to see Will Smith alluded to that in I believe uh in development camp that he was told too that the s would make improvements that they wouldn’t just give the keys over to celebrini and Smith and say hey good luck so I think that was one big part of it and the Sharks passed that test at least in the eyes of celebrini and his family and his representation the last part of it was that celebr had to come to development camp and he had to like San Jose and he had to like the guys around him and granted that was likely gonna happen right but who knows right like maybe maybe maybe Joe Thorton would shoe check him or something like that and that would hate that and so kind of felt like they pulled out all the stops they brought in like you know all the old vets and like just they looked like they were all having a great time and they they kind of put that show on for Macklin as like a not a show but like a you know hockey can still be fun in the Dismal sharks environment that was last year you know like there there is still something there I think yeah yeah I wouldn’t characterize this as kind of pulling out all the stops I think that’s more in agency and in Acquisitions but yeah for for sure though they they put a good foot forward there though they um yeah so it was not it was a kind of I’m I don’t know if it was that much different than other development camps in terms of what they do for the players and what and that sort of thing right but that so that was not likely to fail but you never know that you have to actually be in San Jose for the the three four days or here he was here or whatever right you have to room with Will Smith I mean I think they had already been talking talking over text but things could have gone wrong in some way or another I guess but or maybe a reporter asking me Annoying questions of him I don’t know certain reporter asks too many annoying questions of mlin I’ll be like oh I don’t want to come here this year see you guys later sh’s gonna ask me too many questions about when I’m going to sign my ELC exactly so so at at that point then I I I checked in uh and with with with sources and they just communicated the same thing that it looked all positive post development camp and at that point there was really no barrier to him signing at that point and so that’s what gave me sort of the confidence to put out my story that it was going to happen and then it happened so yeah it’s it makes me really happy only because not that this was ever going to happen because mlin seems very happy here but it’s like this is it like you drafted him there’s no there’s no Will Smith watch there’s no cutter go watch there’s no NCAA watch there’s no like Ma’s coming and well there’s no more reading of of HF boards or R rumors right there’s no more Twitter rumors that like Twitter rumors I heard from my cousin’s cousin that he’s not coming and I will put my entire Twitter reputation which is seven followers on yeah right I mean you guys should thank Keegan because Keegan sends me these things and it’s like I’m like okay I guess I had to check on it I send I send all the rumors and I I preface all the rumors I hear on the internet cuz I go deep in the internet to find rumors that they’re all [ __ ] like they’re almost always [ __ ] including some just really stupid ones but they’re fun to read but unless you like like there’s certain ones where maybe somebody’s just leaking stuff but most always it’s just somebody making up stuff yeah but it’s good for me though because it gives me something to to write about I think actually a number of of the stories I’ve done actually like the the Rick celebrating interview that I did a couple of months ago which I think was the first one that he had done in a while it was before the draft lottery and that was because you you told me there was some rumor on Reddit I think or that that someone knew Rick srini and he hates the Sharks and he hated how Macklin was treated with the junior sharks and so the best way to cut a rumor like that off at the head is just go to the guy and ask him and if the guy will go on on video on record like like Rick was willing to and say no we’re actually really excited about it him coming to San Jose well there goes that that rumor right yep yeah so keep making them up guys like like do the William mein’s going to force a trade because he’s jealous of Macklin’s hair or something I’m all for it um but I think um I’m really excited I think he is GNA obviously there’s going to be growing pains next year there’s a lot of growing pains with him and Will Smith so I think that’s the first thing that we as we get closer to you know opening day that people are going to have to realize it’s not going to be 80 90 point Seasons out of Will Smith and M celebrini to start the to start their careers right like they’re they’re going to struggle like every single rookie in the NHL does you know and mlin is more wellb built than most kids coming out but he’s not like a you know super freak completely athlete that is going to die LeBron James yeah he’s not LeBron and Ice Gates yeah yeah so it’s going to take some some time for him to develop in multiple different ways but excited for Macklin um it’s a return of the Mac um and it did it created a lot of Buzz and uh Jonathan Becker talks about all of the different Buzz it’s created from a business standpoint and just from a Revival of the shark standpoint so right Tom Mar said at development camp and it’s rare to have a front office person say say something like this this kind of transparent and he said there was a buzz in the Sharks organization that wasn’t necessarily here no disrespect he didn’t say this part of it but that’s no disrespect to other great prospects and great players that the sharks have but there’s a there’s a buzz that hasn’t been here in a long time and I could feel it too just as a reporter that there’s a buzz here that hasn’t been here since the Sharks last made the playoffs in 2019 yeah the um and just to think there was a 75% chance that we wouldn’t feel this way that we would feel really just okay with ardam lanoff or something it would been way different if it was ardam lanoff or Kaden Lindstrom I would love to see one day maybe a decade from now Chris morous will tell us who was number two on the Sharks list you know I always love those yeah I always love those what ifs because they said that about Willie Mund I think that he was like number two on their list something right right that was that Doug Doug Junior out it was Matt baners was number one on their list and eckan was number two got to wait 10 more years he’s got to be out of the Sharks organization for sure it’s going to be a long time but maybe one day maybe one day um okay let’s do this where let’s let’s start with where do you think he lines up a does he line up at Center yes I I I think so I where does he line I think that the way the sharks are constructed and assuming they have a relatively good amount of health and training camp which you you never know but I think rlin is safe at Center I think wber is safe at Center I think Sturm is safe at Center and I actually really like where wenberg and Sturm where I kind of see them where I kind of see them slotting in the third and fourth lines because I think that that’s where they fit on a good team and the sharks have not had a bottom six quite like that that I’ve I’ve ever seen since 2019 when they had Joe Thornton on the third line and so I I think that that bottom six has the potential to be actually a really good bottom six uh between wenberg and stur and let’s say it’s cunan grundstrom delandria and grro on your wings at the at uh at for your bottom six but it does make your top six though kind of there’s a lot of unknowns here right obviously Will Smith and mcklin celebrity are unknowns even guys like William eckan and Fabian zerling who had pretty good last Good Seasons last year they were good seasons on really bad teams and they don’t have a track record of production so how are they going to do with maybe more attention paid to them or maybe a little less ice time because you’re giving it to Tyler toy right so I wonder if they’re able to take that next step that’s that’s a big if hopefully they can you feel pretty good about maau granin even though M grin Miss cast as a one C he’s a pro he’s a good player so he’s going to be fine in whatever Center role he’s in then Ty to Foley obviously is as kind of safe reliable bet uh for a scorer that that you can find out there at least in the free agency market so you feel pretty good about him cashing in on a good 25 or whatever this coming season I may hopefully more so anyway looking at that for construction this isn’t counting wild cards like Logan Couture if he’s healthy definitely the Sharks top six could use a healthy Logan Couture be it at Center or wing and you also have clim C you have pretty good prospects and Gan and Boro can they take another step but anyway overall with with celebrini I see cel being able to carry to hold on to that 2C spot for most of the Season I’m not sure if he takes the onc spot this year from granin I don’t know if he’s quite maybe he will by the end of the season but I I think I feel pretty good about him in in in year 2C and I think I think also something I didn’t mention too that something that I give I’ve given my career a lot of kind of in retrospect right in the last couple of month seeing what happened with the 2023 24 sharks I put a lot of that on Mike career’s doorstep and I said that right but I give him and his staff a lot of credit that I think they did a really smart job in terms of who they picked up too in terms of positionally I mean specifically wenberg gdo and delandria and I mentioned these three guys in the same kind of breath because these three guys can play center too Gad and dandre even though you think of them as Wings they’ve played a lot as Center in their life too and so basically and Mike reer alluded to this in I think his last press conference that part of the thinking forward of that right like after they signed wber everyone’s immediate reaction is oh that’s not good for Logan Couture does that mean that Logan Couture is not going to be ready for the beginning of the Season that sort of thing right which is still very much unknown we don’t know if if Logan’s gonna be ready for the beginning of the season but that was an immediate reaction by everybody that this was Logan Couture insurance and it is but signing wenberg is also insurance for celebrating and Smith in terms of Center being a very difficult position to learn in the National Hockey League being more difficult to learn than wing and so it gives sort of that support so let’s say you have celebrating her Smith at Center but you have a wing there who is very well aware of Center responsibilities right and so that that Winker be it Gad be it delandria let’s say it’s Lan coutur Lor is on WI right that guy can come and help with the defensive responsibilities and kind of alleviate that off of celebrating or Smith’s plate or maybe critical time in a game maybe you have a guy who’s more experienced take that face off and not force that on a Will Smith or a celebrini so I think that’s really really smart that that focus on not just not just lowan Couture insurance but also getting other forwards who are very capable of playing Center to kind of provide insurance protection for celebrini and Smith and that used to be the the Sharks M Mo too like they always have kind of dual responsibility Winger centers like you like hurdle and pavelski and Marlo and I mean Joe is always the center but the but there used to be like a long history of that kind of thing um gives you more flexibility throughout the lineup and helps your young guys develop like if yeah that’s a good point like um somebody like a hurdle has to start on the wing or or somebody in this case like a Smith has start on the wing um and can convert back to Center and learn from the centers that have already um been through it like wber and sterm and everything so right I remember Doug Jr referenced that with eckan because I think the plan for the Sharks back then when Ean was drafted was he would start at wing and he would transition over to Center eventually using Tomas hero as a modotto and maybe that may W be the case with Ecklund still but and ecklund’s another guy too that he was kind of Submarine or submerged last year overwhelmed at Center last year but he’s another year older and he’s capable he’s smart enough to play center for sure there no not question about that part of it and so maybe he can help in that regard too and so yeah there’s just a lot of kind of like you mentioned a lot of flexibility a lot of options for sure a lot of options right so I think I like though like you mentioned the celebrini at 2C I think that makes a lot of sense you give uh granin the experienced vet the hopefully the tougher minutes and you leave celebr on a second line to create and you line him up with some you know skilled Wingers maybe to fley to give him like um the opportunity to to create in the not limited even strength minutes but less than the first line and it’s still not going to be a