Offseason Review of the Pacific Divisions San Jose Sharks:

Another year, another playoff disappointment for the San Jose Sharks.  Even with a franchise record 117-point season and all the talent in the world the Sharks, the best team in the entire National Hockey League fell flat on its face during the postseason, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round.  But things are looking up a bit because of the acquisition of star forward Dany Heatley.  Heatley has been mired in an offseason of nothing short of craziness.  He signed a lucrative 7 year multi-million dollar deal to play in Ottawa and after two years wasn’t happy with his situation demanded a trade.  It took the Senators all throughout the playoffs and the summer to finally get a deal for Heatley done.  Every team was trying to get something for nothing because they knew the position the Sens were in.  The deal sees right-winger Jonathan Cheechoo, once a 56-goal scorer, and left-winger Milan Michalek head to Ottawa in exchange.  Each team also exchanged draft picks in the deal.  So hopefully Heatley is now satisfied and happy and will just get back to playing hockey instead of being an annoyance to people.

The Sharks were lead by a balanced scoring attack that saw 6 players score 20+ goals led by their captain Patrick Marleau with 38 goals and sophomore sensation Devin Setoguchi with 31 goals.  Last year also saw a resurgence of both defenseman Dan Boyle tallying 57 points and Rob Blake puting up 45 points especially on the 3rd ranked power play where they combined for 54 points.

Up front this team is fast, deep, and excels in scoring the difficult goals, exemplified by their top scorer Joe Thornton with 86 points.  Big Joe has been dynamic since his trade to the Sharks and will once again be asked to be the team leader on the ice and especially on the power play where he had a team high 11 goals and 35 points.  The team will also expect bigger things from their improving young guns, Setoguchi and Joe Pavleski, who are both restricted free agents at the end of the season and both coming off career seasons last year.

This year, the Sharks’ blueline will be helped dramatically by the continued development of  Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who, at just 22, is entering his fourth NHL season.  The Montreal native took another step forward last season, putting up single-season bests with six goals, 30 assists and a plus-15 rating.

Once again this team will be evaluated on the playoff success.  We all know they are talented and should win the Pacific Division for the third straight year.  If they come out slow, or are not playing to expectations right before the trade deadline, don’t be surprised if Doug Wilson pulls the trigger on trading Patrick Marleau or Evgeni Nabokov as the GM has said change is needed for this team that constantly does not live up to their potential.