Time to blow up the Sharks
The San Jose Sharks need to be blown up. After making the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, the Sharks are on the outside of the playoff picture with only a month remaining in the regular season. It appears San Jose will not be partaking in the postseason with an aging roster and controversy swirling around the franchise.
San Jose (36-30-8, 80 points) has been viewed as chokers for years. Over the aforementioned 10-year run, the Sharks won the Pacific Division five times and amassed more than 100 points seven times. Yet, the Sharks never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals and only thrice made it to the Western Conference finals.
Despite a changing cast of characters around Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton over the years, San Jose has always come up short. The Sharks bottomed out in playoff futility last year, blowing a 3-0 lead in the conference quarterfinals to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings.
With Thornton and Marleau each at 35 years old, they are on the final years of their respective careers. Both are potential Hall of Famers and top-notch forwards, but San Jose is not going to win while they remain productive. The Sharks would be better suited in the long-term to deal both for young players and high draft picks, helping the franchise to shorten a rebuilding period.
Thornton made headlines earlier in March when calling general manager Doug Wilson a liar when referring to Wilson’s claims that Thornton was stripped of the captaincy before the season because he snaps under stress, per the San Jose Mercury News. Wilson says they have since patched things up, but a divide of some extent likely still remains under the surface.
The age can also be seen elsewhere. Defenseman Brent Burns is San Jose’s best blueliner, but he’s 30 years old. Scott Hannan has been a staple in teal and black, but the oldest player on the roster at 36. In net, Antti Niemi is 31 years old and frankly upgradable. The Sharks must realize the time has come to start over while keeping a few cornerstones in Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski.
It’s also time to move on from head coach Scott McLellan. McLellan has been wildly successful until spring rolls around, posting a 307-160-65 mark in the regular season but failing to reach the Finals despite loaded rosters. It is not that McLellan can’t coach; he can. However, teams need new blood at times to recharge the collective battery, and right now the car is refusing to start.
Every good team comes to this point. The players get old, the coach tuned out and the results stale. San Jose is no different. The only pain will be knowing Stanley Cups should have been in their grasp, only to be left with the devastation of promise unfulfilled.