good team next year everybody probably realizes that that it’s still not going to be a good team but maybe better I think I think it should be I again we’ll see you know uh people like to remind me that’s fair that I predicted more of the Sharks team last year in terms of in our bold prediction right and I was just trying to be really bold I I was being I was trying to be really bold I I kind of regretted it when I made that sort of prediction but nonetheless though it’s out there I said it right and I didn’t really put together the roster construction W and I saw the roster construction fall like in Flames before my eyes games yeah this year could still like we could it’s like watch scaffolding it’s like watching a scaffolding just burn before right right in front of your eyes within the first 11 games and yeah like you mentioned it could happen again this year but I think it I don’t think it will though just because it makes a lot more sense what they’re doing really the guys that they’re bringing in the sort of the attitude the competitiveness that they’re bringing in mixed in with some skill from T and Walman and it should it should it shouldn’t be as bad I just I I I find that hard to imagine unless the only thing that could I guess I can if the goal tending falls apart if Golding falls apart it doesn’t matter how good the team is in front of you right like look at like the Oilers right how they started off last season so it it doesn’t so that’s the only thing that like you can’t really predict if both Blackwood and vanich have are terrible terrible but I don’t predict that I don’t think that will happen because they’re going to have a better team in front of them so I think it should be they should be fine too at least they’re going to be put in a better environment than than Blackwood and Captain were in last year so should be should be better so all right we need to do a we did it for Smith so we need to do for celebrini so we have to do a points prediction what did you say for Smith you said 45 4 44 was what I said for Smith oh okay and I said 35 right I think I was lower in somewhere around there 35 probably on on on the scale so MH so we have to figure out uh a points prediction um do you want to go first what do you got um you go first I’m gonna cheat a little bit because I’m I want to look at I just want to look at at Point totals for rookies over the last decade or so so I don’t I don’t want to go too under or go too over here so all right then I’m going 49 oh wow you’re you’re going I think that’s very conservative you gave Smith you gave Smith he’s a year older he’s more of a power play guy he produces you know insanely well like the I think going 49 so just a little bit better than Smith in terms of production this is actually interesting trivia because I’m looking this up on on nhl.com so name the highest scoring rookie in terms of points in the last uh let’s say the last let’s say since 20134 yeah since 2013 14 I don’t think you’ll guess it it’s not Conor McDavid yeah because he got hurt he got hurt um he it probably would have been Conor McDavid he had stayed healthy I think he probably has the highest average he probably does he’s probably like0 n points per game or something like that oh he was 0 107 actually only slightly higher above the guy that actually does have the highest points total for a rookie Jack decade nope Jack eel doesn’t even show up in the top W 15 Arty panan was he a rookie then Arty panan is second 16 77 77 points you got one you got one so I got I mean I got second place I got oh got second oh okay he also was like 25 when he was a rookie so he was 25 yeah I don’t know if that counts really well nonetheless hey I’m just going with the nhl.com filter so a man I don’t know Conor bard Connor Bard uh was is 13th on this list with 61 points I think Conor Bard might might have the worst plus minus of of anybody Hest yeah he does CBR might might catch him next year he might catch actually Bard minus 44 Kevin Kinski minus 39 have the worst plus minuses of of of any rookie in the last in the last decade so I’ll give you one more guess and then so not to not to oh man keep keep yeah keep keep this going keep this bit going but you won’t guess it though yeah I was shocked to see this go ahead who okay it’s Matthew barzel who in 20178 had 85 points wow I would not have guessed that yeah like at all at all right because he’s basically production wise he’s the same player yeah well I mean he’s like a 60 60s Point guy now right well he had 80 this past season I’m looking at so he he did have a couple down years there you’re right but he got back to 80 this past year but is still his best season and not you we don’t judge everybody just by points I know that but his best season in terms of production is still his rookie season 20178 which is kind of crazy right so I would not have gotten that H yeah no I would not have got that either so uh just to fill this out panan was number two was 77 in 2015 16 Austin Matthews which would have been a good guess was 69 69 points in 201617 uh Pon 66 points 20189 and Clayton Keller rounds out the top five with 65 points Arizona in 20178 and just very way to um sort that by like I mean I guess you can do it on Elite prospects but like Elite just uh draft plus one years so celebrating is so young he’s going to be com right yeah yeah yeah you know there probably is a way but I know Hugh went right in and he had like 20 points or something he had a rough year um but I guess Matthews would have been an example of a guy who came in his D plus one year right was strong yeah so that that’s sort of the that’s going to be the highest for something 69 points for for Matthews McDavid averaged a point per game his point per game average was slightly higher than baral’s barzal was 1.04 McDavid was you know 1.07 so so McDavid would would definitely be up there if he had stayed healthy um that might be yeah in terms of the yeah what you’re talking about well actually Patrick l of had a great rookie season he had 64 points in his rookie season after he got drafted and he was drafted right after right after Austin Matthews so yeah and so anyway I think and obviously Bard as much as we’re we’re making fun of his plus minus he had 61 points in just 68 games that’s very very good so anyway okay so you have 49 for mlin C I’m probably going to regret this but I will always be you want to stick with it uh no I think 49’s fine he’s more of a two-way guy the sharks are bad I’m going to go with 49 okay I was thinking actually 50 so I I’m pretty close but I’m going to be a little different than you 50 was was my initial if I had gone first I was going to double check it against pass history I would have had to make the Bold prediction I’ll go a little higher though I’ll go 55 even though you’re right he is more kind of two-way so maybe he’s going to start off a little bit slower not a perfect comparison because Taves Jonathan Taves had an extra year in school before he he made his debut with the Blackhawks sure but I think Taves had 64 points his first year that was a better team of course that that Taves jumped into than than celebrini is going to jump into so 64 points I think was was Taves as rookie year so anyway I am going to go with 55 and we’ll see maybe I’ll change my mind by I don’t know Ma so like Matthew kuk had 48 and the in his draft plus one year oh I’m sorry tav’s at 54 by the way but but Taves Taves did that in 64 games so 54 points and 64 games which is still pretty good that would have got him over 60 over a full season obviously so yeah I think it’s the combination of the Sharks being not God awful anymore but just awful but the argument though is that there’s more opportunity though right so a guy like say a b he joined the Oilers or some other team that maybe he wouldn’t scored as much because he wouldn’t have as as many minutes yeah and there’s a lot more scoring nowadays in the NHL especially last season than there has been in the past on all of these historical comps so 48 or what what what are you sticking with sorry I’m going to go with 55 I’m going to give give give a little little bump there so great yeah give him a little bump and uh and Smith will be what so you say 35 for Smith and 55 for okay and my my bold prediction now is that mlin just loses the CER to mat Mekka whoa you’re mitchoff you’re a mitchoff fan now well no I I was always if you remember I always said that I would have drafted meof in that spot even if I put out stories and hey I got the stories from True credible sources I think that maybe not necessarily the best team guy all kinds of things right but nonetheless though that yeah we’ll see yeah that that even if if he wasn’t this or that kind of kind of guy that that he’s still very draftable and that you can kind of work with a guy like that just because a guy isn’t a finished product at 18 right a guy can grow up right so so that’s that’s what I sort of sort of thought would happen with with the meof and now he’s coming way sooner right I mean obviously if teams thought that he could come over in less in a year that that could have changed where he got drafted granted we don’t even know if he met the Sharks that’s one thing I’m still not sure about but but never know right and I I understand if you don’t want to draft a guy who will meet with you that’s kind of trying to that hard that’s our question for Chris Morehouse in 15 years when he’s no longer with the sharks oh man I got to find out sooner than that I mean that’s like that’s not that that big a revelation whether or not he met with the sharks or more so all right or not so yeah so I I’m gonna I’m gonna keep digging on that one in particular but anyway though so that’s that’s my B prediction though that that Mee cof meof is is the CER winner yeah who else who else is out there meot a lot of very good candidates obviously Will Smith is a good candidate cutter gothier right yep there’s a little little known guy by the name of Shakir Muka Mulan that’s a bit B this is a good transition man I just saw a list of uh HF boards there’s there’s a poll of like 40 players and Shakir Madan did not make this l so that’s what a what a travesty I’m looking at I’m just saying good good odds right now I’m look at Brenan Offman I’m looking at Scott moral for defenseman axo sing pelica on defense soone of even AR lunov gets is in here so maybe I mean he has to play in NHL instead of the AHL supposedly they want to send of the AHL or whatever well anyway do you do you think uh since we’re talking Calder then early prediction who is your Calder winner for who name name some more realistic names on that list I’ll name the top of the list here celini Smith gotier Matt seavoy which I don’t think is that realistic meof Frank uh Nazar Ryan Bacher Hudson Shane Wright that’s that’s a good sleeper one kulich now I think now we’re going into the maybe not I guess I’m gonna I’m gonna choose mlin celebrini I can’t I can’t choose both CBR and 49 points though here’s a very good one that I did not mention stankoven which I think is a good one because he showed in the playoffs that he can play in this league so he he might be a good sleeper one and I think the goalies on this list could be good sleeper ones too because they might have good opportunity of walstead and wolf so those are a couple of of sleeper ones too if they if they get the playing time the starting time but so you’re still going to go with mlin with 49 points in the I can’t yeah I can’t the logistics don’t make sense the logic doesn’t make sense for 49 points for the CER so I’m going to it could happen I think guys have won with with that point super low and I think bitov probably outscores that or somebody or Hudson has like a 40 Point D season or something you know so I I’m gonna go with mitchoff I’ll I’ll copy you my in fan wants to choose celebrini and like 70 points or something like that you know but realistically he you know it it could happen too so I think that I think that will Will Smith will have trouble that’s why my point totals reflect that a little bit so I while I am a Will Smith fan I’m a little more cautious in terms of just his immediate immediate introduction to the league and how that’s going to go but celebrating I feel pretty good about part of Again part of the calculation for why I thought he was going to come out was that very smart hockey people were telling me that this guy could step right in to the NHL in the playoffs and be a fourth line Center like that’s how ready he is no one was saying that about about a W Smith right because will has obviously more things to clean up in his game overall than than than celebrini does and so who knows maybe celini surprises us and he does have that kind of impact season Austin Matthews Conor Bard or Point per game or whatever I don’t know I’m not I’m not putting that past him too but yeah I feel like uh I I feel pretty good though 55 I think is a good good I’m goingon to I’m going to keep expectations low because we we are piling quickly all of the expectations on on mlin celebrini you know like every day we’re just like could he save the entire franchise by tomorrow could he solve climate change could he