NHL - San Jose Sharks Profile

Following a historic collapse against the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference First Round, the San Jose Sharks missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs entirely last season for the first time since 2003. It was a streak ended at 10 seasons, but they expect to be back in the postseason this year. Changes were inevitable after San Jose's dismal showing, and the biggest one came first. A new coach Peter DeBoer.

Coaching

Todd McLellan, the winningest coach in San Jose history, parted ways with the Sharks after seven seasons in what he and general manager Doug Wilson called a mutual decision. Wilson hired former Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer to replace McLellan, who became coach of the Edmonton Oilers.
DeBoer led New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, his first season with the Devils, one year after they finished 11th in the Eastern Conference and missed the postseason. He fully expects the Sharks to bounce back quickly.
Changing coaches doesn't guarantee success, but DeBoer will bring a new message and different approach to San Jose after seven seasons under Todd McLellan. It became clear last season that McLellan's message no longer resonated with his players the way it once did. Sometimes players need to hear a different voice, especially after what the Sharks have been through the past two seasons.

DeBoer said every Sharks player will have a clean slate. That should be a relief for some players after last season, but it also puts them on notice that they have to prove themselves from Day One of training camp. DeBoer is known as a defensive-minded coach, and he should help tighten up a Sharks defense that gave up 226 goals last season, 33 more than in 2013-14. He should also help fix a penalty kill that ranked 25th in the NHL last season.
Many of the Sharks have never played in the NHL for a coach other than McLellan, who came to San Jose in 2008. McLellan brought his puck-possession approach from the Detroit Red Wings, where he served as an assistant under Mike Babcock for three seasons. McLellan made tweaks throughout his tenure, but now the Sharks have to adjust to a new coach and new systems.

Goaltending

The Sharks also have a new No. 1 goaltender, former Kings backup Martin Jones.
Antti Niemi's five-season run as San Jose's top goaltender ended when the Sharks traded his negotiating rights to the Dallas Stars for a seventh-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Soon after the draft, San Jose acquired Jones from the Boston Bruins for a first-round pick in 2016 and forward Sean Kuraly, a fifth-round pick in 2011 who was unsigned.
Jones, who was traded by the Kings to the Bruins during the draft, appeared in 34 games for Los Angeles over the past two seasons. He is 16-11-2 with a 1.99 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in his NHL career. Jones made his NHL debut in the 2013-14 season and won his first eight starts, tying an NHL record for consecutive victories to begin a career. He had a 0.98 GAA and three shutouts during that stretch. Last season, he went 4-5-2 with a 2.25 GAA and .906 save percentage.
Jones has played 34 NHL games, but that small sample size showed he has more upside than former Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi. Niemi was a Vezina Trophy finalist three seasons ago, but he regressed each of the past two seasons. Last season, Niemi went 31-23-7 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
Jones won his first eight NHL starts for the Los Angeles Kings two seasons ago; he had three shutouts and a 0.98 GAA during that stretch. He has a 1.99 GAA and .923 save percentage for his NHL career. It's not known how Jones will hold up as a No. 1 goaltender, but the Sharks were willing to take a chance on him.

Roster

Wilson had hinted about the possibility of a blockbuster trade approaching the draft, but that never happened. So the Sharks will likely enter the season with a roster packed with familiar faces, including forwards Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Tommy Wingels, Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto and Melker Karlsson, and defensemen Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Brenden Dillon.
Marleau had 19 goals and 57 points in 82 games last season, his lowest totals in a full season since 2007-08, when he had 19 goals and 48 points in 78 games. Marleau played heavy minutes at even strength, on the power play and on the penalty kill last season. He averaged 19:35 of ice time per game, more than any forward except Pavelski, who led the Sharks in goals (37) and points (70).
Marleau, who turns 36 in September, is still one of the Sharks' fastest skaters, and he is their career leader in goals (456), points (988), power-play goals (142) and game-winning goals (87). Only Pavelski and Couture had more than 25 goals last season, so the Sharks need Marleau to get back on track. In his previous five full seasons, Marleau averaged 36.4 goals and 72.2 points.

