The San Jose Sharks begin the 2017-19 campaign tonight at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Sharks season ended with a six-game loss in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the upstart and suddenly formidable Edmonton Oilers. San Jose has never won a Cup which means every season since the teams inception has ended bitterly, but last season felt especially tough considering the clubs first appearance in the Final the year before.
This is a new October with renewed optimism and renewed goals. But, it's an October like none in recent memory for the Sharks. Patrick Marleau has moved on and the teal core is moving up in age. The remaining roster spots consist mostly of unproven youth and under-performing vets. The offense struggled to find offense and little was done over the summer to fix that.
That said, this October starts with tempered expectations in San Jose and I'm okay with that. The Sharks have proven "experts" wrong before and no reason they can't do it again in 2018.
The Sharks’ will have to rely heavily on their strength on the blueline and in between the pipes.
Brent Burns is coming off a career year and is the defending Norris Trophy recipient. Marc-Edouard Vlasic is healthy and arguably one the games best defenders. Very little had changed on the back-end with the exception of Dylan DeMelo earning a full-time roll and the emergence of Tim Heed as a seventh defender.
Martin Jones is among the NHL elite in net and his back-up, Aaron Dell, is a proven NHLer. That tandem will need a Jennings Trophy type of season to get the Sharks back into the playoffs.
Offense is still a question mark. Only four Sharks scored more that 11 goals last season and one of the four plays defense and another is playing in Toronto now. We can expect goals from Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture - when he's healthy, but the well is pretty dry after that. Chris Tierney, Mikkel Boedeker, Joel Ward, Jannik Hansen, Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl will have to step up or the Sharks will not be among the top eight in the West.
But tonight is the first game of 82, hopes are high and the goal is always the same - WIN THE STANLEY CUP.
Puck drop is 7:30 pm pst and can be seen on NBCSN.
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Sharks expected line combos per the Dailyfaceoff.com
LEFT WING - CENTER - RIGHT WING Kevin Labanc - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi - Logan Couture - Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier - Tomas Hertl - Jannik Hansen
Melker Karlsson - Chris Tierney - Joel Ward
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Paul Martin - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon - Dylan DeMelo
GOALIES
Martin Jones Aaron Dell
Thanks for reading, Steve