The San Jose Sharks are still a force to be reckoned with
Despite the horrendous collapse at the end of last season, and beyond the rebuild that general Doug Wilson has constantly been talking about, where do the Sharks sit in terms of being a force at the start of the season?
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In all honestly, the majority of the core players for the Sharks remain in San Jose. Dan Boyle was the biggest loss, but after watching his performance and knowing the route the team had been wanting to take, it was really no surprise. Other veterans to leave were Martin Havlat, which again was pretty much expected after being scratched so much throughout the season, and Brad Stuart.
Even after last year when the Sharks traded Ryane Clowe, Douglas Murray and Michal Handzus, the team still remained at the top of the league. After those trades, fans were spitting the same type of comments as they are today in terms of getting rid of great players and not knowing whether the team could stand up to rivals throughout the league. But the Sharks remained a force then and they will remain a force now.
Sure, the rebuilding will remain a continuing process, however the trend has proved that the Sharks are able to adapt to new lineups and remain a team that will battle for a spot in the Stanley Cup. I don’t believe that changing the outer layers of the team will change what the Sharks stand for.
If the franchise does indeed decide to get rid of core players such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, etc, then my stance here would change. But at this point in time I believe the Sharks have exactly what it takes to battle again for a spot in the playoffs. Whether they’ll have a repeat of last season is unknown.
Hopefully fans can stay loyal and be patient to see where exactly the future of the team stands.