San Jose Sharks: Grades for forwards to start the 2013-14 NHL season

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The San Jose Sharks are six games into the season, and maybe it’s a little early to hand out grades on the performances of Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl and the rest of the Sharks as individuals. It wasn’t too long ago that yours truly was in college though, and I distinctly remember there being a glut of tests between the second and third week of classes.

Professors were quick to try to weed out the slackers. It isn’t likely that we’ll find any of those on San Jose’s roster at this juncture though. Not after a 6-0 start that has seen the offense fill the nets like no other team in the NHL.

The Sharks are averaging five goals per game, are shooting an average of 41 times a game and have the power play clicking at 26%. Not too shabby considering it started off the season 0-8 on the man advantage.

While the boys in teal have been incredible as a unit, we wanted to take a few minutes to examine what each player is doing well or needs to improve moving forward. There haven’t been many  mistakes yet, so don’t expect the red ink to come out too often though.

Being negative just for the sake for being negative always comes across as silly… right, professors?

All statistics appear courtesy of San Jose’s official website unless otherwise noted.

Joe Thornton

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 1 G, 8 A, plus-9

Analysis: It took Jumbo Joe a little while to net his first goal, but he’s always been a passer first. While Tomas Hertl has received most of the love on San Jose’s top line, Thornton has been instrumental in that group’s incredible success. His ability to draw defenders to him is evident on every shift.

This creates room for Hertl to work, and for Burns to set up for the incredible shot from down low. The passes have been crisp, he’s among the league leaders in points, and it’s tough to imagine a batter start for Thornton.

Grade: A+

Tomas Hertl

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 7 G, 2 A, plus-8, 21 SOG

Analysis: Wow.

Grade: A+

Patrick Marleau

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 5 G, 3 A, plus-4, 29 SOG

Analysis: Age has done little to slow down Patrick Marleau. Like Couture, he’s been all over the place and has been responsible for pushing the pace of games for the Sharks. Their opposition just looks tired after two periods of trying to keep up with the quicker players on San Jose’s roster, and Marleau is arguably the quickest of them all.

While the points are outstanding, his prowess on both sides of the puck has been a boon. He’s been utilized on the penalty kill and has created a ton of short-handed scoring chances with Joe Pavelski. Moving forward, this could be one of the most feared PK units in the league.

Grade: A

Andrew Desjardins

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 2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 0 G, 3 A, plus-1, 21 PIMs

Analysis: As a bottom-six forward, Andrew Desjardins has done exactly what he’s supposed to. He has maintained a plus-rating through six games, chipped in three assists and…oh, he is also the one that tried to get some revenge on Maxim Lapierre before the gutless cheap shot artist hid behind a linesman.

That’s a passing grade in our book.

Grade: B+

Tommy Wingels

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 2 G, 2 A, plus-3, 12 SOG

Analysis: While two goals and two assists might not look particularly outstanding compared to some of the other Sharks, Tommy Wingels is on pace to break the 50-point barrier in only his second season as an NHL regular. It remains to be seen whether or not he cools off when San Jose inevitably does, but that’s an impressive pace—especially for someone that isn’t considered a go-to guy.

Wingels is averaging more than 16 minutes a night though—a solid 120 seconds more ice time a night than he was seeing on average last year.

Grade: B+ (only because his other classmates have been killing it Harvard-style while he’s looking like a top-end State school grad…so to speak.)

James Sheppard

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 0 G, 2 A, minus-1, 5 SOG

Analysis: The Sharks have a plus-21 goal differential right now and are giving up an average of 1.50 goals-against per game. How anyone is a minus player on this squad is beyond us, but James Sheppard is currently the only Shark that has played in all six games that is carrying a minus rating.

Remember that 9-2 blowout of the New York Rangers? Sheppard managed to be a minus-one in that contest. That’s insane.

We’re nitpicking here, but we have to pick our spots with the Sharks right now, since they’ve been so outstanding.

Grade: C

Matthew Nieto

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 1 G, 3 A, plus-1, 11 SOG

Analysis: Considering Matt Nieto wasn’t even supposed to start the season in the NHL, he’s performed admirably with the chance he was given when Adam Burish, Martin Havlat and Raffi Torres were all unable to go early on. Havlat is skating again though, and it seems like the Sharks are easing Nieto out of the equation.

He has seen his time-on-ice dwindle in every game so far, and played a season-low 9:45 against the St. Louis Blues. Still, Nieto has shown that he can hang as an NHLer and scored his first career goal along the way. He’ll be back.

Grade: B+

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 3 G, 4 A, plus-9, 20 SOG

Analysis: Not to take a thing away from Tomas Hertl and his hot start, but the kid has had a bit of puck luck. He’s shooting at an unsustainable percentage right now and will eventually come back down to earth. Brent Burns, on the other hand, is playing at a perfectly sustainable pace.

He’s taken 20 shots, scoring three times, which is good for a rather pedestrian shooting percentage of 15%. Which means that Burns is on pace to break the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career.

Yeah. We’ll take it.

Grade: A+

Tyler Kennedy

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 0 G, 2 A, plus-5, 11 SOG

Analysis: When he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tyler Kennedy was a versatile forward that could slot in on just about any line and do his job well. He’s shown most of that versatility so far in his first season as a Shark. He’s been responsible with the puck and made low-risk plays while out on the ice.

Where Kennedy hasn’t flexed yet is sin the offensive zone. While he has a pair of helpers, he’s yet to score a goal. Not everyone can score goals. We get that. It’s just that Kennedy has before. In 2010-11, he scored 21 times while only averaging 14:32 of ice time. Right now he’s getting close to 17 minutes, but hasn’t cashed in yet.

We have a feeling that as the rest of the team begins to cool, Kennedy will have a coming out part of his own.

Grade: B+

Matt Pelech

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2013-14 Season Stats: 4 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 22 PIMs

Analysis: Matt Pelech is with San Jose to do one thing, and that’s be a deterrent. He’s been in the lineup against teams that tend to try some dirty tactics out on the ice, and has taken members of the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators to task for pushing the envelope with the better players for the Sharks.

He might not be a regular this season, but when Pelech is out on the ice you know exactly what to expect.

Grade: A (for doing his job)

Joe Pavelski

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2013-14 Season Stats: 6 GP, 1 G, 6 A, plus-3, 23 SOG

Analysis: Joe Pavelski could be among the league leaders in goals right now if he was cashing in on his quality chances. He’s had at least four short-handed breakaways that he’s failed to score on and is converting on less than 5% of his shots right now.

The law of averages kicks in across and 82-game season though, and eventually Pavelski will find his scoring touch. As it stands though, he’s been making things happen on both sides of special teams and has been noticeable on a nightly basis for the Sharks. He’ll get better as the season wears on.

Grade: A-