San Jose Sharks: Prospects Provide Optimism For Future

The San Jose Sharks, fresh off a disappointing loss in the Stanley Cup Finals, have begun retooling their team and have a number of prospects who provide a spark of optimism for the future of the club.

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With the San Jose Sharks annual development camp opening last week, the organization should feel energized after a historic 2015-16 campaign that saw the boys in teal make the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. Despite falling short of the ultimate prize, San Jose veterans and newcomers alike are motivated to keep the momentum headed in the right direction.

If one thing has hindered the Sharks throughout previous seasons, it has been the lack of depth — especially on the third and fourth lines. It was always a common concern that come the playoffs, San Jose’s lack of depth would be exposed at some point. And whenever the team was bounced out of the postseason, questions about their depth were always front and center.

Doug Wilson often gambled with the future of the Sharks by trading away draft picks or young prospects in order to load up for a playoff run, always seeming to stay in “win now” mode. But veteran rental players such as Bill Guerin and Brian Campbell couldn’t get the Sharks over the hump and ultimately left in the off-season.

Before the Shark’s playoff appearance streak was snapped in 2014-15, the organization saw the emergence of their draft picks Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Logan Couture, and Joe Pavelski. Those young players have become core players on the team today.

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However, draft picks that were traded away have also made impacts with the teams they were sent to and have gone on to put up numbers against the Sharks.

Tomas Hertl has been a bright spot for the organization as he’s developed well, but questions about his knee will impact his future with the team if he doesn’t continue making forward strides.

The most recent player who could have been valuable to the Sharks but was traded away is Jamie McGinn. He was a player that was tough, moved the puck well, and had a killer instinct at times with his speed and goal scoring ability.

But the Sharks came out on the wrong end of a trade that sent McGinn to Colorado for T.J. Galiardi and Daniel Winnik — neither of whom have provided any impact for San Jose.

The costly moves by Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson ultimately affected the Sharks development team in the AHL. Formerly known as the Worcester Sharks — now,the San Jose Barracuda — the development team had no players who are NHL ready. Yet, the organization chose to speed up the process. Or at least, try to.

Mirco Mueller played all of 2014-15 with the Sharks, but it was clear he was nowhere near ready for the big leagues, which affected his development as defenseman. Had he gotten the proper seasoning in the AHL, things could have been different for him.

Now, Mueller sees himself as a potential bust if he doesn’t show the organization that he can be a reliable defenseman in the NHL.

And speaking of Mueller, he may be seen as trade bait, thanks to the other promising prospects hoping to be on San Jose’s blue line. One name to look out for defensively is Jeremy Roy, whom the Sharks used a draft pick acquired from Colorado to select on day two of the 2015 NHL Draft. Some scouts likened to Dan Boyle in terms of being a solid puck moving defenseman.

Even with mistakes like the team made with Mueller though, optimism remains for the Sharks to stay competitive in the future. The farm system has been replenished in recent years by Wilson with the goal of staying competitive after a trip to the finals.

A player to watch out for during development camp is Timo Meier. During training camp last season, Sharks coach Peter DeBoer was impressed with Meier’s abilities. That ability almost landed him in the opening day lineup. Ultimately though, Meier returned to his junior team during camp, but now seems ready to take the next step.

Nikolay Goldobin could very well see himself in a Sharks uniform during the season, but he still needs more time with the Barracuda. Last season, reports surfaced that Goldobin was not well received by a few Sharks players in the locker room and he was even called out by Barracuda coach Roy Sommer for his lack of effort during a game — not a good sign for somebody looking to make an impact with the big club.

Success starts with the development of young players though. And Wilson can’t afford to gamble away the future anymore with the hope of the Sharks staying competitive in the Western Conference.

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He was smart in making moves that netted him Martin Jones and Joel Ward last season. Now, he needs to focus on drafting future stars so the next core can produce Stanley Cups. Meier, Roy, Goldobin could well be that next core but until they wear teal full time, only potential and optimism remains.

Not only should the veterans be hungry, but the young players in the Sharks organization should be as well. They need to believe that hey have a chance to one day make it to the big club through their effort and hard work.