Free Michael Misa

Last night, despite best efforts not to, the San Jose Sharks came out on top of the Los Angeles Kings with Igor Chernyshov scoring the game winning goal to get the 5-4 win in overtime.  For the second game in a row, the Sharks managed to blow a lead and hold on until the last minute to win in overtime.  Last night in particular, though, was a tough watch.  Between mismanagement of lines, poor zone breakouts and entry, struggles in the neutral zone, and defensive breakdowns resulting in a lot of time spent in our own end, there are several issues that need to be addressed.

Most pressing is the mismanagement of Michael Misa and by extension, Chernyshov, with the constant shackling to Tyler Toffoli. Chernyshov is impacted to a slightly lesser extent, as his main skill of puck movement comes from use of his size and he can play with pretty much anyone.  Misa, however, is greatly affected by Toffoli’s slowness and it is resulting in a significant downgrade of production from him.  Misa’s biggest asset is his speed: his ability to rush into the offensive zone and follow his net crashing with an equally fast, and accurate, shot is a major part of what makes him so impactful in a game.  However, Toffoli simply cannot keep up.  Ranking at the very bottom for both speed bursts and top overall speed, it’s not an exaggeration to say Toffoli is single-handedly weighing Misa down.  Last night alone, Misa had five turnovers…occasionally from having to wait for Toffoli to catch up and provide support.

While Toffoli did record 2 points (1G, 1A) and earn third star of the game, his performance was less than impressive and significantly detrimental to the young stars.  In fact, his assist came on Chernyshov’s first goal in the singular form he can keep up with him and Misa: a long stretch-pass.  Toffoli saw Chernyshov using his size to crash the net and signaling for the puck, which he jokingly said Chernyshov likely would’ve “killed him” if he hadn't passed it.  Chernyshov completed the play by fighting off his defenders and staying strong on the puck to bring it to the net and score.  Yes it was a great play by Toffoli, but it did risk interception in the neutral zone and it does not negate the ways he slows down the line.  His goal came from immense effort from Ivar Stenberg on the powerplay, the one time his speed is not an issue because it involves very little movement.

The best, and most obvious option, for Toffoli’s replacement on that line is Stenberg.  Not only does Stenberg click very nicely with both Chernyshov and Misa, with Stenberg setting up Misa early in the game with a saucer pass that would’ve resulted in a beautiful tap-in had it gone in, but he also provides much needed speed and agility.  Plus, he himself is being weighed down by his linemates-although to a much lesser extent.  The past two games have not been good ones for Alexander Wennberg, and Collin Graf doesn’t fit great into the line with the two of them.  The best solution for everyone would likely be placing Stenberg with Chernyshov and Misa, and putting Graf back with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.  

The mismanagement of lines that aren’t working don’t just impact those lines themselves though, they impact Celebrini too.  Throughout the game Celebrini was seen repeatedly choosing to double-shift himself (although unnecessarily) to seemingly try and make up for what the team was lacking offensively.  This not only backfired immensely, with him giving up the puck four times, but also reflects incredibly poorly on the coaching staff.  At a certain point, a foot needs to be put down.  Yes, Celebrini is a superstar generational talent with intuition that can and should be trusted.  However, he’s going to run himself into the ground with burnout if he keeps being allowed to do this.  A major point of this offseason was to help provide him with better support, so why are we letting him doubleshift himself to the point of exhaustion and making mistakes while not allowing the support to develop and thrive?  Even a player like Celebrini needs guidance sometimes.

While the Sharks are certainly showing signs of hope and steps in the right direction, the structure of the team as a whole needs to be revisited.  Although we’re only two games into the season, troubling trends are carrying over from last season that clearly weren’t addressed or fixed during the preseason…specifically the Toffoli/Misa issue.  If something isn’t fixed, our young talent will not only be stunted but also completely burnt out.