Follow me on Twitter:
@BenShelley_20
Follow HockeyBuzz Sharks Twitter:
@HB_Sharks
After a third season in a row of missing the playoffs, the San Jose Sharks enter the offseason without a ton of options.
The Sharks once again finds themselves with limited cap space to add. San Jose has over half their cap space tied up in Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, with most of those players not providing anywhere close to the value their contracts would suggest.
The little cap space they do have will likely be committed to re-signing restricted free agents in Mario Ferraro, Kaapo Kahkonen, Noah Gregor, Jonathan Dahlen and others. As a result, the Sharks really don’t have much ability to improve, without moving out a large amount of salary first (which seems very unlikely).
San Jose needs a rebuild but seem set on avoiding it, without a strong enough core to compete and not enough quality young talent to fill in the gaps around their top players. However, they also don’t have a ton of pieces that can get much back in a trade to build for the future.
Nick Bonino and James Reimer are both veterans who could potentially bring back draft picks in a deal but realistically, the Sharks have few trade pieces that can actually be dealt for quality assets. Tomas Hertl was the team’s most notable recent trade chip but they decided to extend him to an eight-year deal instead, seemingly having not learned from the mistakes that have left them in this situation in the first place. The Sharks could look to make a huge move and trade Timo Meier but again, given that they hung onto Tomas Hertl long-term, it seems unlikely they’d be looking to sell off a key piece like Meier.
It seems like the Sharks really aren't that much further along in building for the future than they were a couple of years ago. They haven't made a ton of effort to acquire picks and prospects and if you look at the teams in the postseason, the Sharks aren't that close at all.
Within the Pacific Division, the Sharks won't be overtaking either the Calgary Flames or Edmonton Oilers, while the Los Angeles Kings are only getting stronger (after a successful rebuild). The Vegas Golden Knights are very likely to bounce back, while the Vancouver Canucks are still in the mix. A wildcard spot likely isn't going to be an option either, with the Central Division crowded with the likes of the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.
The teams below them in the Western Conference standings, like the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and Seattle Kraken, are now accumulating draft picks and starting to build strong prospect pools too. As a result, if the Sharks continue to stand still, they’ll likely be passed in the coming years by teams currently below them, not to mention them still not being able to compete against a lot of current playoff teams anytime soon. The Sharks may be in a better spot than the Chicago Blackhawks but most other teams in the West are either currently competing or have at least made some progress in a rebuild.
The Sharks are in a bad spot but also haven’t made a ton of effort to get themselves into a better position. The result is that the team looks to have quite a few more subpar years ahead of them, still with no clear direction as an organization.
Quiz maker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM JUNE
James Reimer is possible trade chip for Sharks
Sharks sign Gannon Laroque
Thomas Bordeleau and William Eklund could both play in NHL next season 
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»