We continue on with our look at the upcoming season for the San Jose Sharks.
Previously, we discussed the roster and the competition within the Pacific
Division. We know the Sharks have plenty of talent plus significant experience
to lean on when times get tough. The newly acquired Erik Karlsson adds another
incredible talent to an already talented core (My colleague Mac Bass has his
own take on the trade.) And yet, this team is vulnerable.

The challenge facing the Sharks isn't apparent when one looks at a healthy
starting lineup. But things can fall off quickly if the Sharks have to go much
beyond their starters. This wasn't the case last season when the Sharks had
their deepest team in years.

All four lines were competitive and the forward unit went over 15 deep (in
total, 19 forwards played for the Sharks last season). With power forwards all
over the roster, the Sharks were able to battle effectively and spread out
minutes. By season's end the Sharks were getting strong play from four lines.
On defense, the Sharks had eight quality defensemen (and needed them all). The
goalie combo was excellent. The Sharks'; depth was an under-appreciated asset
of last season';s team.Sharks Change Their Depth

The goalies remain the same, a solid duo. But beyond this, the story changes.
The Sharks have seen their reliable depth depart. Ryan Carpenter and Danny
O'Regan left mid-season. In the offseason, Mikkel Boedker was traded to Ottawa
while Eric Fehr went to Minnesota in free agency. Useful veterans Paul Martin,
Jannik Hansen and Joel Ward are no longer with the team. And on Thursday, the
Sharks gave up (among others) Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo and their top AHL
player, Rudolfs Balcers, (who I had penciled in for a Sharks roster spot,
possibly at the start of the season) in the deal for Karlsson.

DeMelo, Tierney and Boedker were everyday starters for San Jose. The departed
nine skaters combined for 380 regular-season games and 47 playoff games.
Collectively, they weren't liabilities, finishing a combined plus-7 in the
regular season and plus-5 in the playoffs. Last season, the Sharks could plug
in players from the lower end of their roster and not see their line-up degrade
 much. This season, the situation is much different.Mikkel Boedker missed only
nine games two seasons with the Sharks. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

How many replacements with NHL experience have the Sharks brought in to counter
 the above-mentioned losses? Just two-Karlsson and Evander Kane. Of course,
some consider the return of Joe Thornton a pretty big deal as well. Still, even
 with Thornton and Kane, the Sharks have exactly 11 experienced NHL forwards, a
 considerable drop-off from the 15-plus they carried for much of last season.

As of now, I expect either Dylan Gambrell (three NHL games) or Antti Suomela
(zero NHL games) will be in the Sharks'; daily lineup, with the other as the
top forward reserve. There won';t be much help coming from the AHL team, the
San Jose Barracuda. The Sharks have tapped that reservoir in a big way in
recent seasons, and the pipeline which goes to the NHL is pretty empty at the
moment.

The Sharks no longer have the ability to plug in a backup player and expect an
NHL quality performance.An Increased Injury Risk

The Sharks'; vulnerability has a second piece to it - it is more than the lack
of depth. They are vulnerable because this team is more susceptible to injuries
 than teams in years past. The Sharks'; history is to almost take for granted
the enormous durability of players like Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and
 Patrick Marleau, each of whom has or has had remarkable durability
streaks.Brent Burns (88) skates with Joe Pavelski  (Amy Irvin / The Hockey
Writers)

But the 2018-19 Sharks team is not stocked with durable players. Indeed,
several have missed chunks of games in multiple recent seasons. And the durable
 sorts are not as durable as they once were. Marleau is gone while Thornton has
 had surgery on both knees. Even Pavelski (early on) and Burns (in the
playoffs) were playing hurt last season.

Joonas Donskoi (16 games missed last season, two separated shoulders the season
 before), Melker Karlsson (11 games missed last season, 15 the season before),
Kane and Thornton are among those who've missed considerable time in recent
seasons. Indeed, Thornton hasn't been healthy in April in either of the past
two seasons while Kane hasn't been healthy in April in three of the last four.
In 2016, the Sharks had perhaps their healthiest April roster ever and they
went to the Stanley Cup Final. Yes, it matters.

Tomas Hertl also has an injury history, though a mostly healthy campaign last
season provides hope after dealing with a recurring knee issue in his prior
seasons. Barclay Goodrow seemed to cement himself a spot in the daily lineup,
but he also missed significant chunks of last season, playing in only 47
games.Tomas Hertl (Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports)

On defense, Joakim Ryan missed several games with an injury late last season
while Erik Karlsson missed a total of 11 games while with Ottawa (and five
games the season before last). The defensive depth is pretty much limited to
Tim Heed. Should more than one Sharks defenseman be out, things will get very
dicey, very quickly. The defensemen on the Sharks'; AHL team will be
hard-pressed to fill a void if pressed into NHL action.Staying Healthy

There is one final complicating factor in all this. As I highlighted earlier,
this is a team that must play physical. The strength of the forward unit is the
 power players. This requires lots of very physical battles on the walls. And
it is along the walls where a lot of injuries take place. The Sharks will spend
 more time there than most teams.Addressing the Sharks'; Vulnerability

Some people might think it's easy to get a low-end guy to fill in if injuries
start to become a problem. Well, it hasn't been the case in San Jose. Doug
Wilson has done an excellent job as general manager, but his skill set hasn't
included bringing in the low-end veterans to fill gaps. Last season, he had
success with Eric Fehr, but this was more the exception than the norm in the
Wilson era. I won't list past players Wilson acquired who didn't mesh in this
role, as doing so might just cause a wave of nausea among readers.Eric Fehr
proved to be a very useful trade deadline addition for the Sharks. (Stan
Szeto-USA TODAY Sports)

The Sharks have very limited depth, and it's coupled with increased injury
risks from a combination of aging players and, quite specifically, Kane, who's
been hurt in every season in his career. Then add on the physical style the
team needs to play (Kane, for one, has no intention of shying away from this),
and this Sharks team can become vulnerable in a hurry.

Key players like Pavelski (who played but didn't look healthy for the first
half of last season), Thornton, Kane and Burns (who played but wasn';t healthy
in the playoffs) need to stay healthy for the Sharks to have the sort of
success they want. If last season is any indication, this season is going to be
 challenging. Last season, the Sharks'; depth mitigated some health issues and
helped key their successful season. The Sharks don';t have that depth to fall
back on this season.

The starting roster is stacked, but the depth cupboard is bare. There are steps
 Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer can take to lower injury-related risks, at
least slightly. I expect Wilson will look to make at least one more move to add
 veteran depth. Both the coach and general manager have work to do on this
front. With several teams in the division improved and less margin for error
than any time in DeBoer';s tenure, the Sharks'; season may well depend on
it.Zeke';s Notes

ΓÇó At the end of last season, the Sharks had one Karlsson under their
umbrella; they now have three. The team drafted Linus Karlsson in the third
round of the most recent draft and acquired Erik Karlsson from Ottawa. They
join Melker Karlsson in the organization. It is possible a Sharks lineup will
feature three Karlssons at some point, but not this season. Linus Karlsson is a
 long way from making his NHL debut, and given the Sharks'; history with
third-round selections, it';s fair to say the deck is stacked against him.

ΓÇó Many Sharks fans thought that Boedker';s departure was a case of addition
by subtraction. If one only looked at the first year and a half of his Sharks
tenure, it';d be a good case. But in the 2018 portion of last season, Boedker
was genuinely effective and an important contributor to the team';s success,
including in the playoffs. He';ll be missed more than most realize.

The post San Jose Sharks'; Major Vulnerability appeared first on The Hockey
Writers.

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