Breaking: San Jose will play with four assistant captains.(3 tonight)
Here they are:
Thornton Marleau Pavelski Vlasic
No captain tonight for the Sharks and Couture doesn't get an 'A'. 19-12-8 will wear 'A' tonight with Vlasic rotating in throughout the year. I'm not a fan of having a captain-less team; this essentially means Thornton is still captain and they made a mistake taking it away, same for Marleau with the 'A'. More tomorrow.
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The Sharks went to the eleventh hour before confirming their final roster with the injury to Barclay Goodrow, but the 23 man group is now set and ready to go for the start of the season. Not much has changed for San Jose as they look to put last season behind them.
Prediction: 3rd in Pacific – 104 points
The Sharks tough start on the road will see points dip from last season but the potential to move to a four line team if the rookies perform could keep the team fresh for the playoffs.
No Regression
The Sharks roster is no better, and no worse, than it was last year. There should be no expectations that the Sharks will magically fall off the face of the earth and miss the playoffs; it’s the same team that put up 111 points last year. Even with the shift of Burns to defense the Sharks top-six forward group is still a dangerous collection of players who can score and make plays. The Sharks PP unit should be better than its mediocre 17.2% last year (20th overall) and could feature a point presence of Pavelski-Burns on the first unit. Losing an aging Dan Boyle and Brad Stuart won’t have a colossal effect on the blueline and the subtraction of the already exiled Marty Havlat will be a non-story all season.
Coaches/GM On Hot Seat
You could have made a strong case to have both staff groups shown the door after last years’ post-season collapse but they’re still here. The question now is: For how long? Wilson and McLellan should be a very short leash if the Sharks fail to perform and that could mean early season struggles or another early playoff exit. This team will be held accountability all season long for the first time in a very, possibly ever, long time. It’s very realistic to think this might be McLellan and Wilson’s last year with San Jose should the team stumble.
Goalie Questions Irrelevant
To say the Sharks have any more question marks in goal than they’ve had in recent past is ludicrous. This is the same tandem of netminders that helped San Jose post the 5th best goals against per game in the NHL. They might not be superstars, or household names, but they’ve gotten the job done. Could the Sharks use an upgrade in goal? A lot of teams could, but top level goalies are hard to come by and often come with a price tag that San Jose has been able to avoid while receiving competent cage guarding. The only real question is who will out play the other and take the number one job.
Thornton/Marleau
The most talked about trade pieces for the last seven months are still Sharks. I really don’t expect that to change anytime soon. We’re talking about two 70 point players; you can’t replace that with any return the Sharks would get. The only way these two players should get dealt this year is if the Sharks forget how to play hockey and are going to miss the playoffs by the trade deadline, but that’s highly unlikely to happen. They are both starting a new three-year contract this season so there will be ample time to make a trade involving the star players and still get quality value before they walk away as neither has shown any signs of becoming non-existent on the score-sheet.
Bottom Six Weakness
The Sharks glaring weakness for me is in the bottom six, the same place it was last year. It’s what I’d blame the lack of playoff success on. You have to roll four lines in the West to come out alive in the post-season. Functional third and fourth lines win you championships and the Sharks are lacking in that department. That being said if Goodrow and Tierney can give the Sharks a boost as rookies the lack of four lines deep could change. The jury is still out on whether or not Torres is going to provide a needed spark in that bottom six group. He hasn’t played enough to justify making a difference and he won’t be around any time soon. It’s going to be up to the rookies, Tommy Wingels, Tye McGinn, Andrew Desjardins and one of the knuckles, Burish/Brown/Scott to provide stability for the secondary forward group.
Tough Road Ahead Early
The Sharks first quarter of the Sharks season is going to play a massive role in how they look at the end of the year. 16 of the first 21 games for San Jose are on the road. The Sharks need to come together as a group, with or without a defined captain, and play solid hockey night in, night out, if they want to be anywhere near the top of the West when the calendar turns to December.
The season is finally here. Sharks @ Kings 7PDT (10ET).
Thanks for reading.
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