We are arguably the worst team in NHL history. It should be clear that we don't have a single defenseman who would start on any playoff-bound team. Our forward group is three-quarters composed of has-beens and never-weres, and probably half of today's starters belong in the AHL (Carpenter, Hoffman, Kunin, Smith, probably Zetterlund and Zadina).
No. Another 10.5 seasons, 11 years later Thornton would join the team. 3 years after that year Thornton would be drafted into the NHL.
That was a special year though. So much was new. New coach, ton of new players, new arena which was packed the whole time. They figured it out and caught lightning in a bottle. My first game ever was a win against the ducks that October (was the 2nd win of year) and it was electric.
Team is averaging losing by almost 3 goals/game.
No but only 33 wins were needed to make the playoffs that season while in today's NHL you need 45+.
Logan Couture doesn't move the needle on this team
Also, 16 of 26 teams made the playoffs that year, now it's 16 of 32
According to Vegas, we are expected to finish with 60 points, dead last. The next closest team is the ducks, with 69 points
How does Misa and Hagens compare to Celebrini and Eiserman?
Yes, Logan moves the needle. Does he move the needle away from this team being last? No, I agree with you there. But he moves the needle away from this team being historically bad.
I think it's really hard for anyone to know this early on. People seem to think Misa may be a very, very strong 1OA but there's so much time before he's drafted... over 10% of his entire life until he's drafted. And anyway, because of the lottery system, we're really just hoping that we hit in the top 3. I think we all know this, but it seems necessary to keep saying it as folks get a little too attached to one prospect or the other.
Years before his arrival. We did have 2 legendary Russian players in Larionov and Makarov. Also, a little Latvian by the name of Arturs Irbe. We beat the vaunted Detroit team and took Toronto to 7 games. It was incredible.
Misa broke a ton of OHL records last season, but I haven't been too impressed yet in the minimal time that I've seen him. Still early, but he kinda reminds me of Heatley in the sense that his skating mechanics seem a little clunky and a lot of his goals are garbage clean-up goals. Doesn't really generate plays out of nothing like Bedard or Celebrini.
Couture's return won't prevent us from being historically bad because he no longer drives play at an elite level, he's a 60-70 point top-6 center who plays responsible defense, he's not going to turn anyone else on the roster into a legitimate scoring threat and without a Meier or Karlsson to drive play for him his counting stats will also regress
As noted, there are plenty of reasons why it couldn't happen again
And this is by far the worst team in the NHL, the other bad teams aren't even particularly close.
I'm all for optimism, but there has to be some level of realism. That team had a lot more talent than the current one. With the exception of today, and the game against Colorado (and that was only because of Blackwood), the Sharks haven't been in any of their games. If the Sharks develop a scrappy defensive minded approach and just compete harder than everyone else, then sure, they might have a higher than 0% chance of making the playoffs.
Granlund isn't a good player - he's a middle-six complementary winger on the downslide of his career - he's not going to move the needle this season and by the end of the year is more likely to be deserving of being waived (he won't be, but that's a different matter) than deserving of top-six minutes.