solve climate change have you heard of the Ukrainian Russian war and mlin figure it out um yeah the answer is yes um yes everything everything Andy’s going to win the don’t know we don’t know do it and’s going to win the CER tomorrow anyway I so I’m going to be cautiously optimistic and and if I’m wrong I don’t care it’s fine oh here’s something fun what if mlin CBR I don’t know if anyone’s ever done this mlin cini wins the C Trophy and he goes to the minor leagues and helps a barracuda win the C cup has that ever happened I wonder cannot cannot imagine that somebody would do that um I also don’t know if the Sharks would let him do that they be like know either but save your knees and your ankles and head right right but I’m just saying yeah I don’t know if anyone’s ever done that in the same season the cder cup and the cder trophy that’d be cool yeah that’d be cool right yeah all right speaking of our future cder winner shulan and solve climate change too and solve climate ch um we’re gonna talk a little bit about the defense we’re gonna get we’re going to transition off of the celebrini The End of celebrini Watch and it’s officially The End of emberson Watch which you all were very clearly following emberson had a um he elected for salary arbitration but they didn’t get there um he ended up signing a one-year deal today or yesterday was it uh it was today I guess today announced today could have been signed yesterday but announced 950,000 for one year if emberson doesn’t play 50 NHL games this year he turns into a UFA which is interesting something like E2 M andami turned into UFA because he didn’t AC acrw enough NHL games so just an interesting little Quirk as guys get older that they have to retain or get to a certain amount of NHL games to retain their RFA status um and that’s where Emerson’s at guy who’s been on the waivers and everything so be interesting to look out for this year to see if he does get into that 50 game Mark right and I’m hopeful I also think he does but I think it’s a little telling that they didn’t sign more at least not yet sign more D so far what do you think maybe yeah one thing I was going to ask you because I know you a big Ty Emerson fan and that when you say Ty Emerson watch maybe you were really on on watch I definitely I was holding out for like a fiveyear contract extension we only got one year I I got the memo from you like asking me if I wanted to be participate in Tai Emerson watch and I just put all of those in my spam so I never saw it’s going over here We call we we’re called Tai Ember stands um and well you are yes I like Ty by the way but I would not consider myself a Ty Ember stand though he’s a good Defender he is a good Defender he plays good defense he was on a disastrous sharks team he was a bright spot last year I actually in terms of Tai Ember Stan voting that I actually voted Ty emberson as my sharks Rookie of the Year and Henry th was the popular choice and I like Henry a lot but Henry definitely I I think that obviously it’s we Emerson’s a little bit older more experienced I think overall right but I think he’s a year older but I thought that in the sample size of of Emerson’s games granted there was only 30 of them because of various injuries and that sort of thing that he was better than Henry in similar kind of sample size not that I was impressed by Henry and I’ve said this many times just in terms of just like just like eckan very very tough situation to grow into to to develop in and I thought that both of them did good jobs of kind of keeping their heads focused on the prize and getting better as players even as the red lights were flashing behind them and I think they both did a very good job of that and so I like I so anyway I’m a big Henry thrund fan too but I I gave Tai my my vote for that because I thought Tai was was better so in terms of does he end up as a top four sharks defenseman I want to ask you that because if you look at the Sharks right now there’s really yeah three guys that are healthy and established and you feel good that they’re gonna play in your every night pretty much for you I think that’s Ferraro wman and Ruda yeah I think past that there the Sharks defense still has a lot of question marks we don’t know what V vasic is gonna gonna give you is he gonna be more like last year where he was in and out and that seemed fine or is he gonna be maybe get back to what he was doing 2022 23 which was slightly better and gets you in the lineup more and Matt Benning obviously was pretty good in 2022 23 and was a top four defenseman for granted not a good sharks team but he’s coming off of a hip injury so really don’t know exactly what he’s gonna offer sharks will know I guess but we don’t know what exactly he’s gonna offer the Sharks going into this coming season and so anyway where do you see emberson in in all this yeah I I think he I think he comes in on the third pairing most of the time I think if Ruta and and Benning are healthy that they two vets that have proven success as right shot D in the league I think they kind of get the not first pass but the first like couple months as the top four if they’re both healthy and then adjust if needed or you know TW you know Tinker AS nights go on and see where emberson kind of fits but for the beginning of the year I think him him being the youngest one of the younger ones um I think he kind of slots there and I think that’s a good you think he takes it though I mean a top four spot but I don’t think he I don’t think he’s that good like I like erson um the limits the limits of of of this Tha Ember stand have been revealed that was that was mean I mean he could be but there was actually a um a thing that was put out speaking of called their Trophy voting that at some point during the year like Tai Emerson’s wins above replacement comparatively to his team was better than Connor badar and it was on like Dom’s Athletics wins above replacement and I remember retweeting it being like you guys heard it here first Ty emberson called A Trophy winner just CU his defensive impacts were actually pretty good sure sure he he he he’s the whatever you care about that he’s the underrated Brock favor sure sure exactly no there was also games when I watched Tai a few times and I was like he just kind of threw the puck away a lot and like fumbled a lot um with his handles and I my tii Ember standing kind of backed up a little bit but right right right right they see they very clearly see a lot in him not a lot but they claimed him off wyers they qualified him they signed him to this deal they they see a lot there I think and they sign take spot because there are guys that they traded draft picks for like kayin Addison right that they didn’t bring back and I agree with that I think that Tai again in even though just 30 Games was definitely better than kayin Addison I did want to you you asked me a question to to begin all this that is sort of the Sharks not adding a defenseman maybe that is a vote of confidence for an emberson or maybe a Shakir M Mulan or a Henry thrund one of the younger defenseman I don’t know it’s possible it’s possible but I will say that the sharks have also made miscalculations I think in recent years of of their talent if we’re being frank about it and I will give give my career a pass on this that signing a veteran defenseman is always hard in terms of just the market there’s so few of them we saw in the free agency market this time that they went really fast or they went for a very long number of years that the Sharks didn’t seem like they wanted to go go that far my career was pretty clear before for agency that he didn’t want to go more than four years five maybe and I think a number of defenseman did go for longer than that that you know Brady Shay went for seven I think Shawn Walker went for five yeah other I I can’t remember every body who’s sort of a clear top four guy on the sharks that that that went in for agency but they went fast though basically Brett pesy right they all zador off I think went five years to yeah zador off went the and could have been aav thing and also too the other part of the equation too is there’s so few kind of legit top for defensemen out there in free agency and also too do they want to come to San Jose do they want to come to to a last place team with Ty Tyler defley I think the Sharks got lucky kind of a unique set of circumstan is Tyler basically getting traded so much over the last couple of years really I think was a big part of it if if if I think if Vancouver had kept on to Tyler tle I think that’s who the Kings traded T foi too a few years ago when Tyler T foi first started moving around if Vancouver had kept Tyler to Foley over the years instead of setting him on his o Odyssey to Calgary to Montreal to New Jersey and all this stuff right maybe Tyler Toole wouldn’t end up here because he wouldn’t feel like he needs a no mov Clause from a bad team basically to to stay we don’t know I don’t know that but anyway though so it’s it’s not the easiest sell San Jose for sure and so I’m not I’m not killing Mike for not not getting one of those guys but I will say though that they might regret not getting somebody even if that somebody is kind of a veteran o considered over the hill type true that I I do think that they’ve sniffed around on veteran defenseman I’ve reported that I mentioned that I mentioned in the last podcast but they haven’t brought anybody in so maybe they they won’t they they won’t do that I don’t know um but they maybe they will regret that though not just not putting somebody else in there the other the flip side of it though is that maybe you’re right and that or not that you’re right but what you suggest could be right that they know what they’ve got in M who I’m a big fan of mukul and as you guys know that maybe he can step in and be a solid Puck movie middle pairing guy obut CER winner future CER winner and he can step in and do that immediately or Henry thrun Henry thrun graduated from the School of Hard Knocks this past season and so maybe he’s ready for more or maybe even emberson right and so maybe they feel pretty good about that Trio that they those one of those guys can kind of fill in and play middle paring minutes and do be do it responsibly so we’ll see I think they play most nights I think they play probably two of the thr emberson Muka Mullan MH I think then one guy sits and depending on injuries and you have a guy like vasic or um or rout or somebody sitting out with them so like one vet one one young guy scratched and kind of rotate in to see what works until injuries happen or trades or what have you I think that makes a lot of sense because right now they have about 8D that are NHL caliber I’d say right right right so that’d be is that including Muk Mulan yeah I think that’s including Muk Mulan it’s like Ferraro Walman routa Benning emberson thrun Muka Mullan and vasic I think I’m I think that’s everybody now that we’ve traded burough and McDonald’s gone and Addison’s gone I think yeah I still feel like they could use one more but maybe yeah last year we hads 10 and you know you know what happened to that it’s like right right and maybe maybe they’ll pick up an Emerson type off of waivers right remember when we Marcus Naro and then never played a game Marcus Naro well that’s that’s the hip thing right and so it doesn’t sound like benning’s injury is as serious as nardis hip injury but hip is I mean I’m no doctor you can say more about that but true when you hear hip injury in hockey it’s scary though it’s not right knee you feel better about knee than you do about hip right 100% yeah it’s not like the there’s a lot lot less track record of success with hip injuries depend on the injury than there is with knee knee it’s like almost everybody gets a knee injury it feels like not everybody but a lot of a lot of people right nowadays it’s I mean I I don’t want to speak out of turn but like you know Tommy John and baseball pitchers right like everybody gets that it’s now it’s like power for if you don’t get Tommy John as a pitcher it’s like you’re doing something wrong you’re not throwing hard enough or something yeah you’re not you’re tearing it up you know ligaments are soft anyway yeah yeah exactly but so I so I don’t know I’m not really sure what Benny can so maybe the sharks that too that’s some insight if Matt benting is completely healthy and he’s completely the Matt benting that he was in 22 23 then I feel okay with him in your top four he’s not again he’s not ideally a top four guy I think on a good team like the Predators that his previous team a playoff team that he is ideally a bottom parrying guy but he’s a guy that can play those middle parrying minutes and do okay at it and so that’s that’s okay because again you’re not necessarily going to trade foro hkin in you’re not going to sign Brady Shay you know those kind of kind of guys right so you you’ll do okay if M betting is completely healthy but I just don’t know maybe they know they know so maybe that’s part of their sort of well we don’t need to give Shawn Walker five years we don’t need to give soand so this much aav could be that yeah eventually we have to get a right shot dman