The San Jose Sharks cleared out their stalls Thursday, sharing injuries and shedding light onto what will be a busy off-season.
The off-season officially began for the San Jose Sharks after falling to the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals in 6 Games.
There are tons of questions surrounding what lies ahead for pending free agents Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski, and Joe Thornton.
As the Sharks cleaned out their stalls Thursday morning, some of those crucial questions got answered
Sharks captain Joe Pavelski pointed to signs of optimism and confidence to proudly wear the color teal and return to the team he has produced many memories for during his 13-year career in the NHL.
Pavelski confident he’ll return to San Jose pic.twitter.com/n2hG3ECky0
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 23, 2019
Joe Pavelski also revealed that he missed Game 6 due to a lower-body injury, however he traveled out with the team to St. Louis to provide motivational support and leadership.
Tomas Hertl could not play in Game 6 as a result of the head injury he sustained from Ivan Barbashev’s hit in Game 5.
Hertl grinded and performed at a high level throughout the entire postseason, so it was a surprise to hear that No. 48 played with a broken left pinky finger during that span. An injury he got just before the first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Joe Thornton and Erik Karlsson both made no indications about their futures, reiterating that they needed to talk it over with general manager Doug Wilson and their families.
However, Thornton was confident that if he did play next season, he would only lace up the skates in San Jose and nowhere else.
Joe Thornton says he’s not sure yet whether he’ll return next season pic.twitter.com/t49N6iFqpH
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 23, 2019
Thornton was healthy during the first two rounds. He did pull his groin in the opening shift against the Blues, but it wasn’t nearly serious enough to keep the 39-year-old off the ice.
Brent Burns had nothing but high praise for Thornton proclaiming him “one of the best teammates ever to have.”
Burns on Thornton pic.twitter.com/xh2ii0BD2N
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 23, 2019
Erik Karlsson did not openup too much on what he dealt with down the stretch of the postseason, but the two-time Norris Trophy winner’s original groin issue from the regular season gave him a hard time. Karlsson did not rule out surgery, but will work on rehabilitating his injuries through training in the summer.
This ultimately led to the decision made by him and head coach Pete DeBoer to not suit up for Game 6.
Despite the injuries, Karlsson expressed nothing but love for San Jose and the entire Sharks organization.
Karlsson, on San Jose: "I've been treated with nothing but class & respect here. I've seen the best side of what this organization & this city has. I've liked everything that I've seen."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) May 23, 2019
As the San Jose Sharks front office is facing down what will be a very eventful summer of free agency. It will be interesting to see if General Manager Doug Wilson is considering any out of the ordinary moves that he believes can finally put this team over the top.
Regardless of how the season ended it’s not a stretch to say that this was one of the most entertaining seasons in Team Teal’s history. It was a a fun ride but in the end the players nor the fans got the ending they were hoping for. Now we’re forced to watch two teams face-off in a Stanley Cup Final that could have been.