The San Jose Sharks’ 2019-20 season is officially over
By Justin Fried
The San Jose Sharks’ season is officially over per the NHL’s latest decision.
The San Jose Sharks season is officially over as of Tuesday, May 26th. It’s realistically been over for much longer than that, but an official announcement came down from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today.
Bettman announced on Tuesday that the NHL would return and a 24-team playoff format would be adopted. The Sharks, of course, are not one of the teams that will be included in this expanded playoff format.
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12 teams from each conference will qualify for this odd, modified format but the Sharks, who will finish last in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with a lowly 29-36-5 record, will be staying home.
This ends a streak of four consecutive seasons that the Sharks qualified for the playoffs. Dating back even further, San Jose had played postseason hockey in 14 of the last 15 seasons.
But the 2019-20 campaign was unlike any other season that Sharks fans have experienced in recent memory.
What went wrong for the San Jose Sharks this season?
From early-season disappointment to back-breaking mid-season injuries, the Sharks stumbled out of the gate and never recovered. Head coach Peter DeBoer was fired after a 15-16-2 start to the season and his replacement, Bob Boughner, couldn’t right the ship.
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Injuries to the likes of Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl exemplified the poor luck the team received this season. But even before those injuries, the team just didn’t perform up to expectations.
After reaching the Western Conference Finals a year ago, the Sharks went into the 2019-20 season relying on their young players to take a step forward needing to replace the likes of Joe Pavelski and Gustav Nyquist who were lost in free agency.
Unfortunately, those young players predominantly underperformed and the forward depth was a major issue throughout the season. The same goes for the goalie duo of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell who struggled mightily apart from a late-season stretch of solid showings from Jones.
Now, the Sharks will prepare for what will be a crucial offseason for general manager Doug Wilson and company. The team can’t sit idly by making minimal changes in the offseason.
The Sharks will need to undergo a significant makeover if they are to be true contenders next season. Wilson and the rest of the front office will certainly have their work cut out for them.
Next. San Jose Sharks hope Ryan Merkley could be the next Erik Karlsson. dark
The 2019-20 season certainly won’t be one that Sharks fans look back on fondly. And now with the official announcement today, their season is mercifully over.
The offseason can’t come soon enough.