that is Young and offensive leaning I think oh yeah that actually reminds I did want say people ask me about like say Adam boquist For example who signed I think in Florida and I don’t think the Sharks really pursued guys like that I I know with boquist I’m not I don’t think that they pursued them at all so that’s like the type that I understand that that’s like your Phillips Zena types right like high draft pick theoretically High upside right but like I said my impression is that if the Sharks brings somebody in it’s more likely to be like a veteran guy who knows things can happen right maybe some younger younger guy is willing to just I don’t know just give some sweetheart deal to the Sharks but like some I was also asked about Shillington too I don’t know if the sharks have have I checked on that lot I think I checked on that a couple weeks like a week ago um and that wasn’t the case a week ago I haven’t checked since then because it just didn’t seem like there was any any significant interest there from the Sharks for Shillington type and so that’s still he hasn’t signed in calary yet Shillington no no I think Shillington wanted a little more little more money a little more I think and I think that’s part of why I mentioned if if shington is going to give you a sweetheart deal bis signed in Florida for one year for the minimum so that’s as sweetheart as you can do right for a team so the Sharks didn’t sound like they they were matching that so yeah I’m sure there’s other guys out there I I don’t know if they ever were in on branstrom I know he signning call but just a couple guys I know that they weren’t in in Shillington about a week ago boquist I don’t believe there were ever in either and he signed a couple of days ago and so that type of guy I understand why fans want that because just The Grass Is Always Greener just the lur of that high pick right fix yeah exactly right yeah so and shington to shington has had good years to in the league too so I don’t want to take that away from Shillington but yeah I don’t I just I don’t I don’t think that’s what they’re looking for I think that they’re looking again a little more a little more veteran maybe less upside maybe but yeah so just wanted to mention that because you mentioned the younger defenseman yeah I just been eventually also have to draft one right tried with havet and Lorac and this year they pick up Roberts and m key as right shot D but it doesn’t feel like they’ve got that like pegged for a top four role guy just yet yeah maybe next year maybe next year yep um okay we have one more story before we get to the Jonathan Becker interview and it’s about the Barracuda it’s actually about your story that you released about the Barracuda but um we’ve had a lot of people mention and this is not the first time we’ve mentioned it um right that’s why I wanted to to plug my story yeah this is like I don’t know the 10th time that people have mentioned it to us that there like last year we released the Martin cout um episode basically where we tried to do a dive into what is going on with the Barracuda and then this year Nathan Todd had left for the KHL we also talked with around the Hur break we talked with Patrick Williams and asked him about what how he saw the Barracuda team like if it really was a playoff team because obviously bur could haven’t made a playoffs in a while but again I don’t know if the the team and it’s based on what Patrick Williams said I trust Patrick Williams because he watches the entire league that that the Barracuda team last year wasn’t necessarily good enough for the playoffs yeah and so then Nathan Todd got let go well they mutually agree to terminate the contract so let go in a um yeah they both they both Let each other go so he could get more money in the AHL and I had tweeted out that I was upset because it felt like Nathan Todd wasn’t earning enough in the AHL to kind of support his play there and it felt like maybe they could get a couple more vets if they paid their a their two-way contract the AHL portion of it a little bit more money um and it seems like maybe they did that this year with a couple guys they signed right right and um well yeah they did that with Andrew podowski and podowski led the AHL in points in 2021 and 2021-22 I think he had 101 points actually that year under Ryan warski uh with the with the Chicago Wolves wanted to call it a cup that year but anyway though porowski’s contract it’s NHL veterans minimum basically if he’s an NHL but the AHL though it’s a very high guarantee it’s I think 475 475,000 in in the first year and half a million 500,000 the second year and just to put that in perspective Nathan Todd actually signed a two-year contract with the sharks last summer and it was also in the NHL it’s a minimum veterans minimum but in the AHL it was just for $200,000 yeah and so I guess you know you mentioned you mentioned your Tweet like I would ask you like you know were the sharks supposed to rip up Nathan Todd’s contract and I also put right no and I put that in the in the Tweet too that it’s actually on on Todd’s agent like that he didn’t get a better like deal in the AHL um well I and I don’t even know if I would put on his agent because Nathan Todd if you look at his track record before both of them pretty good season right like he was not he had a very unusual kind of rise and this is credit to Nathan Todd he played a lot of I think he may have played more EC AHL games than AHL games before he signed with the sharks yeah um last last season and I’m not saying that your overall point wasn’t right like I gotta look back into last offseason and maybe they didn’t offer like the top of the market AHL free agents a high enough guarantee they may not have done that because I think they had to set Nathan Todd I don’t think that was like a first day signing they may that might have been like a second third or whatever day signing right and so they missed out in theory on sort of the the big targets and anyway I think um another part I want to mention my article I think people people don’t take this in account enough when they talk about oh this guy left the Barracuda oh they must hat it here in San Jose right is that in every AHL game there’s a a rule called the AHL veterans actually let me get the name right since I’m I’m I’m going to cite it here so I want to make sure I have the you can look it up on HL or on puckpedia or any of it it’s called the HL development Rule and basically the rule is designed to prioritize the development of younger players and it allows the team to dress only five veteran skaters a game and Veteran equates to 320 plus AHL NHL or european Elite League games y okay any kind of men’s league basically right right and Nathan Todd funny enough doesn’t count for that because EC doesn’t count for that calculation so that’s that’s one that that’s something that I I learned I didn’t know that but I I made sure to to learn for or look up for my article and so anyway so I’m gonna talk about another guy who left Cole castles right so he’s the guy that left and there the same old like oh my God they they hate it here whatever whatever right that sort of thing right but okay let’s look at this objectively right and we talked with Patrick Williams about this there’s so much turnover every year and AGL a big part of it is is this rule so if you’re a veteran guy right like it doesn’t say that you can only sign five veteran guys you can have as many as you want a team I think I don’t think there’s any roster limits in HL but it means only five of them can play so if you sign with a team then you got to feel like okay I’m gonna play I’m not going to get I’m not gonna get I’m not gonna get scratched or why would I come here right and so a guy like precisely Cole cast the center right I think that it’s not that you lost Cole Castle it’s more like you upgraded on no disrespect to Cole castles but you upgraded from Cole castles you upgraded with Andrew podovi over Cole castles I think that’s the right way to look at because you have these five spots and these players know okay that that chances are I’m going I’m going to play and so anyway right now for the Barracuda they’re five main kind of Veteran guys right now right and like I said you can have more more guys like this on your roster but the actual guys who are likely to play right pulowski obviously right he’s he slots he should be your number a true number one center for the Barracuda which I’m not sure the Barracuda actually had for a long time I G to look into that but I’m not sure if they’ve had a guy that you really regard as a true number one I think agino was more of a Winger if I I could be wrong maybe aino counted but uh but still though he is like I said he he led the HL and scoring two years ago great in the room from what I understand if you read the article I talked with a couple HL Executives they are ex they they they are glowing about him and guys that are not with the Barracuda by the way I always like to mention that because again it’s it’s I think fairly objective and so kind of like like like like like like guys were glowing myself in the media we’re glowing over the shark signing Tyler to fley I I see Paul rowski sounds like similar kind kind of guy or not not the same kind of guy but similar kind of impact right in the room that sort of thing right so they also signed Lucas Carlson who has scored 30 a defenseman who scored combined I think 35 goals the last two years and granted the baruda had a ganka last year as he left mid-season but anyway though so so that’s that’s another excellent signing and then Jimmy Schult and Jimmy Schult H is a defensive defenseman who has been a top defensive defenseman for the Coachella Valley Firebirds the last couple of years Coachella Valley Firebirds have made it to the col Cup Final for two straight Seasons he’s a guy that plays 20 plus minutes a night and that I’m pretty sure ber could haven’t had a very very good defensive shut down defenseman in quite a while in my memory I think they’ve been missing that because last year for example they had kabanka they had muku Mulan but they didn’t necessarily have a again a number one kind of shutdown defenseman and so sounds like that they have that with with with the Jimmy Schult so anyway uh the veterans that I count though is and again I know this might be like two in the details two in the weeds and this is why I’m not sure how many of you are still listening to this but this is the truth though of of when you criticize the Barracuda like I think you need to be aware of these you have to know and they’re pay but they are paying them more I want to put that out there that’s a very good point yeah po rowski um Lucas Carlson I think his aav and or I’m sorry his to his AHL contract is 450 450 and then 475 for the second year so he have very high amount but anyway po rowski Justin Bailey Scott saon and Carlson those are sort of your vets Justin baile yeah just so I assume Justin Bailey we don’t know but I assume Justin Bailey is with the Cuda next year because the sharks are a bit deeper so anyway given given that right and Jimmy SCH actually doesn’t count because there’s one more detail uh there’s something called veterans exemption where if you’re between 260 and 320 high level games and he is at 291 and they count this this is the count at before the season that’s that’s counted then he’s technically a veterans exemption which every team gets one of each game okay so you can get six total basically yeah yeah so in a way you can get six veterans right and so there is in theory one more spot regular lineup spot for somebody so maybe Joe will will sign some else javanni Smith he would fit under this number two if he came down and he was one of your top five kind of players I don’t know if he would be so maybe they’ll sign somebody but I just think that these this these kind of details and so anyway read the article I know I’ve been talking a long time about these sort of detail kind of roles but I think it’s it’s Illuminating though because it makes sort of decisions make make more sense so it’s not as simple as again losing Cole cassos it’s about can you upgrade on on Cole castles or even Nathan Todd right even though Nathan Todd doesn’t count as a veteran right it’s not as simple as losing Nathan Todd and Grant the article mentions that Nathan Todd’s gonna make three times more his Barracuda salary in the KHL so if anything the sharks can be applauded for letting him go instead of holding him to his contract right but it but also too it’s not as simple as just losing Nathan Todd but it’s like okay can you you know in your finite number of spots can you have somebody better than him in there and in this case it could be a spot for a guian for a bordo obviously you hope that they’re in NHL but they may not be right and so anyway so it’s I think uh I I I I just think uh the reason why I I I spent a thousand words on this article and I also put it behind the pay wall is I think it’s a topic that is under sort of reported when people are belly aching about John McCarthy about Joe will about the Barracuda etc etc that they these very very strict roster rules that Mike reer doesn’t