We may have to get used to the idea of the last-place San Jose Sharks. Nine games into the season, the teal and black are dead last in the Pacific Division and could find themselves calling it home if things don't turn around quickly.

The Sharks have been far from good thus far, but dead-last place in what many consider a weakened Pacific? That is a far cry from what any of us could have imagined - even if it's early. While there is still a very long way to go, it is starting to feel as though this simply isn't a very well constructed team.

Year in and year out, the Sharks are expected to make the playoffs, but at some point, regression starts to take over. We all well aware of the goaltending issues. Nothing was done to address that in the offseason. Instead, a battered and hobbled Erik Karlsson was handed a blank check, while offensive mainstays (and fan favorites) were shown the door. Eventually a team on the rise plateaus and then decrescendos.

San Jose (3-5-1, 8th Pacific) has four games remaining on this road trip before finally returning home in November. From jump street, this season has been a grind for this group. They have seven points through nine games and are four points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot. The Sharks find themselves looking up at the Kings, Coyotes, and Ducks - all teams expected to fall well below them in the standings. That may still happen, but it's not totally crazy to think that maybe San Jose will be a bottom-feeder.

Newly anointed captain Logan Couture lambasted his teammates for their "Selfishness" in the 4-3 overtime loss in Buffalo a couple of days ago. His candor was a bit shocking but not surprising. Timo Meier and Kevin Lebanc cost the team a shot at another point because they played like a couple of beer-leaguers sucking up extra ice time. That's a microcosm of the first 1/8 of this season.

Unlike seasons past, the Sharks don't have the horses to overcome some of their mental lapses. The overtime miscues are a glaring reminder of that. I don't believe Meier and Lebanc are selfish hockey players. I think they got caught trying to do too much. Why? Because they felt they had to out of necessity and they got burned for it.

What say you? Sound off in the comments below.

Could the departures of Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi have hurt the teams make-up that much?

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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