Entering the season, there was some reason for excitement surrounding the San Jose Sharks.
The team had Macklin Celebrini to start building around, while Will Smith made the roster as well, and the team’s long-term core was starting to take shape. Mix in some veteran additions for better depth, and San Jose looked poised for a bit of improvement.
However, nine games into the season, all excitement around the team this season has quickly faded, with the Sharks winless at a 0-7-2 record.
San Jose’s offense has often been nonexistent, with their average of two goals per game ranking as the worst in the NHL. They've pretty much completely relied on their top line for scoring, with Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund as the only consistent producers. While each of the three has between six and 10 points, Fabian Zetterlund is the only other forward on the team with more than two points.
Part of this is attributed to the fact that the team’s bottom-six isn't going to be able to chip in much, filled with players who were probably only going to be good for about 15-20 points in a given season. But even some of the forwards who you’d hope to see some better numbers from haven’t produced: Alexander Wennberg has just two assists in nine games, while Will Smith and Danil Gushchin have been held pointless.
Of course, that’s not helped by Macklin Celebrini being unavailable. But at the same time, I don’t think there should be that much reliance on Celebrini’s return being a huge game-changer for the Sharks’ season at this stage. He had a great debut, but as an 18-year-old rookie, expectations still need to be realistic.
Then in their own end, the Sharks have struggled just about as much. They’ve averaged 4.2 goals against per game, which is the second-worst of any team in the NHL. Jake Walman has been more impactful than anyone could’ve expected, while Mario Ferraro and Jan Rutta have somehow each managed a plus-one rating, and Jack Thompson looked good in his limited action. But we knew coming into the year that the defense group (while stronger than last year) was still relatively weak. Then in goal, Mackenzie Blackwood has done his best to keep the team in games, but Vitek Vanecek has struggled.
There are no clear solutions for San Jose, either. Offensively, the hope was to see some of the young talent take a step, but with Celebrini injured, Smith and Guschin not producing, and Zetterlund also only at four points, the Sharks are going to struggle to get goals outside of the top line.
Nobody was expecting the Sharks to contend for a playoff spot, but a more competitive start was the goal. Now, the Sharks look like they have a very realistic shot to surpass their 11-game losing streak which opened the 2023-24 season. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky pretty much summed it up, calling the start “embarrassing.”
There's still tons of time for the team to get better, and for some of their young talent to begin finding their footing. But at least right now, it's hard to find a lot of positives.
The Sharks will be back in action tonight, as they face Utah in the first half of a back-to-back set.
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