SAN JOSE – With the departure of Erik Karlsson in a three-team deal, the San Jose Sharks in uncharted water for the first time in many seasons. Karlsson collected 101 points in the 2023-24 season on 25 goals.
Sharks defenseman Jacob MacDonald (9) checks Sonny Milano (15) – Photo by Jack Lima
“Everyone just needs to be a little bit better,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said after the trade was announced.
Well, that was a truism before the trade.
San Jose received Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund; and Jan Rutta in return for Karlsson from the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins. THey certainly did not get any younger as the youngest of the trio is Granlund at 31 years.
Also in trades, the Sharks manged to snag Anthony Duclair away from the Florida Panthers, and Filip Zadina.
“If you look at our lines up front, I think it’s pretty solid,” Couture said. “Depth wise, we have a lot of players that can play at the NHL level. I think a lot of us are excited to play with each other.”
The real issue, besides filling the statistics left behind by Karlsson, is in goal.
The Sharks traded for Mackenzie Blackwood from the New Jersey Devils for a sixth-round draft in the Draft in June.
Blackwood, 26, has been prone to injuries and has never really lived up to the expectations since being drafted.
Even with the questions surrounding Blackwood, he can inked into the number one spot because the Sharks are bereft of number one goalies. The closest, and most promising is Kaapo Kahkonen,27, who shared duties with the inadequate James Reimer in 2022-23 season.
Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen makes a stick save – Photo by Jack Lima
“When you’re in our situation, everything’s an open competition,” Sharks coach David Quinn said.
Not much else has happened this off season for the Sharks.
“It’s a down cycle right now and we’re going to claw our way back inch by inch,” Sharks director of player personnel Scott Fitzgerald said on NHL.com. “That’s how I’m looking at it and Mike and the whole organization looks at it. One player at a time, and we’ll just start to add some pieces here.”
The cupboards are not bare across the street with the Barracudas of the AHL.
Thomas Bordeleau and William Eklund each played eight games with the Sharks last season, with the balance of the season icing for the Barracuda.
Bordeleau is 5’10” and 175 pounds and is expected to make the club as a winger or center.
“It’s like any small player,” Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse said on NHL.com. “It’s figuring out ways to have the same success offensively and everywhere you’ve been and finding it in a pro game consistently. He’s taken a lot of really good steps and it’s going to be up to him to come training camp (and) dictate what’s his next step.”
Use CodePHN15 Sit back and relax because the Sharks will turn it all around, maybe not this season, but soon.
Eklund is not much bigger at 5’77” and 181 pounds; he tied for third on the Barracuda for goals and seems ready for the big club.
“I thought there was a consistency to his game, his effort and his attention,” Quinn said. “I really liked a lot about what I saw.”
The question is whether or not Quinn can turn this squad into a roster that competes each night and learns well enough to make strides into the 2024-25 season.
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