I owe Doug Wilson a great big apology. Oh, I am not conceited enough to think he feels that way, or even knows who the heck I am. But I will give him one if I ever meet him.

The Sharks went from one of the biggest losers of free agency to perhaps its biggest winners in about 24 hours. Thursday they signed veteran two-way defenseman Rob Blake; Friday, they traded for Dan Boyle and veteran defenseman Brad Lukowich. Boyle has the skill set necessary to run the up-tempo offense Coach Todd McLellan says he wants to implement.

They gave up quite a bit to make this move: young offensive-minded defenseman Matthew Carle and blue line prospect Ty Wishart, plus a 2009 first round pick and a 2010 fourth round pick. They also lost another defenseman in the process to make it work, trading veteran Craig Rivet and a seventh round pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for second round picks in each of the next two years.

In moving Rivet and Carle, they freed up almost exactly what Boyle is going to be paid: he signed a six year, $40 million deal before the season ended. In fact, he and Brian Campbell were the most prized catches at the trade deadline until Boyle signed that deal. Once that was finalized, Wilson caught the only big fish left in the sea with an aggressive trade.

That seemed like a poor decision when the Sharks were eliminated in the sixth game of the second round for the third year in a row, and then the team lost Campbell to free agency. So Wilson simply went out and bought the other fish from the team who had caught him.

In keeping with the fishing metaphor, it should also be noted that these are uncharted waters for the Sharks. Both Wilson and previous general manager Dean Lombardi preferred to draft and develop players. However, the Sharks needed to do something different to get over the hump, and the strong blue lines in the Western Conference coupled with the lack of experience of that unit in the South Bay warranted such aggressive maneuvering.

The Sharks have also shown their fans they are willing to increase their traditionally modest payroll this season, since Blake and Lukowich will combine to make about as much as Boyle. Even should no other free agents be signed, payroll has already increased some $5 million.

Of course, there are concerns about both big acquisitions. With Blake it is primarily his age (38) and the possibility of his performance falling off. That is why he was only signed for one year.

With Boyle there are two concerns. There is more of an emphasis on size in the West, and it may be one of the reasons Brian Campbell was not as effective in the playoffs; Boyle is even smaller (5′11″, 184#). In addition, he was a whopping -29 in 37 games last season, numbers that would make Patrick Marleau cringe. However, he was -13 the entire rest of his career, and one must consider that he was on what was the worst team in the league (remember they had a MUCH easier schedule than the Kings and still barely beat them out), and lacked goaltending behind him.

If Wilson’s new veteran acquisitions provide even close to what is expected of them, San Jose has a blue line that is as good right now as any in the league other than Detroit (especially if Chris Chelios returns) and Anaheim.

Boyle and Blake would be able to be formidable quarterbacks of a power play that has all but abandoned the Sharks in each of the last two post-seasons. Hard-hitting defensemen Douglas Murray and Kyle McLaren are reliable penalty-killers, and now Lukowich can be added to that mix. Young phenom Marc-Eduoard Vlassic can eat as many minutes as all but the very best defensemen in the league.

However, teams need to have at least seven solid defenseman. Thus, I now hope the Sharks still have enough left to re-sign Christian Ehrhoff or get someone with experience to replace him.

If that can be done, Wilson should be commended for making this happen without trading away any talent that would help us win now, such as Patrick Marleau. To me, it was not so much that he had to be traded but that I did not think there was another way to upgrade the blue line.

Good thing Wilson knew better.

Copyright 2008 -- The Cold Shoulder - A Sharks Blog