The San Jose Sharks looked like they were finally on the brink of ending their reputation as a perennial playoff failure as they took a commanding 3-0 series lead on the Los Angeles Kings in the first round - and in dominating fashion.
Then, the impossible happened. The Kings roared back to complete an epic comeback, winning four straight and three more series en route to their second Stanley Cup title in three seasons.
The Sharks will go into training camp with the captain and assistant captain slots up for grabs as their former captains were stripped of their ranks after another tumultuous playoff meltdown.
Will the Sharks, who have the second-longest playoff streak in the NHL, finally make some noise in the postseason? Or will they crumble altogether and have to rebuild? We may get that answer this season. Here is what to expect from the San Jose Sharks.
Offense
Other than Brent Burns moving from a forward back to a defenseman and Martin Havlat departing for New Jersey, the Sharks will roll out pretty much the same group of forwards this year as they did last year.
The center position is very deep, including Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski. Thornton's increasing age may become a concern soon, but Couture seems like the cornerstone of the Sharks future moving forward. Pavelski has the capability to also play right wing, a position at which San Jose needs more depth.
Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl are the team's top two left wings. Marleau has formed a dynamic duo with the aforementioned Thornton over the past several seasons, but his age has also become a concern. Hertl, on the other hand, was a young standout last season and could be a big part of San Jose's future plans. He missed a big chunk of the 2013-14 season but could provide a boost to the offense if he can stay healthy.
The right wing position is headlined by Tommy Wingels: an up-and-coming forward who may have his best season yet in 2014-15.
San Jose did not have much of a problem scoring last season, as the Sharks finished with 239 total goals: tied with the St. Louis Blues for sixth in the NHL. If they can stay healthy, expect the Sharks to be one of the league’s top-scoring teams again this season.
Defense
San Jose lost veteran defensemen Dan Boyle and Brad Stuart in free agency, but filled the void from within by moving the aforementioned Burns back to his original position on the blue line.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who made a name for himself last season, will be the team’s No. 2 defenseman. He led the team with an incredible plus-31 rating last season and should make a similar impact this year.
The young Jason Demers will be expected to play a large role on the blue line this year, and he seems more than capable of accomplishing the task. He scored five goals and added 29 assists last year with a plus-14 rating.
Prospect Mirco Mueller could crack the roster this year as well, giving the Sharks some younger, fresher legs on defense.
Special Teams
San Jose had a little bit of trouble on the power play last year, converting on just 17.2% of opportunities on the man advantage: 20th in hockey.
Losing Boyle certainly will hurt them in this department as he was the top power play quarterback on the blue line last season. Burns will fill this role, but by not signing anyone known to be effective on the power play, San Jose may be even worse off on the man advantage.
The penalty kill was a different story, as San Jose was sixth in the NHL by killing off 84.9% of their penalties. To help even more, San Jose was the least-penalized team in hockey last season as the Sharks drew just 290 trips to the sin bin.
If San Jose can stay out of the box and continue to have an elite PK unit, the ineffective power play may not sting as much as one would think.
Goaltending
Antti Niemi is one of the NHL’s better goalies, but was shockingly pulled in last season’s playoff series against the Kings in favor of backup Alex Stalock.
Stalock was certainly one of the league’s best backup goaltenders, boasting a 12-5-4 record with a terrific 1.87 goals against average and .932 save percentage.
Niemi, in comparison, was 39-17-11 with a 2.39 goals against average and .913 save percentage. These are obviously good enough numbers for Niemi to stay the starting goalie, but expect Stalock to get a few more starts if he performs like he did last year.
All in all, this is a good problem to have for San Jose. If one goalie struggles, head coach Todd McLellan should have no problem subbing in the other.
Coaching
Speaking of McLellan, his job may be on the hot seat. After years of regular season success and playoff failure, San Jose’s window is closing and the team may be looking to make a change if this season ends up just like all the others.
Overall Season Outlook
San Jose will likely sink to a tier below its California rivals (Anaheim and Los Angeles) in the Pacific Division, but the Sharks are still a cut above the next tier of Pacific teams (Phoenix and Vancouver).
They should be able to lock up the third seed in the division and keep their playoff streak alive, but may have trouble getting through the Ducks or Kings in the first round. Then again, could the Sharks do better in the playoffs with lower expectations?
Projected Record: 44-27-11 (99 points)