There is no doubt the San Jose Sharks need some help offensively. It's a need they've had for more than a season and yet...nothing. No trades. No signings. Not even a hint of a whisper of a rumor. Only suggestions from writers and bloggers dumbfounded by the lack of movement by a normally active front office.
The Sharks rank near the bottom of the league in goals per game (2.61) and power play efficiency (17.1%). Mind you, this comes at a time scoring is noticeably up league wide.
Conversely, the lead the league in goals against (2.17) and are second on the penalty kill (88.3%). The latter is all that separates San Jose from their current playoff spot and becoming a hapless cellar dweller.
So what gives?
The Anaheim Ducks are a tick better offensively (2.64) and they've been decimated by a revolving door of injuries. Anaheim spent the majority of this season without five of their top nine projected players. They remain outside the playoff picture looking in, but GM Bob Murray wasn't about to sit around feeling bad for himself or twiddling his thumbs. He wasn't going to stand pat and hope his club hangs in long enough to get healthy. Nope. He went out and made a trade that addressed his teams needs now and when they get healthy.
The Sharks have their own injury problems. Joonas Donskoi is the latest Shark to fall victim to the injury bug. If he misses any significant time it will nearly cripple and already goal-strapped offense. Not to mention absolutely nothing was done to replace Patrick Marleau's lost offense.
Still, there is nothing out in the blogosphere. No rumblings. No rumors. Just a bit of hopeful speculation. Even Eklund's rumor chart only has one Sharks logo on it.
The only interesting tidbit I've come across is from the Mercurynews.com. They suggest the Winnipeg Jets as a potential trade partner. Yet they don't give any names. More or less it's just the writer looking for something, anything to write about.
Here's a snip-it from the story: "The Jets, however, are loaded with young speed, skill and talent up front, so they could potentially give up a forward without creating a new hole in their lineup. At the same time, they might need what the Sharks have –blue line depth..."
Gee, that sounds a whole lot like the deal Anaheim and New Jersey made today, doesn't it? The Ducks used their depth at D to acquire some offense from a team that had a plethora of young offensive talent.
Right now the goaltending of Martin Jones (injured) and Aaron Dell, along with team defense is putting a temporary band-aid on a nasty, gaping offensive wound. It's only a matter of time before it too gets infected and turns gangrenous and oozy. Once that happens, there is almost no coming back from it.
Paging Dr. Wilson... paging Dr. Wilson... come in Dr. Wilson!
Thanks for readings, Steve