San Jose Sharks offensive struggles need to be addressed internally by David Quinn
By Conor Power
No team has scored fewer goals than the San Jose Sharks. The offense has been a struggle for the team all season long. 118 goals through 56 games is not reasonable. Still, with 24 games, the Sharks' total is 120th overall and among the lowest ever. That will get better between now and the end of the season, but knowing that the team is on pace for an all-time awful record, something needs to change for the Sharks.
How can the Sharks fix this? One key I've touched on recently is curing Mike Hoffman's offensive struggles. Hoffman is enduring the worst dry spell of his career as he is closing in on 30 straight games without a goal. That is unacceptable for someone who was supposed to be a premier goal scorer. Is this an effect of the Sharks' problematic scoring, or is it one of the causes? In truth, it's a touch of both. If Hoffman were going, it would help, but he needs to get chances to score.
Kevin Labanc has been one of the players I've talked about that the team needs more from, too, but that applies to almost everyone on the roster. It leaves David Quinn in an unenviable position behind the bench. What do you do to get the balance right on this roster? There's no easy fix to this particular problem.
No matter what has been tried by the coaching staff, it has yet to work. So, what's the solution? I'd like to see Hoffman and Anthony Duclair on William Eklund's wing. Putting the scorer and speedy winger on either side of Eklund while the two big dogs are injured is the best solution for the foreseeable. Mikael Granlund between Alexander Barabanov and Filip Zadina would let a great playmaker create for some guys with good shots.
That's just my two cents on the matter. There's no correct answer, so it doesn't mean much. We all want to see the Sharks return to putting the puck in the net again. When that happens, we can all be less distressed before the coming exodus. It's been a struggle for the Sharks to score, but whatever happens to fix it works as long as it fixes the issue. Quinn needs to fix this because this management core isn't able to trade away future assets for scoring help. Getting the most out of this roster is vital.