SAN JOSE – After three straight years of being at or close to the underside of the NHL standings, the San Jose Sharks acknowledge the necessity to make enhancements for subsequent season. The one query is how.
Maybe one in every of their Southern California rivals may serve for instance.
The Anaheim Geese completed in thirty second and final place in 2022-23 and thirtieth final season of their first 12 months underneath coach Greg Cronin. However with the inflow and maturation of some greater, youthful gamers, the addition of some veterans, and a tighter protection general, the Geese, after Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Sharks at Honda Middle, have a 33-33-8 document and are on tempo to complete with simply over 80 factors.
That’s not sufficient to get the Geese into the playoffs, however it might signify a dramatic enchancment from final 12 months’s 59 factors.
The Sharks have that type of uptick in thoughts for subsequent season. Presently, it seems San Jose will end this 12 months with between 54 and 58 factors and be in thirty first or thirty second place.
Requested in January about the place he sees the Sharks standings-wise subsequent season, normal supervisor Mike Grier stated, “If as a management staff, if we can add some pieces to it, then hopefully, this time next year, we’re talking more about being — maybe we’re not sellers, not necessarily that we’ll be buyers – but maybe there’s more talk about us kind of hanging around the race, and seeing what happens down the stretch.”
Now it’s a matter of how the Sharks get there.
Anaheim will likely be mathematically eradicated from playoff competition in brief order. However, the Geese are scoring a bit greater than final 12 months, giving up much less, and seem to have buy-in from their roster.
“Guys have taken some really big steps this year,” stated Geese winger Mason McTavish, who scored the one shootout’s purpose. “It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to be a part of, and hopefully we keep it going.”
Identical to the Sharks, the Geese have a number of key items which are 24-and-under, which is comprehensible since Anaheim has drafted inside the highest 10 for six straight years.
That group consists of forwards McTavish, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Trevor Zegras, in addition to defensemen Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov.
Within the final two years, the Geese have additionally benefited from including veterans like ahead Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas to regular the crew.
The goaltending has additionally improved, with Lukas Dostal and John Gibson, earlier than Tuesday, combining for a .908 save share this season. Final season, these two mixed for a .894 mark. Earlier than Tuesday, the Geese allowed 3.12 objectives per sport, significantly better than the three.57 they gave up final season.
Towards the Sharks on Tuesday, the Geese acquired objectives from Zegras, LaCombe, and Sam Colangelo and Dostal did the remaining with 28 saves as they handed San Jose its third straight loss.
“The goal we set as a team is to have a winning record this season,” Zegras stated Tuesday. “Just kind of compared to where we were the last couple seasons, I think that’s a pretty good goal and something we’re all pretty excited about trying to achieve.”
Cronin feels San Jose could be a step forward of the place the Geese had been final season with rookie forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith as constructing blocks. The 2 have mixed for 90 factors this season.
“I see the points that Smith and Celebrini get. We didn’t have anybody close to that last year,” Cronin stated. “Carlsson was in that load management plan. He wasn’t playing all the games. I know Celebrini was hurt earlier this year, but when I watch them play, the amount of skill they have, their speed and their quickness up front is really attractive.”
The Sharks have made modest strides in objectives allowed per sport, going from 3.98 final season to three.75 this 12 months. Nonetheless, they had been final within the NHL in that class in 2023-24 and are once more mentioning the rear this season.
“You win in this league by playing good defense and goaltending,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky stated after a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on March 21. “We’ve got to continue to push forward with that, and every time we have a chance to get better, we’ve got to get better and win that day.”
“(The Sharks’ front office) has got some really nice pieces there. That’s going to reflect a bright future for the Sharks,” Cronin stated. “What they do with that in terms of adding, I can’t speak to it, but I know I’m looking at their team, and I see (Smith and Celebrini) in particular, they’re going to be stars in the league.
“If you get two of those two stars that age in your organization, you’ve kind of hit the lottery. I’m really curious how that all plays out over the next several years, but they’ve done a great job as an organization, creating that blueprint offensively.”
