Down and Out: Can the San Jose Sharks get things turned around?

After being one of the more consistently competitive teams over the last 10-20 years, the Sharks have found themselves closer to being lottery contenders for the third year in a row.

With an aging core that is also taking up a lot of cap space, it’s hard to see how the Sharks can pull themselves out of this in the short term. Frank Seravalli talked about what the Sharks might try and do this offseason on today’s Down and Out segment.

Seravalli: “This to me, when I look at it, it’s really such a pivotal offseason for the Sharks franchise because, yes, there’s a change in regime with Doug Wilson stepping down as their general manager after a two-decade run that was filled with tons of success, although they never got over the hump to the ultimate prize.

"But, you take a look at that triumvirate of really tenured defensemen that they have on their blueline, including Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and I look at that and I say, ‘This is a lot of money to spend on three guys on your blueline, all of whom are getting up there in years’. But you look at the season that Burns has had, actually a bit of a bounce-back year, he’s been pretty good. When Erik Karlsson was healthy, he was fine. But, I take a look at Marc-Edouard Vlasic and he’s someone who’s minutes have fallen off a cliff, he’s now down to 15 minutes a night, it looks to me like when you take a look at Vlasic, he’s a prime buyout candidate for this summer.

"I think the big question for the Sharks and where they move forward is: who is their next general manager. We don’t know who that’s going to be yet, the process hasn’t begun to ramp up in earnest. The Sharks have been pronounced in their statement in saying, ‘We’re willing to wait as long as it takes to get the person that we want to run this franchise, even if that means waiting deep in the playoffs, or potentially until after the season is over to get the person they want’. Their process I think is going to probably include 12-14 names, when it’s all said and done, that they work through and ultimately end up interviewing. So we expect that process to really get underway here in the next days and weeks, especially after the regular season ends.

"But, I’m curious to see who that GM ends up being, because in this case, they’re going to obviously chart a new course forward for the Sharks, but I also wonder how their view of the franchise and how things move forward meshes with their owner Hasso Plattner, someone who’s a bit hands off, but the expectation is behind the scenes that Plattner is not necessarily someone that believes in a teardown rebuild. He’d like the team to remain competitive as much as they can, as they try and retool here, but I would argue that given some of the contracts, given the vets that they have, that you take a look at these last three seasons and you see they’re sort of in the NHL’s no man’s land. Not in the lottery territory, but also far enough away from the playoffs that probably more drastic measures need to be taken in order to reshape this group for the future.”

You can watch the full episode here…