2022-23 NHL team preview: San Jose Sharks

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
2022-23 NHL team preview: San Jose Sharks
Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

LAST SEASON

The Sharks, like many declining ex-contenders, struggled to nail down an identity in 2021–22.

Sure, the Sharks’ lineup still boasted many of the pieces that helped the team make the playoffs consistently for much of the 2010s, including Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl (who signed an eight-year extension during the season), Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. But even with those players still in San Jose, the Sharks missed the playoffs by a whole 20 points last season – and that was before they shipped Burns off to the Carolina Hurricanes in the summer.

Last year’s Sharks were thoroughly mediocre (save for their oddly excellent penalty kill). Their goaltending was average, their defense was unspectacular, and they could barely score. Head coach Bob Boughner struggled to make his team worth watching in basically any regard and paid for it with his job at the end of the season, with new GM Mike Grier electing to replace him with former New York Rangers head coach David Quinn.

After emerging from a dreary season with the No. 11 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Sharks elected to trade way down to No. 27. While they also added picks No. 34 and 45 in the deal, the Sharks are a team that could badly use an infusion of high-end talent. The Arizona Coyotes ultimately selected center Conor Geekie with pick No. 11, and the likes of Frank Nazar, Rutger McGroarty, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki were still there for the taking. Time will tell whether the Sharks made the right decision in moving down 16 spots in the first round.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions
Oskar Lindblom, LW
Luke Kunin, RW
Nico Sturm, C
Matt Benning, D
Markus Nutivaara, D
Steven Lorentz, LW
Evgeny Svechnikov, RW
Aaron Dell, G

Departures
Brent Burns, D (Car)
Adin Hill, G (VGK)
Rudolfs Balcers, LW (Fla)
Jonathan Dahlen, LW (Swe.)
Ryan Dzingel, C (Car)
Nicolas Meloche, D (Cgy)
Alex Stalock, G (Chi)

OFFENSE

Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier are both excellent first-line forwards in the National Hockey League. Logan Couture is a strong top-six center who turned 33 in March and is gradually declining. Beyond those three players … well, the Sharks are in a bit of trouble. It’s no coincidence they finished 30th in the league with just 214 goals last season.

Top prospect William Eklund isn’t quite ready for the spotlight in San Jose; 2022 first-round pick Filip Bystedt is still years away and projects more as a bottom-six center. Alexander Barabanov is in the NHL and scored 39 points last season but struggled to drive play at either end of the ice. At 28, he’s unlikely to be a long-term piece.

The Sharks added forwards Luke Kunin, Oskar Lindblom, and Evgeny Svechnikov this summer, but massive question marks accompany all three forwards. Lindblom likely has the best odds to turn into a key player, having tracked well in Philadelphia before a 2019 Ewing’s sarcoma diagnosis sidetracked his career. Look for Lindblom to potentially earn some time on Hertl’s wing at some point this year.

DEFENSE

Brent Burns’ departure from San Jose signals the end of an era that began way back in 2011. The Chewbacca-looking defender won the Norris Trophy with the Sharks in 2017 but showed signs of decline in recent seasons, and his hefty contract didn’t square with the new direction taken in San Jose. It’ll be interesting to see what Burns can do on a contending team again in Carolina.

Without Burns, the Sharks’ defense looks a little barren, with Erik Karlsson (still very effective but frequently injured) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (very expensive, significantly less effective) the elder statesmen on the back-end. It also looked like promising youngster Nikolai Knyzhov would make his return at the start of the 2022–23 season after missing all of 2021–22 with a groin injury, but he suffered a torn right Achilles during a training session in August and will reportedly be on the shelf for approximately six months.

Grier made a few small additions to the Sharks’ defensive group this summer, the most notable being Matt Benning on a four-year contract and Markus Nutivaara on a “show-me” one-year deal. Benning, 28, has long been an analytics darling and should shore things up on the right side behind Karlsson and Vlasic; Nutivaara, also 28, missed all but one game with the Florida Panthers last season due to injury and will be looking to rebuild his value in San Jose.

GOALTENDING

With Adin Hill off to the Vegas Golden Knights to solve their goaltending conundrum, the Sharks will turn to James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen to hold the fort this season.

