Off-Season Review: San Jose Sharks hope a new goaltending tandem can bring the team back to life
The San Jose Sharks have found themselves in unfamiliar territory.
For the first time since their early expansion days, they aren’t a consistent playoff contender in the Western Conference. The Sharks and their aging roster have missed the dance in back-to-back seasons and if they miss again in 2021-22, they’ll set their longest drought in franchise history.
Can a new goaltending duo bring this group back to life? Or are they just prolonging the inevitable by avoiding a rebuild?
What happened in 2021?
The Sharks were actually fairly competitive in 2021, an improvement over 2019-20 in which they tanked out of the gate and were essentially out of contention by November. On April 9 of 2021, they boasted a respectable 18-17-4 record and were thoroughly in the mix for a playoff spot, right near the St. Louis blues, who sat at 18-16-6.
After that, these two teams went in completely different directions.
The Sharks went 3-11-3 the rest of the way and finished second last in the West Division while the Blues went 9-4-3 and grabbed the division’s final playoff spot. The Blues wound up getting pumped by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, but, still, I’m sure the Sharks would have enjoyed that honor.
Perhaps being in the mix for a good chunk of the season gave general manager Doug Wilson some renewed faith in the group, because he leaned into trying to improve the roster over the summer.
What did they do in the off-season?
Notable Additions: Adin Hill, James Reimer, Nick Bonino, Andrew Cogliano.
Notable Subtractions: Martin Jones, Patrick Marleau, Greg Pateryn, Ryan Donato.
Key to San Jose’s offseason was overhauling their goaltending situation. That’s a fair strategy given they allowed the second most goals in the league last season.
The Sharks bought out Martin Jones, who had inked a six-year, $34,500,000 extension back in 2017. He’ll be a dead cap hit for six years, but, after posting an .896 save percentage in back-to-back-to-back seasons, it was time to move on.
Coming in as a replacement is Adin Hill, who was acquired from the Coyotes’ fire sale in exchange for a second-round pick and prospect Josef Korenar. Hill has a .915 save percentage in 32 NHL games over the past two seasons but was stuck behind Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper on Arizona’s depth chart.
Hill will split the net with James Reimer, a veteran goaltender who’s been up and down over the past few years. Even if Reimer does what he did in 2021 (a .906 save percentage), it would be an improvement over Jones.
San Jose’s other two notable additions were Nick Bonino and Andrew Cogliano, a pair of veteran forwards who play well defensively. All told, the goal here was to allow fewer goals against, and, on paper, the Sharks are better in that regard.
What to expect in 2021-22?
The Sharks are better, sure, but will it be enough?
They’re heading back to the Pacific, which is likely the league’s weakest division, which is a plus, but there are still a wealth of challenges for this team to overcome.
Goaltending has been San Jose’s big issue lately, but that’s certainly not their only problem. This is a team that’s gotten old and the play of a handful of expensive players have deteriorated.
Erik Kalrsson, once the best offensive defender in the league, scored only 22 points in 52 games in 2021. @Marc-Edouard Vlasic, once one of the league’s best shutdown defenders, is also a shell of his former self.
And then there’s the Evander Kane situation. Kane was cleared of his gambling allegation but now he’s under investigation for the alleged physical and sexual abuse of his estranged wife. Kane wasn’t invited to the team’s training camp and cutting ties might be the best outcome for San Jose.
Put it all together and you have quite a mess. Stronger goaltending will make the Sharks better this year than last but, ultimately, getting back into the playoffs will require veterans like Karlsson and Vlasic bouncing back and being something close to their former selves.
One bold prediction…
The Sharks will start to lean into a rebuild by trading impending UFA Tomas Hertl ahead of the deadline.
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