have to deal with in NHL that are not necessarily easy to understand that but need to be understood if you’re going to properly criticize what the Barracuda have done and I’m gonna stop talking for now there’s one more thing that I will criticize the Barracuda on but I’m gonna let you jump in if you have anything to say before I finish up I think it’s just that yeah they they didn’t they couldn’t tear up Nathan Todd’s contract I meant going forward it’s like if you’re not going to get the guy the NHL time and the NHL paycheck because they get a significant amount more money if they come up to the NHL and Todd never got called up right and he arguably deserves a shot for sure then you should pay them the 450 400 especially because they live in the Bay Area like it I think that’s the big key and we looked back through a lot of the other guys that left in their AHL salaries were not high either um and they were in San Jose like I don’t know low comparatively but low like around that two to 300 mark instead of the 4 to right I think ainos might have been a little low lower than than you would think I think I mentioned Jonah gich before but then there were guys that did have actually High two ways that didn’t really end up in AHL like like if get sveshnikov and I know he was over 400,000 and maybe they earmarked him for the AHL at first but the Sharks team had injuries or whatever so he ended up with the sharks entire season so I don’t know I had to look into that to to be sure if if that is accurate that that’s sort of a a regular sort of problem with them but either way they’re addressing it yeah yeah yeah they’re definitely addressing it here though I’m just curious about agino because I know he is somebody that I think V’s was also low no V was actually really high but that’s a Doug Wilson contract V was really high for a guy that yeah it was it was really high it was it was um the world is a lot tougher without cap friendly I will say that well the same stuff but F’s I think was like double Jona gic’s which was which you know like maybe similar role in in the AHL or actually bit more of a scorer um but gic’s was was low uh but V’s was pretty high for the player he was uh ainos for the Sharks when he was with the sharks was 3325 which is arguably a little low I will say that agino just signed a contract with Utah for a lower guarantee than the Sharks gave him so I do want to mention that yeah but maybe like you said though kind of blowing through a little higher than everybody like being well above everybody when you’re in the Bay Area do will stem a few complaints I will definitely uh give you that we still have not gotten a goalie either that’s the other thing so that was that that’s going to be my my one critique that and this is a situation where they know what they’ve got in Crona and Romanov more than I do they watch him over the summer they watch him over Dev Camp etc etc but man if they go into the season without a number three again or at least a reliable number three and they had makami but he obviously was injury prone that that’s another just kind of rolling the dice and you’re kind of arguably possibly wasting kind of the Investments that you made impressive Investments that you’ve made made on the high end of the Bara lineup and podowski and Carlson and Schulz those are legitimately impressive AHL signings you’ve got uh arguable number one Center and po rowski Lucas carlsson I’m not sure defensively how great he is but in terms of his offensive production he is a number one AHL defenseman Jimmy Schult is a number one kind of shutdown defenseman right in that range of a player right so these are very very impressive AHL signings if Mike rip pull that off in a in NHL level number one Center a number one defenseman and a number one shutdown defenseman that that would be that that’ be super impressive right and so gonna give Joe will credit for that part of it but they need a goalie though they need somebody reliable or even in case black would R Vana get hurt you need somebody that you feel good about playing a few games for you in NHL level or backing up and so you know some of the top goalies have gone already July 1 has gone the top number three goali have gone already but there’s still some guys out there and so hopefully they find the right guy hey you know what maybe they they tried to sign somebody on July 1 and they lost them that happens too a lot right yeah and you don’t want to give somebody mediocre too much money but it’s still let’s just say it’s still to me a clear need even if you feel really good about Roman off and Crona that again injuries to block with or vanich you need you want somebody more reliable in their last year I watched krona again that’s last year but krona was not ready for ANL last year yeah Romanov was good in his one game but it’s only one game I doubt that he would have been ready for too too much time in NHL too last year so yeah yeah so hopefully they they get somebody there they uh and they both isn’t both Blackwood and vek also ufas after this year as well I think yeah they’re both ufas and they’re also they’re they’re guys that historically you know have had especially Blackwood right and Evan maybe more last season but so these aren’t exactly guys that played 50 60 games a year every year for the last four years you got to get a number three there’s got to be somebody I think so you gotta get you gotta get a body in there so so we’ll see how it uh plays out in the next couple and signing still happen it’s only July right right right it’s still a couple couple months away so I’m just mentioning it because it hasn’t happened and I hope that it doesn’t happen right yeah we thought it would happen M said that that they want to get a number three goalie I don’t know if he’s changed his mind or just the guys that they wanted the top of the market they couldn’t get them which is possible so but anyway read my story did Barracuda add enough to make the playoffs um I love it um stick around uh we have Jonathan Becker after this interview or after this segment um he’s going to talk all about uh the celebrini effect and a whole bunch of other things and uh that’s going to do it for this week because we don’t really have that much news other than the celebrini ELC I think that’s enough news isn’t it that’s true that’s that’s probably all we need we’ll talk about it next week as well probably we’re gonna and a week after that we’re gonna revise maybe I think one one show we should have like a full depth to our you know roster discussion mid off seon kind of thing where it’s like you’re just pulling your hair out being like all right this guy’s get a pencil in at 3C we’re gonna do that one of these shows well I I I say that every year we I’m sorry every episode we have we start with a picture of a live turkey and then we go to a cooked turkey and then we stretch it out like every for to represent mael Brittney we have a different representation of a turkey so it goes from a nice cooked turkey and then we stretch it out we have turkey sandwiches we have turkey salad exactly we got to we got It’s The Leftovers we we got to get something in there we got to stretch out that that that that Mac and C Bry turkey meat all the way to training camp I love it all right guys I hope you all have a good week stick around bye welcome we have a special guest today he is the president of the shark Sports entertainment Jonathan Becker and he joined organization in 2018 but he’s been a lifelong sharks fan so excited to talk to you Jonathan welcome to the show H thanks for having me on I’m uh my one half excited one half worried about what questions you might ask me I’m just kidding well I’m going to start with a hard-hitting one then all right because at the San hockey Now podcast we’re all about the hard-hitting questions how mad worry you that the Sharks didn’t draft Andre Becker you know it’s funny I actually built the draft card I gave it to the scouts and for whatever reason they didn’t think he was the right guy to scout but it would have been a good story what what what would uh his number or what would your number have been if you played with the sharks uh sadly my number has been retired I I’m number 12 oh no well you can wear 14 then and done the original Patrick number something exactly exactly exactly well Jonathan the future is bright for the Sharks but we do have to go back and let’s talk about how we got here and it’s July 2021 the sharks have missed the playoffs for a second straight season and rebuild as you recall is a dirty word when it comes comes up in press conferences right the RW discussion was a discussion for a good four years here and you said back in July 2021 that it’d be hard for me to sell a threeyear season ticket plan to somebody that says we plan not to be good for the next three to four years it just doesn’t feel right to me and I think it’ll be hard in this market and then you mentioned from owner hustle plotner perspective same interview I don’t want to speak on behalf of the boss but I’m confident that he would say he expect expects us to make the playoffs so before we get into the the good stuff in the sunshine and rainbows the question is what changed the direction of the sharks where over the past year especially it seems like the organization has really embraced the rebuild yeah so I think context is important if we go back to that time that we had that conversation we were either just coming out of the pandemic or maybe on the the outside of seeing that we could see the end of the pandemic um until June of 2022 we still had I think what most would say is a pretty impressive core players between see Couture hurdle Burns Carlson I don’t mean to leave anybody out but uh that’s a team that you look at and say you know it probably could be and should be in playoff contention maybe it’s a couple of players around the edges so if you look at where we were it’s fair to say there was still a chance to make that a playoff team and clearly we weren’t and we didn’t and so you can say we failed to live up to our potential for what we were there right now but you know with a flat cap it became a lot more more difficult to trade away players a lot more difficult to bring players in we want we were in a very different situation and so that forced us to go back and say well the cap is finally starting to go up you saw that went up four million now it’s accelerating a bit more as well this gives us more flexibility than we had in the previous three years when it’s essentially flat we can now change the strategy and so as we went out and talked to I don’t remember the number anymore maybe it was 20 different GM candidates and sort of interviewed them there was different patterns emerging there were those that wanted to double down on the core and there were those that thought that we could rebuild a new core and ultimately when we hired Mike clearly he was more on the rebuild a new core and then we executed on that strategy and we can talk about that strategy but I think at this point it’s been well hashed as to what we’re doing right right right I think it’s pretty clear right now but it seems like and you tell me if this is an accurate portrayal that hosle plotner perspective matters a whole lot of course but Also may have changed was there was he he more against the rebuild say before 2022 and did he have to kind of change his mind about it I think we we all collectively were hesitant to do that but at at post 2022 there was a different collection of voices some newer voices that were stronger than it would before but yes ultimately H is the uh the owner of the franchise and unless he supports a direction we’re not going in that direction and so what I guess got him over the top to that direction was it kind of missing the Playoffs again in 2022 and there’s that transition from Doug Wilson to Joe will now you’re looking for a new GM did Mike reer uh convince you in some sort of way that this was the way to go just how did that kind of come about that around that summer it does seem like you guys kind of flipped your philosophy yeah I Shang I think it’s all of that it’s the cap going up so we had more flexibility it’s a new GM with a different vision of where we’re going to go it’s a uh different players on the horizon it’s a change in philosophy that well we know that we probably are not going to be trading away draft picks anymore so we have I don’t think there’s any one thing you can point of it’s just a collection of those that hit critical mass and it was clear it was time to go in a different direction um is it fair to say then that you know two decisions that kind of about the same player kind of speak to that shift of attitude in March 2022 the resigned Tom Ole for eight years that’s not a rebuild move two years later the Sharks traded him you know you mentioned the cap and that sort of thing the Sharks traded him to the Vegas golden knights and so is is that a fair kind of perspective that there was a big shift from March 2022 kind of to that summer and obviously 2024 when proof was in the pudding that you guys yeah I think that’s a fair uh assessment is when we looked when we signed