A few days ago, the San Jose Sharks reached the seventh anniversary of their Western Conference Final victory against the St. Louis Blues. The 2015-16 season started with a bang for the Sharks as they parted ways with head coach Todd McClellan in favor of Pete DeBoer. DeBoer was able to get the most out of the team, taking them from missing the playoffs completely in 2015 to a deep playoff run, eventually leading to a Stanley Cup Final appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately, they were unable to complete their final goal, falling to the Penguins in six games.
A lot has changed across the organization since the Sharks’ only conference final win. Although it’s only been seven years since the team’s deepest playoff run in history, very little is the same. Given that it may be a while before fans can expect another run as deep as this one, it’s important to take a look at what went right, what happened, and how the Sharks can learn from it in the years ahead.
The old Sharks heart carried the team
When the Sharks beat the Blues in the Western Conference Final, they relied heavily on their core to win the series. At the time, the top performers were Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, and Logan Couture. In addition, Martin Jones had an excellent goaltending not only in that series but the entire season. However, looking at this pulp in hindsight, it’s crazy to think they’ve moved on from just about all of them.
While the majority of the kernels are gone, it’s not hard to see why. At the time of the race, Pavelski and Burns were in their infancy, and haute couture was still evolving. The rest of the team was aging, and the depth was full of the pieces that Doug Wilson had let go in the years to come. What resulted was the Sharks’ best chance of winning the Stanley Cup, as the majority of the team would be gone after a few years.
Related: Carlson’s Shark Trade Keeps Biting
Latest news and highlights
while the Sharks added Eric Carlson Just over two years later, the Sharks have never had a team that fired on all cylinders like this one did. They place a lot of value in superstar talent on long-term contracts rather than having a full team. To this day, sharks still suffer the consequences of this kind of decision making.
Sharks lack youngsters on the menu
One of the consequences of making the playoffs every year without winning a Stanley Cup is having to go all out. Unfortunately for the Sharks, this meant trading young players for more pieces in the playoff run. The 2016 Western Conference Finals round was the start of the younger players being pushed out. The only major player to join the Sharks’ core after this year is Timo Meyer Now a member of the New Jersey Devils. By all accounts, they lost their future because of their desire to win.
Had the Sharks chosen to keep their prospects and draft picks instead of trying to draft an unbeatable roster every year, they likely would have taken a step or two back before they could make another deep playoff run. However, it is entirely possible that they would still be in cup contention after seven years rather than sit bottom of the league. However, this is just speculation. There is no telling where the Sharks will play things differently.
The 2016 Western Conference Final is the closest Sharks fans have come to the elusive Stanley Cup. While it may be a while before fans cheer them on in the playoffs again, hopefully they’ve learned from some of their mistakes in the past. While this run was something to admire, it is nothing more than a memory. All that matters now is how they can change the franchise in the near future.