NHL Trade Deadline: San Jose Sharks

February 26 2011 Last updated at 01:00 PM ET

Over the past several years, Doug Wilson has engineered some of the league's biggest trades, including those that brought Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle and Dany Heatley to San Jose.

None was a trade-deadline deal, though Thornton was acquired during the season. Still, Wilson has a reputation for wheeling and dealing boldly when required, even if he downplayed the possibilities of anything major when he spoke to FanHouse this month.

"You never say never, but a lot of it is based on supply and demand," Wilson told FanHouse. "Last year, the market in defensemen and centermen was sparse ? if you have one, you're keeping them. But you never know. If there's anything out there that makes sense, our history speaks for itself."

Wilson already has done some tinkering with the deadline approach, acquiring Ben Eager and Kyle Wellwood in January and Ian White this month, and considering that the team is on an upswing, there's a sense in San Jose that the Sharks might not do much more.

Wilson told FanHouse that all along, the best possible answer would be for the Sharks to hit their stride ? that would do more than most trades, anyway.

"I believe in this group when they're playing up to their capabilities, and what was disappointing the first part of the year was that we graded ourselves about a C level," he said. "We weren't playing an A game. Now we're playing better as a team. Most of our improvement, we expect from within the room."

NEEDS

Since Rob Blake retired, a front-line defenseman. What would sellers ask for for such a thing? During the summer, most teams were casting covetous glances at Logan Couture. That's not going to happen. Might White the answer here? He's 26, he can move the puck, he can play on the power play, so he might be adequate for the team's needs for now. A better answer down the road, and perhaps as soon as this postseason: highly touted Justin Braun, who is being brought along much the same way that Couture was last year.

What else? Some goaltender depth might come in handy, the way all the Sharks' backups keep going down, but there is nothing on the docket in San Jose that looks like any kind of blockbuster.

THE VERDICT

Though you can't count Wilson out of the action, ever, there are more reasons that the Sharks won't do anything at this point. Several moves helped kick the team into gear already, plus, many of the offers this time of year aren't all that financially rewarding for buyers ? and the Sharks typically aren't a team to absorb other clubs' big contracts.

Also, San Jose doesn't need a lot of turnover with so little time left in the season: There's something to be said for having a cohesive group, and San Jose is showing exactly that right now.

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