Former Sharks GM Doug Wilson has a major regret from his time with the team
Doug Wilson was once the GM of the San Jose Sharks and has admitted that the biggest mistake he ever made was not re-signing their star Joe Pavelski.
Joe Pavelski announced that he would be finally retiring from the National Hockey League (NHL) after a wonderful 18 seasons that he spent playing with the San Jose Sharks, and most recently the Dallas Stars.
Pavelski was shockingly selected all the way in the 7th round back in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Sharks, and would go on to play in 963 games with the team, having scored 355 goals and adding 406 assists. He later became the captain of the team. Problems began during the summer of 2019 when the two sides were reportedly "nowhere close" to a contract extension, therefore Pavelski packed his bags and took his talents to Dallas to play for the Stars, and would play the rest of his career there.
Pavelski did really well with the Stars, scoring a total of 121 goals and adding 186 assists in his four seasons there. During a recent interview, former Sharks general manager Doug Wilson admitted to making a huge mistake by not re-signing the former captain to a contract extension.
"Sometimes, you can overanalyze things," Wilson said. "But I, as a GM, with my love for Pavs and realizing how special he was, I look back, I probably should have dismissed historical analysis of contracts for players that age and said screw it."
"I was the GM. I take full responsibility," Wilson said. "I wish I'd just said, you know what, he is that aberration? He proved that he is."
"I was the GM. I take full responsibility," Wilson said. "I wish I'd just said, you know what, he is that aberration? He proved that he is."
Rather than focus on re-signing Pavelski, Wilson decided to give their former defenseman Erik Karlsson a massive contract extension, who is now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Karlsson has had a fantastic NHL career so far, having played in 1,002 games and totaling 817 points. Those are very solid offensive numbers for a defenseman.
"Joe Pavelski is a player that we should be so proud of that we had the good fortune of getting him and having him as long as we did," Wilson said. "Pav beat all the odds getting drafted in the seventh round and playing at the level he did until he was 40," Wilson said.
"I said, I tip my hat to you and am so amazed by everything that you've accomplished. It's not surprising. I wish, in hindsight, we would have kept him," Wilson said.
"I said, I tip my hat to you and am so amazed by everything that you've accomplished. It's not surprising. I wish, in hindsight, we would have kept him," Wilson said.
What's done is done, and Wilson is no longer the GM of the Sharks. That franchise is in one heck of a mess as they've been basement dwellers in the league for several seasons now. They will need to figure things out quickly as an organization, as fans are beginning to lose their patience there.
Source: Hockey Feed
Ex-Sharks GM Doug Wilson admits to major error in judgement
Source: HockeyDB
Joe Pavelski and Erik Karlsson Stats
| POLL | ||
Should former Sharks GM Doug Wilson have prioritized signing Pavelski over Karlsson? | ||
| Yes | 44 | 62 % |
| No | 27 | 38 % |
| List of polls | ||
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