Sharks News & Notes

It was a quiet trade deadline for the San Jose Sharks. There were zero messages received, zero trade calls from other teams. The team had been dangling rental player Josh Manson out since early in the season as a trade chip with little to no interest in the defensive Dman. "I had contacted most of the teams in playoff contention in the weeks leading up to the deadline but couldn't gain much traction." quipped Sharks GM Jared Mitchell. "If a team had interest, they didn't let it be known."

Manson is set to walk in free agency at seasons end, but the team will have the ability to make a day 0 offer for the UFA's services. So it isn't a complete loss. There were rumours the team was also fielding offers for RFA forward Jonathan Drouin but there was no interest from teams for him either. "Like I said earlier, we received zero trade offers. Not even the usual tire kickers to see how cheaply they could upgrade their roster." Said the GM.

The Sharks season hasn't been good, they sit tied for 31st with the Senators at 40 points each. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning have less points so far this year. This seasons poor play hasn't appeared out of left field, one season after joining the Sharks front office as GM, Jared sat infront of season ticket holders announcing the team would turn towards a full rebuild. Last season they acquired a bunch of draft picks and re-stocked the prospect pool with 7 picks in the first two rounds while surprising the league and making the playoffs. If ever there was a season to suck though, this is it with a potential generational talent at the top of draft boards.

Diving into this seasons numbers, there are a few surprises for the Sharks. First big surprise is the teams powerplay, sitting at 18.67% currently, good for 15th in the league. Next surprise is just how physical this team has been, leading the league with 23.73 hits made per game. This physical play has lead to penalties which the team is struggling to kill, sporting a league worst penalty kill at 76.22%. Part of the problem with goals against was the teams decision to run with two goalies void of pro experience in Schmid & Sandstrom. The strip down of the team looks to be complete and now comes the hard part of building it back up.

With 16 games remaining, the Sharks will be racing the Lightning & the Senators to the bottom of the standings to have the greatest odds of hearing their name called out as the lottery winners for the chance to pick Connor Bedard.

Good luck to all the teams with their new acqusitions in their playoff races as well as lottery races.