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Timo Meier

What is the Sharks’ long-term outlook?

By Scott CharlesApr 21, 2020, 7:06 PM EDT

With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to review where each NHL team stands at this moment until the season resumes. Here we take a look at the long-term outlook for the San Jose Sharks.

Pending Free Agents

The Core

The San Jose Sharks had a strong core for years that helped lead to consistent playoff appearances over the last decade. But general manager Doug Wilson is looking for the next crop of players to usher in a new era of hockey in San Jose. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns are still around but the organization is relying on Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson and others to lead the franchise for the foreseeable future.

The Sharks stumbled this season through the first 70 games and currently sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. San Jose will not even be rewarded with a top draft pick due to the trade with the Ottawa Senators for Karlsson in September of 2018.

Thornton entertained the idea of waiving his no-movement clause at the NHL Trade Deadline if a true contender wanted to acquire the savvy centerman. There was a lack of interest but if Thornton is interested in chasing the Stanley Cup next season, there is a strong chance he will not be back in the Bay Area.

Despite the horrific season in San Jose, there is still plenty of talent on the roster. Timo Meier led the team in points with 49, Evander Kane was closing in on a 30-goal season and Karlsson still had 34 assists in only 56 games. In addition, Couture and Hertl missed time with injuries and should provide further offensive firepower.

Long-Term Needs

The most glaring weakness for the Sharks has been their play between the pipes. Martin Jones had a sub .900 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. The 30-year-old goaltender still has four additional years remaining on his contract and will be a difficult asset to move via trade.

San Jose also has significant cap space tied up in several long-term contracts and has to solve problems from within. Between Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Karlsson, the Sharks have more than $26 million committed through 2024-25.

Looking at the forward group, Couture, Kane, Meier, Hertl all have lengthy contracts and Kevin Labanc will need a new deal after taking an extraordinarily team-friendly agreement last summer. Similar to every NHL team, Wilson and his staff need to find the right pieces at a bargain price to fill out the roster.

Long-Term Strengths

The Sharks have taken great pride in building a culture that allows players to thrive. Thornton was a key figure in building the foundation, but he has passed on the characteristics of a strong locker room to his teammates.

Trade acquisitions are able to seamlessly fit in both on and off the ice while young players looking to earn their stripes at the professional level feel comfortable right from the beginning.

While Thornton could switch uniforms in the upcoming offseason, it will be up to Couture, Burns and others to make sure that culture isn’t lost.

The Sharks struggled mightily with the departure of Joe Pavelski this past summer but are too skilled to have a second straight dreadful season. If their play in net can improve, and key players can remain healthy, the Sharks could bounce back next season.

MORE ON THE SHARKS
• Looking at the 2019-20 San Jose Sharks
• Sharks biggest surprises and disappointments so far

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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

San Jose Sharks: Biggest surprises, disappointments

By James O'BrienApr 21, 2020, 3:43 PM EDT

With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to review where each NHL team stands at this moment until the season resumes. Here we take a look at the surprises and disappointments for the San Jose Sharks.

Father Time, defense, and other disappointments for Sharks skaters

Upon hearing about Erik Karlsson‘s new contract with the Sharks last summer, many of us cringed at how an aging San Jose roster might look in the future.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, Father Time showed up uncomfortably early. The thing is, while Karlsson didn’t really look like an $11.5 million defenseman in 2019-20, he wasn’t the biggest problem. If I were running the Sharks, I’d be especially worried about Brent Burns and Marc Edouard-Vlasic.

Karlsson sits atop the Sharks’ xGAR chart at Evolving Hockey, along with expected standouts like Timo Meier. It’s not all pretty for the Sharks, though, particularly among expensive defensemen:

Sharks XGAR disappointments
via Evolving Hockey

The possession stats looked shaky, and so did the counting numbers.

After leading the Sharks (by nine points) with 83 points in 2018-19, Burns managed 45 points in 70 games this season. Rolling with Evolving Hockey’s RAPM charts, you wonder how much Burns and Vlasic counted as “net positives” this season:

Burns Vlasic RAPM Sharks disappointments
via Evolving Hockey

When it comes to Burns, it’s OK to take some bad with the good. The key is just to make sure he can generate more offense. The Sharks must hope that this isn’t just the sign of a star on the decline at age 35. No, Burns might not be able to be a beast like in 2016-17, but this season presents at least some argument for a “mulligan.”

One way or another, the Sharks need to find a better balance, even if that means accepting mistakes in hopes of creating bunches of chances. Even amid injuries and the COVID-19 pause, it’s tough to stomach no one reaching 50 points (Timo Meier topped all Sharks with 49).

Disappointments meant a lot of pucks in the wrong net for the Sharks

Look, we can argue about the Sharks’ goals against disappointments until we’re blue in the face. Some will defend Peter DeBoer’s system, thus accusing Martin Jones and Aaron Dell of being humanoid Swiss Cheese. Others may point to issues on defense that doomed their goalies. Such arguments may or may not revolve around the flaws of Karlsson and Burns as aggressive scorers from the backend.

