In another successful season, the San Jose Sharks hit 100 points for the first time since 2013-14. The followed that by trading for the league\’s top defenseman, Erik Karlsson, making them cup contenders. Before we look at their team, here\’s some fast facts for the San Jose Sharks.
Head Coach: Peter DeBoer
General Manager: Doug Wilson
Arena: SAP Center
AHL Affiliate: San Jose Barracuda
2017-18 record: 45-27-10 (100 points)
2017-18 placement: 3rd
Division: Pacific
2017-18 goals leader: Logan Couture (34)
2017-18 assists leader: Brent Burns (55)
2017-18 points leader: Brent Burns (67)
2017-18 points leader (defensemen): Brent Burns (67)
Captain: Joe Pavelski
Assistant Captains: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton
2018 first round pick: Ryan Merkley
Offseason additions: Erik Karlsson
Offseason subtractions: Mikkel Boedker, Chris Tierney, Jannik Hansen, Joel Ward, Dylan DeMelo, Eric Fehr, Paul Martin, Rudolfs Balcers
Forwards: Joe Thornton comes off an injury riddled season, and Joe Pavelski scored just 22 goals in 2017-18. Now playing with Evander Kane full-time, the Joes could see an improvement. Logan Couture is coming off a 34 goal season, and will play alongside Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier, who both survived the Karlsson trade. Joonas Donskoi is coming off a down year.
Forward lines:
Evander Kane – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Joonas Donskoi – Melker Karlsson – Kevin LaBanc
Marcus Sorenson – Antti Suomela – Barclay Goodrow
Defensemen: Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson are arguably the two best defenseman in the game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic is top 20. This is a top 2 defensive core in the league.
Defensive pairs:
Joakim Ryan – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Erik Karlsson
Brendon Dillon – Justin Braun
Other: Tim Heed
Goalies: Martin Jones is coming off a down season. But, Aaron Dell is sneakily one of the better backups in hockey. This is one of the league\’s more interesting tandems.
Goalie alignment:
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Other: Antoine Bibeau
Predictions:
Top five scorers:
Joe Pavelski
Erik Karlsson
Brent Burns
Evander Kane
Logan Couture
Playoffs: Yes
Division: 1st
I think the San Jose Sharks will be eliminated in the third round of the playoffs.
CarterHud 