by Columnist Name Column Title , Monterey County Herald

And so it was this weekend in Montreal. Executives of the National Hockey League gathered to make their selections of 18-year-olds, very few of whom will have immediate impact.

Doug Wilson, the Sharks' general manager, called it "a very predictable draft." He had no first-round pick, so Wilson settled for choosing five players ? including the inevitable German defenseman -- in later rounds. Those players could reach the Shark roster in "three years to four years," said scouting director Tim Burke.

Really gets your heart pumping, doesn't it?

Yet the day was not a total yawner. Sharks fans don't' care about 2012 and 2013. They have been waiting for what will happen in the rest of 2009. And we finally received some clarity from Wilson about that.

After the Sharks' ugly first-round playoff exit in April, an angry Wilson promised that no one's job was safe. Saturday, for the first time, Wilson outlined exactly how radical his makeover will be.

During a phone conversation following the draft, Wilson was asked how many new players he expects to see on the team by the time training camp opens in September. Half a dozen? A dozen?

"Don't hold me to this," Wilson said, "but we're looking at potentially six, seven, eight changes on the roster. As I say, don't hold me to that or to a time frame. But that would be realistic."

In other words, don't expect a nuclear teal explosion. But neither expect a small firecracker. The Sharks' roster shakeup will fall somewhere between those two extremes, with the needle leaning toward a surgical and significant attack.

Frankly, this is what any rational observer would have expected. In spite of the Sharks' playoff stinker, it makes no sense for Wilson to completely blow up a team that did ? repeat once more, with agony finish the regular season with the NHL's best record.

Seven or eight moves sounds about right. The question is, which seven or eight moves? And when? Wilson reminded and stressed that he has "until the next trading deadline" to get his team looking the way it wants for the 2010 playoffs

"We know what we want to do," Wilson said. "But you've got to go out and execute it. And it can take many forms."

One of those "forms" arrives fairly soon, as the July 1 date approaches for NHL free agency. The Sharks have several players who are unrestricted and eligible to be signed by other teams.

"Some of them potentially won't be back," Wilson said of those players. "But I want to talk to them first."

Best guesses on those names: Mike Grier, Travis Moen, Claude Lemieux. Maybe one or two others. Rob Blake? A coin flip.

Wilson will then get around to checking out free agents himself ? though he has traditionally upgraded his roster through major trades (Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle) that occur at other times of year.

The most intriguing and practical free agent Wilson might sign is Swedish goalie Jonas "The Monster" Gustavsson, who has been playing in Europe but is eager for a NHL challenge. He is talking to the Sharks along with a few other teams.

If Wilson does sign Gustavsson, that could tip off Wilson's attitude regarding goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who has one season left on his own contract. Nabokov had a nothing-special playoff performance but was not the primary reason for the Sharks' defeat.

During his Saturday remarks, Wilson repeated his frequent mantra that he is weary of waiting for the Sharks' younger second-tier of players to "assert themselves in a bigger way." That group would logically include Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek, Ryane Clowe, Christian Ehrhoff and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The hunch here is that one or two of those players could be with different teams come September. Michalek in particular would seem to be on that short list. Clowe is a restricted free agent who wants to stay with the Sharks but could draw interest from other teams.

Thornton and Boyle are the only players Wilson has flatly ruled out trading. So what of captain Patrick Marleau? It sounds as if Wilson wants to visit with him some more this summer before making the ultimate call. Marleau has a no-trade clause and just one season left on his contract, so moving him won't be a snap.

Does that mean Marleau could start the season with the Sharks and then be dealt before the winter trade deadline? A possible clue: Wilson said, speaking in general terms, that his ideal player moving ahead will be "the Hockey equivalent of a gym rat ? no baggage, no excuses." That's not exactly a description of Marleau.

Sit down with a draft and relax. It's going to be an interesting summer.

Mark Purdy is a columnist for The San Jose Mercury News.

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