Whatever your hypothesis might be, the bottom line is that the Sharks couldn’t patch up those holes.

San Jose declined in goals allowed per game, going from 11th-worst in the NHL in 2018-19 (3.15) to fifth-worst in 2019-20 (3.21). The biggest difference was that they scored almost a goal fewer per game (2.57) than they did in 2018-19 (3.52).

It’s limiting to score a lot of goals while allowing almost as many, but you can win — ugly — that way. If the Sharks tried to play more conservatively this season, that backfired with worse goals allowed and drastically worse goals-for numbers.

There are a lot of questions that swirl around these issues. One of the most painful is: did Doug Wilson do enough to address these issues? Perhaps there were a lack of options, yet with a bunch of seasoned coaches and impressive goalies likely available, will Wilson make the right moves next time around?

An unexpected surprise for the Sharks

For whatever reason, the otherwise-dreadful Sharks sported one of the season’s best penalty kill units.

The Sharks killed 85.7 percent of their penalties in 2019-20, the best mark in the NHL. Interestingly, being penalized frequently (seventh-most times shorthanded at 224) only soured things a tiny bit when you look at volume. Despite the increased workload, the Sharks allowed only 32 power-play goals (Columbus and Edmonton tied for least allowed at 31).

San Jose even scored seven shorthanded goals, so penalty kills were merely a “net” negative of 25 goals this season.

Unfortunately, an unexpectedly modest power play negated many of those strengths.

It zeroes in on a larger point: the Sharks ultimately failed at even-strength this season, and they ultimately don’t even get to enjoy the lottery pick stemming from their massive disappointments.

Hey, at least that PK was killer, though. *awkward laugh*

MORE ON THE SHARKS:

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Looking at the 2019-20 San Jose Sharks

By James O'BrienApr 21, 2020, 10:39 AM EDT

With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to take a look at where each NHL team stands at this moment with a series of posts examining their season. Have they met expectations? Exceeded expectations? Who has been the surprise? All of that and more. Today we look at the 2019-20 San Jose Sharks.

2019-20 San Jose Sharks

Record: 29-36-5 (63 points in 70 games), last place in West, third-worst in the NHL.
Leading Scorer: Timo Meier – 49 points (22 goals and 27 assists)

In-Season Roster Moves

Season Overview:

Despite losing Joe Pavelski to free agency, the Sharks entered 2019-20 with Stanley Cup aspirations. Instead, well … woof.

The season began on a rough note, with the Sharks starting off 0-4-0 and 4-10-1. Simply put, they never really found their footing this season. In hindsight, just about every flash of brilliance turned into a mirage.

Now, there were some warning signs from 2018-19.

During that season, the Sharks spackled over serious defensive and goaltending issues by scoring tons of goals and generally outscoring their problems. When the Sharks signed Erik Karlsson to a new deal, many expected the bill to come for San Jose at some point. Few anticipated that things would go sideways so fast, though.

Blame it on leaky defense or shabby goaltending from Martin Jones and Aaron Dell (or most likely, both), but the Sharks continued to allow too many goals in 2019-20. Unfortunately, their offense couldn’t make up the difference any longer.

This failed season cost Peter DeBoer his job, landing him with rival Vegas. It’s unclear what happens next with Boughner or another coach. (For all the Sharks indicated about keeping Boughner, it’s not as though he solved all/many of their problems.)

Ultimately, the Sharks must hope that this season was an aberration. If not, they’ll be haunted by recent decisions, starting with when they try to look away from the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery.

Highlight of the season

You could try to lean on the Sharks receiving a pretty nice bucket of assets for Goodrow, Marleau, and Dillon. Yet, even then, it remains perplexing that they couldn’t find a destination for Joe Thornton. After all, Thornton made it clear he wanted another shot at a Stanley Cup.

(It’s possible the Sharks didn’t cost him a shot in the scenario where the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs don’t happen … but they could have gotten something for Thornton if they made a trade, anyway.)

So let’s think of a time when the Sharks’ script read a bit more storybook than disaster movie.

Patrick Marleau made a triumphant return to the Sharks, scoring two goals. He helped San Jose get its first win of the season in a feel-great story:

All things considered, Marleau performed pretty well in his return. That moment didn’t end up turning the Sharks’ season around, though, and it’s telling that they didn’t provide many other highlights to choose from.

MORE ON THE SHARKS
• Examining the Sharks long-term outlook
• Sharks biggest surprises and disappointments so far

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Blackhawks remain in playoff race with 6-2 win against Sharks

By Scott CharlesMar 11, 2020, 11:25 PM EDT

The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to make one last push for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They ended a two-game skid with a 6-2 win against the San Jose Sharks Wednesday. Patrick Kane scored twice, and Alex DeBrincat dished out three assists and the Blackhawks moved to within six points of the Western Conference wild card. Rookie forward Dominik Kubalik notched his 30th of the season in addition.

