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The Sharks Circle Back - Ken Campbell - Aug. 17, 2015 - Vol. 69, Issue. 02

IT’S FUNNY HOW QUICKLY THINGS CAN change. Not long ago, the state of California was considered the NHL’s Death Valley, the road swing you began to dread as soon as you took a peek at the schedule. For a while, it looked as though the Stanley Cup might not apply for permanent residence there, but it was about to accept a job at In-N-Out and take out earthquake insurance.

Then came the 2014-15 season. Two of the three teams didn’t make the playoffs and the Anaheim Ducks couldn’t close out a crucial series or win a Game 7 on home ice. All of a sudden, Cali didn’t look quite so imposing.

There are going to be a lot of compelling teams this coming season. The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers will be fun to watch. It will be fascinating to see if the Toronto Maple Leafs self-started tire fire will burn brightly. The Calgary Flames look jacked, the Columbus Blue Jackets made some assertive moves and it will be curious to see if the Pittsburgh Penguins can score themselves out of every one of their defects.

You can add the San Jose Sharks to that group. With a few bold moves by a GM who came out swinging to keep his job, the Sharks hit the reset button after missing the post-season by eight points and looking uninspired in doing so. But Doug Wilson moved decisively in the off-season to give his team a makeover that put to rest any notion of a rebuild and steered a course toward contender status.

After Day 2 of the draft, Wilson stood along the rail that separates the draft floor from the media and answered questions about how he had failed to improve his roster. The Sharks had nine picks in the draft and traded up to get Jeremy Roy with first pick of the second round, a player many outlets had rated in the first round. (THN’s Draft Preview had him pegged at No. 26.) But people who saw the Los Angeles Kings add Milan Lucic wondered why the Sharks had been incapable of swinging a deal on the draft floor. “We’ve done this many different ways,” Wilson said at the time.

Then he swung into action, acquiring goalie Martin Jones from Boston for a first-round pick and a prospect, in effect getting a goalie from a divisional contender that had no interest in dealing him to a Pacific Division foe. And shortly after free agency opened, he signed defenseman Paul Martin to a four-year deal and winger Joel Ward to a three-year deal for reasonable money. Suddenly, new coach Peter DeBoer had a roster that was much more to his liking.

Sharks & Wild Complete Minor League Trade Sharks swap forward Oskar Olausson for defenseman Kyle Masters in a minor league deal, aiming for new opportunities and stability for both players.

By acquiring Martin, the Sharks got a left-shot D-man who can take care of things in his own end to give Brent Burns freedom to roam. And it gives the Sharks a top-six D-corps consisting of Martin and Burns, followed by Marc-Edouard Vlasic with Justin Braun and a third pairing of Mirco Mueller and Brenden Dillon.

One problem the Sharks had as they tried to rebuild on the fly this past season was their young forwards didn’t take a large enough step in their development. So Wilson got Ward, a battle-tested veteran who gives the Sharks size, a modicum of skill and some big-game results. Ward immediately pushes some of those younger forwards a spot down the depth chart, taking away the pressure and adding to the team’s top two lines. He gives them the kind of big presence that’s needed in the West and a large target in front of the net for Joe Thornton.

And one of the trades the Sharks made at the draft went under the radar, but tuck this one away for future reference. The Sharks acquired a 23-year-old defenseman named Patrick McNally from Vancouver for a seventh-round pick. McNally played out his four years at Harvard University and was ambivalent about signing with the Canucks, so the Sharks took advantage. McNally’s career at Harvard was not without controversy. He missed much of 2012-13 because of a cheating scandal and played 21 games this past season because of a knee injury that was originally misdiagnosed. But he did manage 21 points in his senior year and his team had a habit of winning when he was in the lineup. He probably won’t make the Sharks right away, but he’ll be a player to watch.

“WILSON MOVED DECISIVELY TO GIVE HIS TEAM A MAKEOVER THAT PUT TO REST ANY NOTION OF A REBUILD"

So, with a new coach, a new goalie and two pivotal skater additions, what’s in store for San Jose? Well, much will depend on Jones, who has just 34 NHL games on his resume and has played behind a defensive juggernaut. How Jones responds to being given the role of No. 1 goalie will be pivotal to the team’s fortunes. Jonathan Bernier is another goalie who played behind Jonathan Quick and pined for that chance and two years later, the jury is still out on whether or not he’s a bona fide No. 1 goalie.

Will the Sharks be better in 2015-16? Almost certainly. Will they be good enough to be a contender in the Western Conference? They hope so. Will they be a fascinating team to watch as the season unfolds? You bet, they will

Sharks Claim Iorio Off Waivers & Place Liljegren On The IR The San Jose Sharks have announced some roster moves today.

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