Kahkonen, 26, is the more promising of the two. Pushed out of Minnesota after the Wild acquired Marc-Andre Fleury at the 2022 trade deadline, Kahkonen found success with the Sharks down the stretch. Despite only winning two of his 11 games after being acquired by San Jose, Kahkonen – the 2020 AHL goaltender of the year – posted a .916 save percentage with his new team.

Reimer, 34, has been around the block and is a possible candidate to be traded at some point during the 2022–23 season. The longtime Toronto Maple Leafs starter remains more than serviceable, having gone 19–17–10 with a .911 save percentage in 48 appearances with the Sharks in 2021–22.

Goaltending shouldn’t sink the Sharks this year, and Kahkonen might be able to steal a few games in his first real run as a starter.

COACHING

David Quinn is back behind an NHL bench. The 56-year-old from Cranston, Rhode Island previously served as head coach of the New York Rangers from 2018 to 2021, guiding the team to the qualifying round of the expanded playoffs in 2020 (where they were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes).

Quinn found success as head coach of the Boston University Terriers from 2013 to 2018, leading them to a 105–69–21 record over five seasons and the NCAA National Championship final in 2015. He also served as head coach of Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics, although the team failed to reach the medal round.

The Sharks fired head coach Boughner and assistants John Madden and John MacLean back in July. While the Sharks’ power play struggled under MacLean, Madden helped the Sharks post the second-best penalty-killing percentage (85.2) in the entire league. After being fired, Madden joined the Arizona Coyotes as an assistant coach; the Sharks subsequently hired Scott Gordon, Brian Wiseman, and 2022 Calder Cup champion head coach Ryan Warsofsky as assistants under Quinn.

ROOKIES

He’s not on our projected lineup, but Thomas Bordeleau could play a huge role for the Sharks this season. The 20-year-old center had a great start to his NHL career down the stretch last year, recording five assists in eight appearances and scoring a dazzling shootout winner in a huge late-season game with massive playoff implications for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sharks originally selected Bordeleau in the second round (No. 38 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. If he can turn into a top-six center, things could turn around quicker than expected in San Jose.

On defense, Artemi Kniazev is coming off a strong AHL debut season with the San Jose Barracuda and could push for a spot with Knyzhov set to miss the first few months of 2022–23 with his torn Achilles. Kniazev, a 2019 second-round pick, appeared in one NHL game with San Jose last season; the 5’11” lefty from Kazan, Russia scored seven goals and 28 points in 60 AHL contests with the Barracuda.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can Luke Kunin live up to his draft stock? The Sharks acquired Kunin from the Nashville Predators in July in exchange for John Leonard and a third-round pick. When Minnesota selected Kunin with the No. 15 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, it expected him to be a middle-six or even top-six forward in the NHL. But he scored just 22 points in 82 games with the Predators last year. Can Kunin find a home in San Jose?

2. Can Erik Karlsson stay healthy? Karlsson looked a lot like his old self when he was healthy last year, but he still missed 32 games. With five years left on his massive contract, the Sharks undoubtedly hope Karlsson has more to give. If the 32-year-old Swede can stay healthy and reach 50-60 points in a full season, surely there would be teams interested in acquiring him – albeit with part of his $11.5 million cap hit retained.

3. What can Steven Lorentz do? The 26-year-old forward was the main piece Carolina sent the Sharks’ way in the Burns deal. He scored eight goals and 13 points in 67 games with the Hurricanes last season, but he spent most of the year in a depth role and averaged just 10:53 per night. Could Lorentz take a step forward with a greater opportunity to shine in the Bay Area?

PREDICTION

The Sharks are still very much in a transitional period. Even their shiny new uniforms – a significant upgrade on their old ones, by the way – are called the “Evolve” jerseys.

The Flames, Oilers, and Kings are all clearly better positioned to make the playoffs this season, and there are strong arguments to be made in favor of the Canucks and Golden Knights as well. Ultimately, it’d be a little surprising if Grier even expects his Sharks team to come close to the post-season. They might even finish last in the Pacific Division.

We’ll hedge our bet and say the Sharks finish seventh in the Pacific, but with a caveat: Bordeleau will kickstart the process of making hockey fun again in San Jose. Pencil him in as a Calder Trophy threat.

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