hurdle for the extension we thought there was still a way to build a playoff game around him and the other players that we still had two years later by then when we uh actually traded Carlson and what I think many of you including maybe usang originally said was an untradeable contract it was car that a little little different Yeah by himself but but that’s my point there were so many different factors that if you go back a year ago I don’t think any of us could have predicted this different situation the world and we would be in so I guess then I guess I guess of if we’re looking at it then like in terms of just the in a in a way that the in terms of what took you guys maybe so long to to be open about a rebuild and to declare it was you guys had these players they obviously had some Talent even though they had ups ups and downs obviously like like Eric did with with San Jose and so it was almost like this is the kind of the best situation that we have right now like you can’t move these contracts you’re not going to get anything for them and you’re just retaining a huge amount you’re just kind of putting yourself in a hole for a long time so sort of just dealing with the card the the the cards that you were dealt almost maybe I think that’s fair characterization CH at each point you make a decision based on the facts you have at that point and say what what’s the best we can do for the franchise and for the fans and that year it was a still try to push to make the playoffs and hurdle would have been a key component of that and um we mentioned house platner a second ago but I guess recently he was spotted at the prospect scrimmage and um you had told Cory Massac in a uh hasso platner profile that he had done that you can actually read on sose hockey now to plug San Jose hockey now um that he’s been at more sharks games over the past year or so is do you think there’s an increasing level of involvement from hasso with the sharks um to be more as a fan or is he kind of more of hock hockey operations management at this point yeah I I I think you guys have done him a disservice by saying he’s not around a lot because he’s around a ton he’s just not a guy who looks for the spotlight um I didn’t track how many games he went to last year that’s that’s not a a kpi we have but I would say it was I don’t know a dozen maybe 14 I something like that a not a fair number of the home games he wasn’t just at the prospect scrimmage game that you saw but he was at development Camp as well and so I think there’s a lot of times that you would say he’s not around but we know he’s around you just don’t necessarily and he’s not a pound on his chest being the spotlight kind of guy you just don’t know yeah well I want to speak for myself and my media cohorts there like I mentioned in the story with Corey that it’s out there that he’s around more but I think it’s a lot of it is a fan perception thing right and I get that hoso may not want to do a lot of interviews he’s not Mark hbin obviously right he’s not front and center with with the team but a perception begins though right because you don’t see a lot of pictures of him you don’t have any interviews with him about the sharks in maybe a decade or so so I do want to put that out there that I don’t know if it’s so much myself saying he’s not around because like I said I I’ve I’ve mentioned a few times that I haven’t seen him but I’m told that he’s been around more this these past couple of years that I think it’s more a fan perception and that it would be I would say since you’re on the show now that I would put it to you that it would be good I think for the fans to hear from him at some point I hear you I I think that’s ultimately his decision whether he wants to do it or not of course so let’s talk about the good news it’s time for the Good Vibes um sure what are the um okay so what are the different areas that you’ve seen the the mcklin celebrini effect since the San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery drafted mlin first overall um just anything that you can mention that you think is interesting over the past couple months in terms of Macklin you mean other than the fact that the song Return of the Mac has been on the radio like 10 times more than it was until that point that’s a good one well look come on so let’s start with the sort of the obvious part which is there’s just a lot more Buzz we’re seeing more interest from what I would call The Casual NorCal hockey fan not the those that are die hards Etc we’re seeing more interest from the national media we’ve gotten more inbound requests from our non-beat reporters including you guys as well frankly fans and other markets are paying more attention what’s happening here in San Jose than they did a year ago unless they were paying attention for negative reasons ago which they may have um you know you can see it in lots of numbers the prospect scrimmage that you mentioned had roughly 3,300 fans there in attendance that’s not a ticket drop number that was people in the building um despite the fact that event was on a holiday Day July 4th right despite the fact it was a paid event and last year you may remember it was a free event yep so 50% or so increase in attendance despite you know bad scheduling day and you had to pay for it as well the stream itself had more than 23,000 people on it if that number doesn’t astonish you I’ll put it in context that’s not much less than an average professional hockey Sharks game so you pick a random Tuesday or Thursday against I don’t know Winnipeg or Buffalo they’re going to be not much more than 23,000 so that’s a heck of a lot of interest um what else oh Saturday so the day that we announced that he had signed his ELC was a Rec record merchandise sales day for a non-game day so for an off season and uh something like 80% of the merch we sold was his merch but we sold other merch as well you that’s like your entire time with the shks or you know I only have records going back from when I’ve been here seven years so I don’t know but yes but I’m not counting Stanley Cup games because of course that’s during the season I’m talking about offseason kind of time frame sure um you may have seen because I think I tweeted it out or xed it out or whatever the appropriate phrase is these days um that we sold all our teal celebrini stuff so we had to pause and make more before we could reload and sell more of that as well and also I don’t know if I said there was a spike in individual game sales if you do same day last year which I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison but it’s the only comparison I know how to do it was almost double the day of the previous year for a couple days after we announced it and most of the sales on that day were for the home opener or the game against in October against Bard so there you go interesting see fans are following it very closely in terms of the the young prospects it seems like because the Bard effect the celini effect and going head onhe head that seems like a uh good one good one to go to for sure you know unrelated to us the league has been saying for years that we’re getting younger but the superstars are still been those that are sort of the 30-year old plus it really feels like on the cusp of the all the attention going to the under 25s at this point and you mentioned the home opener getting so much so much so much interest so where where is that like is is that sold out now what what can you say about that or even the Bedard game yeah so I don’t none of them are all tickets issued at this point um there are tons of games including the homeowner the first and the second there’s two Bedard games this year as you may recall um that are doing really well the Halloween game is for I guess fun reasons is uh selling very well uh obviously the Jumbo Joe retirement 19 game is is actually the closest to sold out I think that’s it’s above 85% it might even be by 90% I didn’t check yet this morning um and the first ever New Year’s game is selling quite well also if you were to estimate that home opener versus last year’s home opener at same day like what what would the estimate be how much how many more tickets have sold because we’re probably 20% ahead Pace wise wow you know it’s it’s Shang it’s tough I mean we can I can do year-over-year comparison and I have which is why I knew that number but it’s also you got to pause and say you know we’re 91 days I think away from there so it’s still a long way away so be interesting to see what happens in the next 90 right right right I think you had mentioned that you can’t really talk about sort of season tickets sold that sort of thing until you want to get closer to September right before you want to talk about that kind of impact that Macklin may have had on that yeah you know I did say that to you what 10 days ago 12 days ago I I I’ve got maybe an update which I’ll share because things have moved much faster than at least I expected them to move um so maybe I was too cautious then I don’t know we’ll see um but just context wise um if you look at if you just care about Seasons which I encourage you not just to care about but that is a big part of it seasons have three components they are the people who renew right you want there are then people who expand so you had two tickets you decide to go to four or four you decid to go to Six and then new and if you do this right you want the sum of renew plus expand plus new to be more than 100% because then you’re growing your season ticket base and I think what I have told you on a number of occasions and I’ve told others as well is an average renewal campaign you’re doing good but it’s about average is 85% and so the other 15 per has to come from either expansions or news to get back to 100 of course you want to go a little bit further than that if you’re very good then your renewals are in the high 80% so when we last talked we were at good we’re at very good now and the question is will we get to excellent just on the renew the other thing I can tell is we’re what 90 days to go and renew plus explan plus new is already well above 100 so we’re already in the in the right territory okay that’s that’s that’s great I mean it it must have been very tough right over the last couple of years just the arena not being what it was just that the the pop right not being there yeah and look we’re not going to solve this all in one year this is not me suggesting that we’re back to the Stanley Cup run years where you know virtually every night is 15 16,000 people in the building but I think you saw I don’t know half a dozen a dozen nights LA or days and nights last year where it felt like the old tank and I think we’ll significantly expand that it probably won’t be all 41 but we’ll get deeper into those there’ll still be the odd Tuesday where it’ll feel a little than we’d like I guess since we’re talking about just how tough was it for you as a fan and even for hoso as a fan himself just to see the tank in that state at certain nights last season and in previous Seasons yeah you know there’s no going away from that it’s emotionally tough I mean when the tank is full and when it has the energy we’ve seen it it’s one of the toughest buildings to play in you’ve seen players say that when they depart when they show up as well um it’s from a Fan’s perspective it’s harder but but on the other hand you look at the people in the building go that’s your core fan base that’s what you’re building from it’s getting the more casual fan to pay attention which has happened a lot in the last 30 40 days so feels it feels like we’re on that upswing looking at other sports have you seen how one player can change the business Paradigm for a team um not to put that kind of pressure on Matlin but just again seeing other teams and your experience as a sports fan a sports executive I’m so familiar with the Bay Area have you seen how one player can change everything so the short answer is yes but I want to be that is a lot of pressure to be putting on self Tre and I don’t want I mean let’s be fair you know we got eckan and zland and others are no slouches Will Smith has really turned into a player as well right I mean Dickinson signed his ELC we’ll see what Happ I mean there this isn’t about just mlin celebrini he’s sort of the the center of this I think but I think you you really ought to step back so having said that though there are plenty of instances where even here in the Bay Area where one player catalyzes a court You could argue go back you know 12ish years ago and Stephen Curry uh energized a brand new draymont gream and then came clay as well and became the center of that core as well uh you could look at Joe Montana you know if you go back 20 years for the ners as well so it never it shouldn’t be about just that player but that player one player often becomes the face of what a team is doing and that could change everything right I mean not just the ticket sales merchandising as we’ve seen with the Golden State Warriors right like we’re going to say war is merchandise 20 years ago no one was buying it back then right and so just everything right just it’s a all encompassing kind of you again because hockey