It's been a long few years for the San Jose Sharks. The doldrums of the league have beckoned for Team Teal over the last several years, and the Sharks remain among the basement dwellers. They're competing for the first overall pick, but there are all the pieces in place the Sharks need to return to the dynamic roster they had when they made the Western Conference Finals just a few years ago. San Jose's rebuild is on the right track.
For a rebuild to be successful, you need young guys that look like surefire NHLer players. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Collin Graf, Quentin Musty, and William Eklund fill that out in the forward core for the future. Shakir Mukhamadullin, Sam Dickinson, and Luca Cagnoni look set to anchor the blueline for the next several years, and Yaroslav Askarov looks like the starter of the present and the future for Team Teal, despite not playing as often as we'd like at the NHL level just yet.
San Jose also possesses two first-round picks this year after the Mikael Granlund trade. They have a second, third, two fourths, a fifth, and a seventh to round out their draft cabinet. They can continue to stock the shelves of the prospect pool if they do this correctly. However, they need to make sure that they draft well. However, there's a lot to like about the position of the Sharks right now.
While we look at the standings and see the Sharks stuck in the doldrums, another excellent draft pick this year and a summer of building could see the Sharks start to emerge from the depths. With so much cap space this summer, the Sharks can bring bad contracts on for assets or invest in free agents to try and improve for the future. Things are turning in the Bay Area.