2020-21
Record: 21-28-7, 49pts; 7th in Honda West Division
Playoffs: Did not Qualify
Key Losses
F Patrick Marleau
G Martin Jones
F Ryan Donato
Key Additions
G Adin Hill
G James Reimer
F Nick Bonino
F Andrew Cogliano
Jerseys
2021-22 Preview
It was a rough season last year for the San Jose Sharks. Aside from Marleau breaking the all-time record for most games played in the NHL, it was not an eventful season. With the Sharks, and the rest of the League, playing a full 82 game season, it should be all gears running.
Adin Hill comes in after being acquired in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes and then would agree to a two-year contract in early August to avoid arbitration. Hill last year went 9-9-1 with a 2.74 GAA and a .913 save percentage in the 19 games he saw. Hill would also have two shutouts. Hill goes into camp as the presumptive starter in net.
The huge question mark that surrounds the team is Evander Kane. As soon as his gambling addiction issues came out last season and then with the messy and widely publicized news on his messy divorce going on, it makes the situation with Kane messier than it needs to be. If Kane is still on the team as this is being written on August 31st before camp starts, it’s going to make the situation in San Jose a lot uglier.
San Jose really needs a huge offense spark. The Sharks have been mediocre on offense ever since they had the second best goals per game average of 3.52 from the 2018-19 season, which coincidentally was the last time the Sharks were in the postseason as well as having a player with 30 goals or 50 points during the season. With 2.57 goals per game in 2019-20, that ranked for 27th, during the last campaign, the goals per game (2.61) was good for 25th. However, they ranked 29th in power play at 14.1 percent. Defence is also the name of the game for the Sharks to protect Hill as much as possible. San Jose last season gave up more goals than they scored, being outscored by 50 goals (allowing 196 goals, while scoring 146).
As far as the season outlook goes for the Sharks, I do not expect playoffs or anything spectacular out of the team this year.
Prediction: 6th place in Pacific Division
Projected Lineup (as of August 31st):
Evander Kane — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier — Tomas Hertl — Alexander Barabanov
John Leonard — Nick Bonino — Rudolfs Balcers
Andrew Cogliano — Dylan Gambrell — Matt Nieto
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek — Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Adin Hill
James Reimer