is in some sense the ultimate team sport and there’s actually some analytics that show that team is even more important in hockey than it is in any other of the big five uh Sports here in the US you got to be careful because what happens when you’re one player is out or with that so you don’t want to bet everything on one you want to bet on the team and so I’ve been a sharks fan since I was a very small child but um I remember all these names that we’re hearing now you know like my Greer and and Joe thoron and Ryan K and also in recent news that they were all you know huge parts of this very very successful sharks franchise and now it seems like they’re all back it feels like the gang’s back together do you have any insight into that or or do you see any value in that kind of Return of the good times I guess for the shark for sure and I will say I’m involved in many of those decisions they don’t happen accidentally and I think especially when you’re G to have a young team you it’ll be interesting to see how young we are in that opening night lineup but it’s certainly possible be on the bottom five in terms of youngest or top five depending on how you actually want to think about that that you have mentors both on and off the ice to talk about what it means to be able to play a 100 games in the NHL and 500 games in the NHL and a thousand games this is not about one season this is on your professional Journey what is mean to be a pro and to be on the ice with a Patty Marlo or a Joe thoron teaching you and a ice about nutrition about that that environment of having not just good vibes but I would call it professionalism with long careers is really important for young kids before we U move out way I should also say it’s good for fans too let’s be clear come on I’m just really I’m curious why why you think that they all themselves are coming back is there something about the Bay Area I mean obviously you know it’s the Bay Area they enjoy living here and everything but it seems like they’re all collectively not collectively but individually coming to that decision to come back to the Sharks you know again this is one of those times where you’re asking me to speak on behalf of somebody else I’ll tell you what I’ve heard summarized is they believe that we are starting something special here and that there there’s a real chance and I don’t want to put time frame on it because nobody knows how long and how deep that is to to build a repeatable long run hopefully with a the one success that we didn’t have during that last repeatable long run and they want to be a part of it I love it the the push back on that though from some C more cynically minded people or fans or I’m not a fan though is that that core though did not get you that ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup but you kind of subscribe that to the teams were good all those I mean as a fan yourself back then the teams were really good it just that the kind of couple bounces or injuries or whatever just didn’t go the Sharks way yeah I I mean sh you you may or may not have watched a lot of those teams I don’t know I I watch I grew up a Kings fan so yes I did I so you know a couple of shifts here and there fundamentally changed the franchise I mean the Kings got in an eight seed that year and nobody thought they could possibly win and they managed to win and so there’s a reason we call this the toughest trophy in sports to win and I think you got to put in a position to win and we did for 15 years sadly it didn’t come quite true and so uh I think there were plenty of teams that had a very good shot of winning and just didn’t that’s fair that’s fair and before we we leave the hockey stuff I did want to go back to to one thing uh sort of listening to everything that he said a question that we talked about early early on so going back to kind of I I just was was thinking about that that Tomas turtle and resigning him and sort of the idea I guess when you resign them you’re trying to make the playoffs obviously that year and then the next year right and is there sort of a I don’t know like a like a uh oh like we’re changing up this Str even for Tomas like where you kind of tell him like Hey you know we signed you to this contract a couple months ago but things might be a little different now um yeah so I don’t there’s no I mean I know you want to find a moment in time yeah where some blinding light came through and we all said okay it’s time to shift it’s never quite like that it’s a little by little and then one you day you go there’s more positive in going this other direction than going in the direction we were and you just make the shift at that point there’s no one single moment it’s the the last draw kind of thing okay okay fair enough yeah I know as a reporter I always look for that one thing I can write about that you know way to start a story so that lead so sadly there’s no flash of inspiration or tablets that came down from above or anything like that sorry no tablets that came down from hoso no no so along with mlin celeb they be in 202 2024 25 but that season’s also going to Mark a change in the team’s sap Center management agreement and you said before that the arena management agreement it it’s until 2040 but that the terms Chang unfavorably for the Sharks on July 1st 2025 correct and so if you can’t improve the agreement more in the shark’s favor by July 1st 202 what does that mean for the shks at sap Center yeah so so let’s let’s go facts first and then speculation second and try to separate the two so factually first starting July 1st 2025 we have the yearly unilateral right to give a three-year notice so if we didn’t change the terms by 2025 we could choose I’m speculating here this is not likely to happen but just factually to say we don’t want to here but it would still be three years from now right so you can pretty much that means next season and three seasons after that we’re playing in the Shark Tank at sap center right because it’s a three years notice right SE practically however if it were to come to that and I don’t see a a high probability comes to that we’ll go to that conversation a moment the question is where would we play practically it takes five to 10 years to build a new Arena because of right land rights we see this playing out in baseball another team which we are not going to talk about live in this as well it’s hard even harder in hockey because you need the ice plants and all that stuff sure so a relo is even if we’re in a negative situation the is is not imminent unless of course you think we get so mad we pull in Arizona which has not been our style necessarily as well so you’re you’re fine for the next four seasons having said that we’re in very regular conversations with the city we’ve had a fantastic relation I just will say this again there are a lot of Bayer sports teams that have not had very good relationships with their cities we are not one of them we’ve had a good relationship with San Jose for 35 years conversations are going well and if you ask me as today July 11 2024 I I don’t see much probability that we end up in July one in an unfavorable situation okay having said that that is always a possibility things could change but it doesn’t feel that way right now it sounds like kind of and again I guess this is the specul speculative part of what you’re saying that even if things did not work out at sap center with the city that the overall idea is still to find a place in San Jose or the Bay Area if it did come to that yes hu has been very clear he’s a baray area guy he wants to stay in San Jose if it makes anything possible if for some reason this site doesn’t work out for some other reason we would look at other places in San Jose first and then the rest of the Baya thank goodness I wasn’t looking forward to moving to Arizona it’s really hot there I think 118 I think I saw today or something like that I heard they need an arena still so I think we’re that is true they do still need an arena oh I guess we could play in tchu for a couple of years they they pulled that off yeah right that work right same amount of fans right yeah no I I sorry all jokes aside anybody who’s watching this and saying that Jonathan says we’re gonna play in Tex I did not say that let’s right away all right guys the sharks are moving and they’re going to Tex Au Arena I I think that’s what I heard from in all sh somebody listening to your podcast will think I actually said that please don’t joke okay all jokes aside that was a joke guys so um the the Mercury News did report that a potential sticking point for the arena management agreement is that the Sharks and the city of San Jose they’re kind of trying to figure out who will pay for the upgrades at sap Center in the coming years or who will pay how much of it is that genuinely accurate in terms of what is unfavorable for you guys one of the negotiation points I have to be very careful given that uh we’re in a negotiation I can’t I can’t divulge very much but I can say because I’ve said publicly H himself has funded more than a hundred million dollars of basic improvements to the arena over the last decade even though we don’t own this building it’s a city-owned building and so it is relatively unusual I can’t find another example maybe somebody else has for a tenant to pay for the landlord impr improvements normally if your sink busts and your tenant the landlord pays for it not the tenant uh if you the cold water if the hot water doesn’t work normally the landlord pays for it not the tenant the tenant has been paying for those improvements over the last 30 years it probably needs to be a more Equitable uh parody or something okay all right uh would the speaking in your terms would the tenant like to be the landlord one day would hosel like to buy sap Center is that come up those are the kind of answers I can’t say given the where we are in the negotiations oh wow okay well uh Jonathan really really appreciate uh your time here so I got to close out with one thing um so I need to ask you about the lawsuit against the sharks sharks ice and former Junior Sharks coach Kevin Whitmer for essentially with in terms of the Sharks part of the lawsuit failing to follow proper procedures to protect Junior sharks players from Whitmore and Whitmer has been accused of Loot and lascivious acts with a minor and the Sharks and Shark ice are accused of failing to take action against Whitmer even though supervisors were and I quote notified several times about Whitmer breaking locker room rules and so anyway what can you say about that it’s an active lawsuit you know I can’t say anything other than uh I’m pretty sure the right thing’s gonna happen okay fair enough okay well Jonathan I appreciate you coming on and taking on the questions the hard ones like Andre Becker’s number and the easy ones too and anyway anything else you you like to say just U kind of on on behalf of the Sharks you know such a such a passionate advocate for them yeah I would just say probably two things one obvious one less obvious uh if you don’t already have your tickets for November 23rd they will sell out and they will sell out soon don’t wake in Octo wake up in October and go oh I wish I could go to jum’s retirement it’ll be too late then um and uh I don’t know that we publicly announc so I’ll give you an exclusive here we will do another Legends game uh before that as well just like we did so those will also be available they probably won’t go on sale until later this year but expect another one of those and then uh if when you’re in the building on opening night you will see a number of uh other offseason improvements we’ve made including uh food and beverage on the conour those are two quick sound bites okay okay great uh anything you say in particular about the offse the improvements anything more about that yeah I think probably the one that’ll be mo a lot of them are back office stuff as I sort of alluded to but the one most notice well maybe two that people will notice one is is when you come in the South entrance the food and beverage stand immediately to the left when you come up to the stairs uh has been change well is in the process of being changed to a self-service that one backs up uh and has been breaking our seven minute rule which we don’t want people to wait for more than seven minutes uh and by using self checkout like you do at grocery stores and stuff like that we actually been able to increase through but by almost 50% and so that one will go to that and uh if you’ve ever attended an event and what’s called the rinkside room which is the big darkish room by the rink we uh it’s just dark and Dungey feeling and so we’re uh dramatically renovating that one to make it a bit brighter and easier to entertain there okay yeah I remember Patrick Marlo after his jersey retirement he had a press conference in there and it was a little little depressing so yeah I often do my sharks insights uh in that room as well and it’s kind of dark and depressing too all right well Jonathan thanks so much um have a great summer and we’ll see you at the ring soon sounds good take care thanks for having me on guys thanks so much Jonathan [Music]