Evander Kane and Timo Meier scored in the Sharks’ fourth straight loss.

Blackhawks power play connects

Chicago’s power play ranks near the bottom of the NHL in terms of efficiency. However, they snapped an 0-14 streak against the Sharks’ No. 1 penalty-killing unit and scored twice in the victory.

Kane opened the scoring for the Sharks with a power-play goal of his own, but the Blackhawks answered in the second period with back to back goals on the man advantage.

Duncan Keith scored his third of the season at 4:33 of the second period to even the score at 1-1. The Blackhawks alternate captain slung a wrist shot from the blueline that sailed past the glove of Aaron Dell. Kirby Dach provided a screen to distract the Sharks goaltender.

DeBrincat recorded the second of his three assists with a pretty cross-ice pass to Kane at 16:33 of the middle frame. Kane split the defenders and darted toward the back post before finishing the beautiful feed.

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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

Detail-oriented DeBoer hoping to get Vegas back in playoffs

Associated PressFeb 13, 2020, 10:00 AM EST
1 Comment

LAS VEGAS — Peter DeBoer could have chosen a life inside a courtroom arguing in front of a judge’s bench, considering he has law degrees from th the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit.

Instead, he’s enjoyed a mostly successful career behind an NHL bench. In each of his first seasons with the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks, he took his team to the Stanley Cup final.

But in December, just 33 games into his fifth season with San Jose, the Sharks fired him after a lackluster start. He wasn’t out of work long. The Vegas Golden Knights hired him just over a month later.

The 51-year-old veteran coach can make strong arguments he can guide the three-year old franchise back to the postseason.

”They’re right in the middle of being one of those teams that has the opportunity to win now and for the near future,” DeBoer said. ”Sometimes when you’re bringing in some new concepts and some new ideas there’s some hesitation in the play that shows up on the ice just because guys are overthinking instead of reacting. The one thing I’ve appreciated, (this is a) really smart group. They’ve seemed to have incorporated what we’re asking them to do without slowing them down, and that’s been important.”

Vegas was 24-19-6 when Gerard Gallant was fired as coach last month. Under DeBoer, the Golden Knights are 4-3-2 and have outscored their opponents 31-27, even after back-to-back losses, including Tuesday’s 4-0 setback in Minnesota. Their shots per game have increased slightly from 34.0 to 34.9, while their shots-allowed have decreased from 30.5 to 27.8 per contest.

The Golden Knights have shown a commitment to hustling, they’re making an extra effort to block shots, they exit the defensive zone and they move in transition quicker and more cleanly.

Since DeBoer’s arrival, forwards Paul Stastny and Mark Stone are tied for 28th in the league with 10 points each, while defenseman Shea Theodore has registered nine of his 37 points (24.3%)

”The second he stepped into that room he had a lot of good things to say,” Theodore said. ”I think he’s got some really important systems that he put in place that makes us a stronger team. A lot of times it forces us to communicate. Maybe work a little bit harder towards the puck and I think key things that bring our game together.”

In a stacked Pacific Division, the Golden Knights will need to get through an upcoming tough slate if they want to make the postseason for a third consecutive season.

”There’s always a game plan for whatever team we’re playing against,” Vegas forward Chandler Stephenson. ”He’s just very detailed and I think that that shows because we got a lot of speed on the team and a lot of guys with high hockey IQs. That helps with the playing style that he’s come in and tried to push on us. It’s been working and we’re having fun with it.”

If they need further convincing they’ve got the right man, the Knights need only look at what he’s done after breaks in play, whether it’s been the All-Star Break, an Olympic break or the 2012 lockout.

DeBoer is 174-137-49 overall after those breaks, an average record of 15-12-4 with his three previous teams. In his more successful tenures, with New Jersey and San Jose, he is 138-96-36, an average mark of 17-12-4 after the breaks.

”I got to spend three years with him, he’s a great coach there’s no doubt in my mind,” Sharks forward Timo Meier said after DeBoer was hired. ”I think everybody here knew he was gonna get a job somewhere else. Obviously, they’re a good team. They’ve got loud fans. … It’s a good chance for him.”

The consensus is that DeBoer’s mindset and attention to detail will steer the Golden Knights in the right direction. He admits he uses his law background to his advantage, an important edge to have in convincing a group that was fond of Gallant, many of whom took the blame for his ousting.

DeBoer believes it’s not just their job to prove themselves, but also his job to persuade his players he’s the right person to lead the charge.

”I definitely apply my legal degree every day,” DeBoer said. ”Both in preparation for what we’re giving the players, but also in actually sitting down and making a case to them why we’re asking them to do certain things, both for their own good and for the good of the team.

”That’s today’s athlete, you have to tell them why and you have to convince them why it’s good for them and why it’s good for the team.”