And, welcome back. It's a new season in many
ways. Although the Sharks' finish last season was twenty-five points below
awful, 2025-26 is looking absolutely respectable. Most of the league is
bumbling around the 0.500 mark, and the Sharks fit right into that mediocre
mix. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are the players the Sharks hoped they
would be, and the young cast they are building around them generally makes the
games exciting. A Tuesday night at the Tank isn't the disappointment that it
was the last few years, and the seats being half to three quarters full is a
good sign.
Last season also started to look decent in November, but
then the bottom fell out in December. A lot of that was due to General Manager
Mike Grier trading goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche for
Alexandar Georgiev and assurance of a few more draft lottery balls. (Let's not
judge that deal harshly: Michael Misa looked pretty solid.) Grier and staff's
big achievement wasn't dumping some awful long-term contracts left behind from
his predecessor's regime; but convincing owner Hasso Plattner to really tear
things down, endure some suck, and do a real rebuild.
There are a lot
of teams that chicken out and try to rebuild in place (shout-out to LA Kings
fans!) but that almost always falls short. The Sharks look for real. Right now
they rely on future-star rookies having great nights and goaltenders standing
on their heads, which probably won't last. But there is young talent on the
ice, and the roster is no longer heavy with AHL tweeners who are nice guys; no
insult meant to those of you who bought Henry Thrun jerseys.
The
outside additions this season were mostly on defense. Dmitry Orlov, Nick Leddy,
and John Klingberg are on board to lend a veteran presence, though on reading
the names I thought why couldn't we have gotten those guys back in 2016 when
they were good. Philipp Kurashev is the young guy getting a new chance with a
new team, pretty low risk and doing well so far.
Jeff Skinner is the old guy trying to do the same
thing when he's healthy. Alex Nedeljkovic is in goal along with Yaroslav
Askarov being brought up from the Barracuda. Trading Thrun to Toronto brought
over Ryan Reaves who is a stabilizing and physical force on the fourth line as
well as a leader in the dressing room and on off-days.
Older players
get injured more often and take longer to recover, not everyone is Corey Perry.
Having Orlov, Leddy and Klingberg around means Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam
Dickinson will get more game time as the season goes on. I saw several
Barracuda games last season where Mukhamadullin looked way too good for the
AHL. If he stays healthy he should become a regular on the Sharks.
All
the NHL teams seem to be juggling defensive pairs due to injury, and the Sharks
now at least youngsters now who will improve more often than they are exposed
on the blue line. You can expect any older defensemen who are healthy will be
trade bait for some third round picks in a few months.
Up in the
stands, the crowds are younger, exuberant, and brought up on teal. The Sharks'
crowds of the 90's and early 2000's skewed older, I thought, and many season
ticket holders looked like purchasing managers from Lockheed. People would show
up for that one game a year in their Boston, Philadelphia, or wherever jerseys.
The people coming now have only one allegiance, and the management is trying to
cultivate them with ticket deals and giveaways. A better team is much easier to
sell. Even Hasso has been showing up, we hear his dog barking from the box.
Outside the Tank, the proposed Google development around the south of
the SAP Center is on hold until probably the end of time. Meanwhile, the area
has been transformed into the Creekside Art Corridor between Barack Obama Blvd
and Montgomery St. The Poor House Bistro and Patty's Inn are gone, but the
Hapa's Brewing Company just a block or so north of the old Poor House spot is
open before games and usually has a food truck outside. It can get chilly on
stormy days, but it's an easy place to gather.
