San Jose Sharks: Analysis of the team’s 2018-19 defensemen and goalies
By Andrew Bet
The San Jose Sharks perhaps boasted one of the top defensive groups in the NHL this season which made up for the shaky goaltending. After looking at the forwards, it’s time to look at the defensemen and goalies from the 2018-19 campaign.
After missing out on landing John Tavares, management of the San Jose Sharks kept one card secret. The move resulted in a trade to acquire star defenseman Erik Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators as General Manager Doug Wilson once again pulled off a blockbuster acquisition to make the Sharks Stanley Cup contenders.
With Brent Burns already a potent, offensive-minded defenseman, adding Karlsson added another weapon to the Sharks’ power play and generated offense at even strength. Unfortunately, costly injuries derailed San Jose once again in the playoffs, underachieving in a Stanley Cup or bust year.
At full strength, the Sharks’ defensive pairings proved formidable, playing spectacular in all zones of the ice. With the goaltenders giving hot or cold outings, the Sharks defense had to step up on more occasions which did not work out due to the quality of performances between the pipes.
As the offseason now gets underway for the Sharks, here is a breakdown of the defensemen and goaltenders, plus which players may likely be back or possibly on a new club for the upcoming season.
Erik Karlsson
A big decision is to be made about Karlsson, who didn’t fully live up to expectations due, in part, to injuries and the adjustment period he faced upon his arrival in San Jose. Karlsson did not arrive until midway through training camp, making chemistry with his new teammates a bit tricky.
His difficult adjustment period became evident within the beginning of the year when his teammates could not connect on passes or when put himself in bad situations, which led to odd-man rushes for opponents. The groin injury he sustained kept Karlsson from showing the Norris-type defenseman he could be capable of benefitting the Sharks defense.
The promise came after the loss in Ottawa when the Sharks flipped the switch and began to show their true capabilities. The adjustment period appeared over as Karlsson settled in and the Sharks went on a stretch of good hockey from mid-November through January.
He appeared recovered from his aggressiveness during the semi-finals against the Avalanche. But the Blues immediately targeted him in the next round as he seemed to reaggravate his groin injury. Karlsson did not make the trip to Game 6 in St. Louis only to watch his side bow out of the playoffs.
For now, conditioning and health are critical factors for San Jose and other clubs to consider with Karlsson. San Jose is the only team who can offer the maximum eight years. Karlsson will cash in, but his effectiveness and injuries may affect his value in the market.
Karlsson appears heading to test the free agent waters and the Sharks may decide to go in a different direction. Karlsson is too big of a risk to warrant the same money and years Bthat urns and the Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty received.
Radim Simek
A player who patiently waited a quarter through the season, Radim Simek became a blessing to the Sharks defense at a much-needed time. With Karlsson adjusting to his new defensive partner, Simek played a hard, physical style of play and never appeared to be out of place.
Simek knew the expectations and played to his strengths by getting pucks out of the defensive end and breaking up plays in the neutral zone to prevent scoring chances. His emergence solidified San Jose’s top-six defenders.
Ironically, Simek turned out to be the glue which unraveled the Sharks before the playoffs began as an injury to his knee in Winnipeg ended his season. Losing Karlsson from a groin injury was difficult, but losing Simek became San Jose’s demise as the team struggled to gain consistency.
Hopefully, Simek is at full health by the start of training camp so he can be active once again on the blueline.