The Sharks have been in transition the past two seasons, adding young talent to an established core of veterans. But Wilson signed two veteran free agents, forward Joel Ward and defenseman Paul Martin, adding experience and grit to the lineup. Ward, 34, had 19 goals and 15 assists during the regular season, playing all 82 games for the Washington Capitals. He had three goals and six assists in 14 playoff games. In 517 games for the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Capitals, Ward has 97 goals, 123 assists and a plus-17 rating.
Martin, 34, led the Penguins with a plus-17 rating last season, when he had three goals and 17 assists. He has a plus-100 rating in 697 games with New Jersey and Pittsburgh.

The Sharks decided not to re-sign three unrestricted free agents, forward John Scott and defensemen Matt Irwin and Scott Hannan. Niemi, who was also an impending unrestricted free agent, signed a three-year contract with the Stars.

Peter DeBoer: "I think if you enter the San Jose Sharks organization like I am as the head coach, the expectation is to win right now. There's a tradition here of winning and challenging to go deep into the playoffs. That's my expectation. I think that's Doug's expectation. I don't think anyone is looking for anything less than that here."
"Joel [Ward] is an identity player in that he plays exactly the way I want our team to play. He's big, strong, fast and hard to play against. That's exactly what we are looking for."
"I'm excited. I look at that roster and it reminds me a lot of the first year I went into New Jersey [he led them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012]. It was a group of character guys that had been used to winning that had fallen on some tough times. ... I think their true character is going to be tested. I see enough character in that room that I see a big bounce-back year."
"I believe in pressure hockey. The more pressure you can put on the other team in all three zones, defensively, in the neutral zone and in the offensive zone, the better off you're going to be. I think players want to play that way, and I think fans want to watch that type of hockey. It's structured pressure, make no mistake about that. You got to be on the right side of the puck and you can never cheat the system. We're going to start right from Day One implementing that structure and that foundation, and that's going to be the base that's going to carry us through."
Doug Wilson: "[Paul] Martin was at the top of our list of players that we had targeted. We're extremely excited to have him on board. Paul is a versatile, puck-moving veteran who enhances our younger group of talented defensemen. He comes from a winning environment, is capable of playing heavy minutes and is accustomed to playing with high-end players."

Summary

The Sharks face plenty of uncertainty approaching the 2015-16 season, they are coming off a season that was filled with dysfunction on and off the ice, and they hope to make a quick turnaround.
The Sharks, who typically have enjoyed one of the NHL's most decided home-ice advantages, went 19-17-5 at SAP Center last season, a worse home record than all but six teams in the League. The previous season, San Jose went 29-7-5 at home. If the Sharks can re-establish their dominance at home, they'll be well on their way to returning to the playoffs. The Sharks were in decent shape to make the playoffs entering February last season, but after losing eight straight home games that month, they were unable to dig out of the hole.
The Sharks were embarrassed and angry after missing the playoffs. There should be no shortage of motivation on a team that's filled with proud veterans who are used to making the playoffs.
In the wake of San Jose's collapse against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round two seasons ago, McLellan stripped center Joe Thornton of his captaincy. McLellan never did name a replacement. Instead, the Sharks had four alternate captains throughout the season: Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. DeBoer said he'll name a captain before the start of the regular season.
Pavelski has to be considered the favorite. He was the de facto captain much of last season, especially down the stretch. Then again, DeBoer said he'll have an open mind when making his decisions. Players such as Tommy Wingels and Logan Couture have shown leadership qualities, and Thornton is still one of the most respected players in the Sharks dressing room. I still can't forget the taunting chants from the Jets' fans 'Whose your captain?' reverberating around the MTS Centre. lets not have a repeat of that this season.

Predicted Lines

8 Pavelski - 19 Thornton - 68 Karlsson

12 Marleau - 39 Couture - 48 Hertl

83 Nieto - 50 Tierney - 57 Wingels

13 Torres - 21 Smith - # Ward

44 Vlasic - 88 Burns

# Martin - 61 Braun

4 Dillon - 41 Mueller

# Jones - 32 Stalock