Overall Grades:
Michael: B
The Sharks are 11-7-3. It’s not bad, but it’s also not great a quarter of the way into the season. October and November are overlooked as important months with teams testing the waters within their respective divisions. Now, the Sharks are hanging at the top of the Pacific Division with the Canadian trio (Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver) right on their heels.
The Sharks have dominated the early parts of games this season. However, it’s been tough for this team to compete for a full 60-minute effort every single night, especially against some of the weaker teams in the league. As long as the Sharks can bring their A game when it matters most down the bulk of the regular season, I am confident the San Jose Sharks will hold a spot in the top 3 of the Pacific Division and fight on for another run at the Stanley Cup.
Steve: B
The San Jose Sharks at times have looked like world beaters. Games against Nashville and Calgary come to mind. And at times, they’ve played to the level of their competition. The Sharks have had some issues defensively all season, and seem to just now be getting their on ice personnel sorted out. Not to mention Martin Jones’ woes recently
With all that being said, they’re still in first place in the Pacific Division, and lead the NHL in shots for, and are second in the NHL in CF% and CF/60. Yet still have a goal differential of -4 with 44 GF and 48 GA, so that is the reason for the B. Overall though, they’ve been solid. Maybe a bit overhyped due to the Karlsson trade, but that isn’t totally their fault.
Lucas: B-
The San Jose Sharks have the third worst PDO at 5v5 this season. Their special teams play has kept them relevant so far this season, but so far during even strength situations the Sharks have under-performed. Their goal keeping isn’t the only thing plaguing this team, the puck bounces haven’t helped out in the offensive zone either. Their shooting percentage is at a measly 7.35% at 5v5, per naturalstattrick.
However I expect these tides to turn in favor of the San Jose Sharks over the course of the rest of the 2018 – 2019 campaign. Their goalies have played traditionally above average over the course of their career. While the Sharks shooting percentage under Pete DeBoer has averaged around 9.1%, so expect more pucks to start finding the back of the net. Especially considering the amount of talent this team ices on a nightly basis.