Jonathan Becher joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!

The San Jose Sharks’ president talks about the Macklin Celebrini effect and why it took the Sharks so long to embrace the rebuild.

But before we get to Becher (1:09:57), Sheng and Keegan talk about Celebrini signing his ELC.

Where does Celebrini fit into the San Jose Sharks’ line-up? What are our too early predictions for how many points that Celebrini scores in his rookie campaign? Who wins the 2025 Calder Trophy? (1:50)

Ty Emberson also signed…does Emberson take a top-four defenseman job on the Sharks by the end of the season? GM Mike Grier hasn’t added any blueliners via free agency, is that a sign of his confidence in younger D like Emberson, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Henry Thrun? (36:26)

Finally, we turn our focus on the San Jose Barracuda: Why did Nathan Todd leave? How impressive were GM Joe Will’s free agent signings? (51:29)

And now, Becher! (1:09:57)

Three years ago, the San Jose Sharks seemed unwilling to go into a rebuild. Behind the scenes, what’s changed in recent seasons, that the Sharks now embrace a rebuild? (1:11:00)

How has owner Hasso Plattner’s attitude changed about rebuilding? (1:13:47)

Two decisions about the same player seem to speak to that shift of attitude? In Mar. 2022, the Sharks re-signed Tomas Hertl for eight years. Two years later, the Sharks traded him. (1:15:14)

Plattner was recently spotted at the Jul. 4 prospects scrimmage: How much more involved is Hasso with the Sharks now? (1:17:22)

What’s the Macklin Celebrini effect on the Sharks, from the Draft Party to jersey sales to prospects scrimmage attendance to more? (1:19:26)

What’s so valuable about having so many San Jose Sharks alumni back with the organization? (1:29:26)

Sheng has one more Hertl question for Becher. (1:32:38)

What’s going on with the Sharks’ SAP Center management agreement? Becher said the terms change unfavorably against the Sharks on Jul. 1, 2025. What does that mean for how long the Sharks will play at SAP Center? (1:33:57)

Finally, there’s an ongoing lawsuit against the Sharks, Sharks Ice, and former Jr. Sharks coach Kevin Whitmer for failing to follow proper procedures to protect Jr. Sharks players from alleged pedophile Whitmer. What’s the latest on the lawsuit? (1:39:00)

Becher urges fans to get Joe Thornton retirement jersey tickets now — they’re selling fast! — and shares that there will also be a Legends alumni game for Jumbo. (1:40:00)