Sharks Are More Well-Rounded Without Karlsson
The San Jose Sharks will be a more well-rounded team without Erik Karlsson.
Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports - Sharks Are More Well-Rounded Without KarlssonThe San Jose Sharks will become a more complete team without Erik Karlsson.
Losing the 101 points of offense that Karlsson provided will hurt, but the team's overall play should be better.
Karlsson's elite skating and passing ability allowed San Jose to break the puck out by relying on his skills. Head Coach David Quinn has focused on getting a clean breakout at training camp.
"Getting our goalie and our D to be on the same page on our breakouts when the puck does come to the goalie," Quinn said. "Under game-like conditions, we have the forecheckers going in there, and it's something that we'll continue to work on. It's an important piece."
Having all five players on the same page will benefit breakouts across the board for the Sharks. Turnovers were a big issue last season for Team Teal, and for that to improve, the breakouts need to be cleaner.
"We all talked about what a big problem it was for us last year. It was way more of a problem for us defensively than our D-zone structure or anything along those lines," Quinn explained. "We just have to make sure we take care of the puck. We need to make sure we address it now and consistently address it."
Karlsson wasn't the only player at fault for turnovers last season. However, with him gone, the Sharks can focus on building a similar team breakout through all lines.
"Regardless of who touches the puck first and the team, when you get that first touch in your own end, you gotta get out of your zone," Quinn said. "That's something that we really need to focus on to be efficient."
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