What the San Jose Sharks are thankful for

As we approach the end of the year, PHR continues its look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the San Jose Sharks.

Who are the Sharks thankful for?

Erik Karlsson.

Wait, a team at the bottom of the standings is most thankful for an aging defenseman who makes $11.5M a season? Well, there isn’t a lot of competition in San Jose these days. The Sharks probably aren’t very happy with the trade that brought him in or the extension that he signed when he arrived. The team would probably be in a much better place without ever getting Karlsson in the first place.

But his play this year has given the Sharks a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel. The 32-year-old defenseman has 42 points in 34 games (including an active eight-game point streak) and is playing more than 25 minutes a night for the Sharks. That has potentially opened up the possibility of a trade at some point, allowing them to get out from under the last few years of his contract.

It still will be a complicated move to pull off, but general manager Mike Grier admitted he would listen to proposals. Karlsson is making sure people don’t forget that there was a time he was considered the best defenseman in the world. In a recent interview on Hockey Night in Canada, he promised that he still has “lots of years left” in his career.

What are the Sharks thankful for?

A rising salary cap ceiling.

Over the last couple of years, there hasn’t been anyone in a worse financial situation than the Sharks. The team was playing poorly, and yet the Sharks were locked in to a number of long-term, expensive contracts for aging players. It looked like they would just have to wait it out, struggling to put a competitive team on the ice for years.

Tthere is a chance that won’t be the case. Not only has Karlsson’s play created a chance (however small) of trading his deal, but the team has found other ways to shed salary as well. Evander Kane’s contract was terminated, Martin Jones was bought out and the Sharks moved most of Brent Burns’ deal in an offseason trade.

They’re still not out of the woods. Tomas Hertl just re-signed, Timo Meier has a huge qualifying offer due and Marc-Edouard Vlasic still has three more seasons on his deal at $7M, but there is at least a little breathing room. A cap increase would only help matters.

What would the Sharks be even more thankful for?

A concrete front office direction.

The biggest problem is that, for years now, the Sharks have avoided the idea of a rebuild entirely. They are stuck somewhere in the middle of buying and selling, all to the detriment of the on-ice product. Take two of the biggest moves the team has done in the past year, for instance.

In March, after deciding to hold on to him through the trade deadline, the Sharks signed Hertl to an eight-year, $65.1M contract that keeps him in town until 2030 – essentially the rest of his career. Then a few months later they trade Burns and retain 34% of his contract in exchange for future assets.

Those two moves seem completely at odds with each other. One is made by a team that believes it can compete, and another is by a rebuilding club that wants to move on from older players and start collecting draft picks.

The Sharks now have another chance to point out a direction for their franchise with Meier. The 26-year-old is in the final season of a four-year bridge deal he signed in 2019 and is due a $10M qualifying offer in the summer. Any long-term extension would be expensive because of that leverage, but he would still be a very attractive asset for contenders at the deadline looking to upgrade their top six. Does San Jose trade him, move on and start the rebuild, or do the Sharks still believe they can compete with this core and bring Meier back as they did with Hertl last year?

Whatever it is, Sharks fans are dying for some consistent direction … and a plan.

What should be on the Sharks' holiday wish list?

A young defenseman.

If they are able to make some trades at the deadline, the Sharks should target draft picks and young defensemen. They already have a number of interesting young forward prospects, led by William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau and Filip Bystedt, but it’s been a while since they had a real star defensive prospect to build around. Mario Ferraro is young enough that he can be part of the solution, but no other defenseman on the roster is under the age of 28.