CSN Bay Area

A new Sharks mailbag, thanks in part to a nice smooth ride from frigid St. Louis back to mild and sunny SFO...

Is Marleau's fall off in goals attributed to his new role to make room for the younger skaters?
(Marci Garcia ‏@DrkhorseSJ)

Not at all, and Marleau’s role on the team, at least on the ice, has remained the same. He’s still primarily on the second-line wing with center Logan Couture when everyone is healthy, and he’s a mainstay on the top power-play unit.

Marleau’s goal production, of course, has fallen off a cliff. The team’s highest paid player in terms of actual salary at $7 million, Marleau is on pace for 14 goals, which would be his lowest total since scoring 13 in 74 games in his rookie season of 1997-98.

The even-keeled veteran doesn’t seem overly concerned, saying over and over that the chances are there. And, while he’s had some open looks in recent weeks during his one-goal-in-20-games slump, I went back and looked at the seven goals he scored this season, and compared them with the Sharks’ hottest scorer of late –- Melker Karlsson.

Of Marleau’s seven goals, three have come on the power play, while one was with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Obviously, there’s more room to operate in the offensive zone in such situations.

That leaves three goals in standard even-strength situations in 42 games played. Three.

On Oct. 11, Marleau converted a breakaway in the home opener against Winnipeg. On Oct. 18, he finished off a three-on-two rush against the Devils on a very stoppable shot on Cory Schneider. On Dec. 6 in Calgary, Marleau was left alone in front of the net courtesy of some soft Flames defense, and batted in a puck out of midair before any Calgary players could react.

Karlsson has gotten a few fortunate bounces on his way to tallying five goals in 13 games. There was a strange carom off the glass in Minnesota that aided his breakaway score, and his first career NHL goal on Dec. 22 in Anaheim was a shot that should have been routinely eaten up by Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen.

But go back and take a look at Karlsson’s two goals against the Blues, both of which came when the Sharks were still in the game.

On Thursday night in St. Louis, Karlsson charged to the front of the net and managed to swipe a rebound past Brian Elliott. That’s what they call a dirty goal, and it came from hard work. Five days earlier at home, the 24-year-old battled with Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson in the slot before slipping to the front of the net to whack in a Barclay Goodrow rebound.

Marleau hasn’t scored a single goal like that all season long. That’s a huge problem, and unless that changes, he’s going to continue to come up empty more games than not.

Speaking of Karlsson…

Thoughts on Melker Karlsson's future with the Sharks?
(RoadToStadiumSeries ‏@SharksTank)

I don’t see any reason Karlsson won’t stick in the NHL. He has shown no signs of decline after his first few games, common among players still getting their feet wet in the NHL, and he’s actually getting better.

You can make a strong argument that he deserves to play in the top six in place of Marleau when Joe Thornton comes back, too. After all, isn’t this a “clean slate, no equity” approach in which younger players are encouraged to take the place of established veterans if they’re outperforming them? Karlsson already has more even strength goals (5) than Marleau (4), and he's played in 29 fewer games.

So far, the 24-year-old is the embodiment of everything Todd McLellan, and most coaches in today’s game, preach. He skates in straight lines, he goes to the front of the net, he doesn’t take a shift off, and he’s getting rewarded for it.

I thought it was interesting what Joe Pavelski said the other day in Minnesota when addressing Karlsson’s success. Some players’ games simply translate better to the NHL than the AHL, where Karlsson had just 10 points in 20 games with Worcester (he already has nine points in his first 13 NHL games).

Pavelski said: “The game is a little bit looser down there, a few more turnovers. He’s just a smart player, so he thinks the game good. He’s probably more suited for this game [in the NHL] just because of his smarts.

“I remember that was partly how I felt when I got up here, and he looks like he thinks the game well, and goes to the [hard] areas. It’s good to see him contribute.”

What are the Sharks’ plans for Mueller for the rest of the year? Keeping him in the press box is a waste.
(Brian Neumann ‏@Brian_Neumann)

I expect Mirco Mueller will remain in San Jose and will play a handful of games the rest of the way, but you can debate whether him making the Sharks out of training camp was the right decision. On the one hand, spending a full campaign with an NHL team and getting top-level instruction from guys like Larry Robinson and Jim Johnson should be beneficial. So, too, should practicing on a daily basis with his Sharks teammates rather than fellow teenagers.

On the other hand, as you point out, watching games instead of playing them could hurt his development, and if the coaching staff felt he was outperforming any of the other defensemen in the lineup, the new philosophy this year dictates that he would be playing rather than sitting.

I do believe Mueller will be a solid NHL defenseman at some point. He’s confident, he can skate, he’s mentally sharp, and he is rarely out of position as evidenced by his ability to stay out of the penalty box. Is he ready to claim a full time roster spot, though? If he was, it’s doubtful he would have been permitted to play in the World Juniors.