San Jose Sharks: Three Positive Takeaways At Quarter Pole

With the season having passed the quarter mark, the San Jose Sharks sit in a pretty good position considering they’ve dealt with plenty of injuries and inconsistency in the early going. As it stands now, the Sharks sit in second place in the Pacific Division, just one point behind the Los Angeles Kings with a 13-9-0 record and 26 points.

As we take a look back at how San Jose has fared to this point in the season, here are three positive takeaways from the first quarter of the year.

1. Offseason Acquisitions Paying Huge Dividends

General manager Doug Wilson made three key additions in July, and Wilson hit on each one of them. The first move saw Wilson trade for goaltender Martin Jones, who has assumed the number one role in San Jose.

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The 25-year-old Jones flashed tremendous upside during his first two years with the Kings as a backup, but many wondered if he could handle being the starter on a regular basis. Well, Jones answered all those doubters in emphatic fashion, firing out of the gates with a 4-0-0 record and setting a new franchise shutout streak at 234 minutes and 33 seconds.

Currently, Jones has made 18 starts, posting an 11-6-0 record with a .925 save percentage, 2.14 goals-against-average, and a league-leading three shutouts. He’s been everything Wilson and the Sharks could have hoped for when they acquired him from the Boston Bruins.

The next move for Wilson was helping shore up the defense, signing Paul Martin who’s provided a steadying presence alongside Brent Burns. While Martin isn’t a flashy player by any means, he’s solid in just about every facet of the game.

Martin has registered one goal and six assists to go with a plus-four rating while ranking third on the Sharks, averaging 21:43 of ice time per game. He’s been exactly what San Jose has needed for their blue line.

The final move was adding some forward depth up front, signing veteran Joel Ward. Ward has fit in perfectly on the Sharks second line, where he ranks third on the team with 18 points (eight goals and 10 assists). He’s on pace for a career year, and San Jose has needed it as they haven’t quite received the production from their bottom six as expected.

2. Joe Pavelski The Right Choice As Captain

Much of the chatter last year and into the offseason centered around the captaincy position or lack thereof. However, Peter DeBoer came in and addressed it right away, naming Joe Pavelski as captain before the season began.

All Pavelski has done is continue to be at the forefront for the Sharks. Pavelski leads San Jose in scoring once again with 12 goals, 21 points, a plus-11 rating while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game.

While the captaincy was mishandled and hampered this team last season, they found the perfect solution in Pavelski who has thrived in his new role thus far.

Next: Sharks Need More From Younger Players

3. Sharks Core Still Getting It Done

With all the new faces brought in and younger players expected to assume bigger roles, it’s San Jose’s core players that continue to get the job done on a night-in, and night-out basis for the Sharks.

Currently, Pavelski, Brent Burns, Ward, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton are San Jose’s only scorers in double-digits with Marc-Edouard Vlasic also contributing his usual shutdown performance.

After all the question marks that have surrounded these guys in the past, the Sharks veterans continue to the drive the bus for this San Jose team.

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