Will the drowning Sharks make it to the promised Playoffs Land

Will the drowning Sharks make it to the promised Playoffs Land - Or will the surging LA Kings make it to shore before ?

Coming off another mediocre season that ended in the first round of the playoffs in just 5 games to the Anaheim Ducks last year, Sharks came in this season with the hopes of doing just a bit better, while, as always, sailing a financially very tight ship. 

23-24 Additions 

Led by privileged hockey boys Zach Hyman and RNG and Russian brick wall Igor Shesterskin, the Sharks decided to bring in some more veteran presence in the offseason in the hopes of getting in the playoffs again and then some. Sharks knew it was time to move on from Timo Meier after his career season and got a great return in Nicklas Backstrom + Fabian Lysell + a first round pick. Eventually all these assets we’re flipped during the season. 

Backstrom became Jayden Schwartz who ended up being flipped for a 2nd round pick
Lysell got bundled with Iafallo to bring in 50% retained Matt Duchene as a reliable 3rd center.
And the 1st rounder became Boone Jenner who ultimately got traded one-on-one for empty net slapper Ridly Greig who will become a big part of the Sharks of the coming years.

In other big flips, the Sharks basically emptied their draft picks pool for the coming year to restructure the team’s back end completely. Tony DeAngelo and Scott Mayfield were bundled with a 2nd round pick and with promising first rounder Ethan Gauthier and those became Ryan McDonagh and Brendan Montour who will be rocks for the Sharks for at least 2 more seasons.

Pro rosters additions and substractions April 1st 2023 vs April 1st 2024

Departed : 

Timo Meier (Traded)
Alex Iafallo (Traded)
Calle Jarnkrok (UFA)
Michael Raffl (UFA)
Johan Larsson (UFA)

Jack Johnson (UFA)
Mattias Ekholm (UFA)
Tony DeAngelo (Traded)
Scott Mayfield (Traded)
Jake Muzzin (Retired)

Braden Holtby (Retired)

Additions

Johnny Gaudreau (Trade)
Matt Duchene (Trade)
Andreas Athanasiou (Trade)
Cal Clutterbuck (Trade)
Dakota Joshua (Graduated)
Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Graduated)
Paul Cotter (Graduated)

Ryan McDonagh (Trade)
Brandon Montour (Trade)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (Free agency)
Nick Leddy (Trade)

How did it go wrong ?

Sharks GM BRRR was caught a bit off-guard when the team came out the gates with a 8-1-1 start to the season. The Sharks at mid-season were showing off an impressive 27-13-1 record and suddenly, everything was possible. So like any GM in that situation, he went on a shopping spree. And of course the RHL gods didn’t like it. The Sharks are 12-12-6 since midseason and are now in danger of losing their 3rd place in the Pacific to the surging Los Angeles Kings, riding a 15-5-3 stretch even after half the team for late picks leading to the trade deadline.

With 11 games to go, this should be an exciting finish to this year’s underwhelming Pacific division performances. Sharks currently hold a 6 pts lead over the Kings, what's your call ?

SJS 11 games left

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LAK 11 games left

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