How many points for the Sharks in 2024-2025? Poll/discussion

[coooldude]

Following last year's thread -- points instead of wins this time -- what do you think?

I put a wider range of tiers so that people could justify more specific (and some higher end) predictions.

My personal guess is right where Vegas is putting us - 61-65pts. I can see good arguments for over or under this number.

Click to read more...

 

[Coffee]

Quick question to Sharks fans, who will be Eklund be glued with ?

 

[coooldude]

Quick question to Sharks fans, who will be Eklund be glued with ?

Different opinions. Easy answer is Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund just like they ended last season as the first line. But, he's a slippery, creative player not unlike Perreault... maybe he could fit in well with Smith.

I'm guessing there will be a fair few line combinations attempted even though we're all penciling in Toffoli next to Celebrini. Maybe Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli is a great scoring line. Who knows.

 

[Munnyro]

Quick question to Sharks fans, who will be Eklund be glued with ?

More like who will be stuck with Luke 'High and Wide' Kunin if ya ask me. I think the Lund line lives on.

 

[Bizz]

Sharks had 47 points last year.

improvements they made in the offseason:

Fired Quinn, hired Warsofsky: +5 points
Won draft lottery, drafted Celebrini, signed him, and should make opening night roster barring unforeseen circumstances: +3 points
Smith signed and should make opening night roster barring unforeseen circumstances: +2 points
Signed Toffoli: +3 points
Signed Wennberg, Dellandrea, acquired Grundstrom, claimed Goodrow: +2 points
Acquired Walman: +1 point
Acquired pylon Cici: -2 points
Acquired Askarov, who should be the de facto starter post trade deadline: +4 points
Dead weight/shit players Hoffman, Labanc, Barabonov, Zadina, Peterson, Knyzhov, Addison gone: +5 points (this alone is going to show a dramatic difference between last year's club and this year's)

Puts us at 70.

other potential factors not counted:

Couture returns by December 1st and plays the remainder of season: +2 points
1 to 3 of our upper tier prospects makes the team out of camp: +1 point
Granlund gets traded at the deadline: -2 points
Vlasic, Ceci, and/or Benning ends up on LTIR: +1 point each

We're gonna fall somewhere between 69 and 73 points. For the sake of what I voted for on the poll I'm gonna say 72.

 

[themelkman]

Quick question to Sharks fans, who will be Eklund be glued with ?

I kind of hope he ends up with Smith. Seems like him and Zetterlund work as a pair, so just need to find their center

 

[sharski]

They're gonna shock the league and be a dark horse team loitering just outside of being in the playoff conversation with a 1-step-forward-1-step-back cadence

Sharks fans will want to be leaf

Then GMMG will nuke the roster at the TDL in a desperate attempt to get as many lottery ping pong balls as possible

Goodrow will then score like 5 goals in a 3-game winning streak

Tldr 60 points exactly

 

[Barrie22]

56-60

 

[tahoesharksfan]

Exactly 64!

 

[Star Platinum]

 

[Lebanezer]

I’m going to be the unrealistic optimist in this poll.

 

[hohosaregood]

i think the defense being borderline competent will make this team way better than expected. There should be at least an NHL 2nd pair that can move the puck and 2x 3 NHL rd pairings rather than an NHL 3rd pairing and 4 #7s. Dropping at least Labanc, Zadina, and Hoffman for more physically competitively wingers like Kostin, Grundstrom, Dellandrea, and Goodrow should also be a pretty significant move for our depth. That combination of improvements could be huge for the breakout and the whole flow for the whole coaching system.

Not to mention Celebrini, Smith, Mukh, and Bystedt potentially finding ways to contribute this season.

I'm gonna be bullish and say they break 70 points

 

[DG93]

I voted for low-mid 60s

 

[Stewie Griffin]

~60.

Still a lot of work to be done.

 

[matt trick]

63. Celebrini and Smith combine for 100 points. 61-65 behind Columbus for the draft lottery. Sharks draft Schaefer third.

Get a 1st less a 3rd for Granland, a 2nd for Ceci (Edm), 4th for Sturm, 5th for Kunin and Vanecek, 6th for Rita.

Sign Top 4 RHD, top backup goalie and two Wennberg-caliber top 9 forwards (Granlund most welcome back) on two year deals.

Following year, draft 10th with 80 points but announcement of contention is made with signing Kaprizov (!) and long-term extensions to Askarov, Smith, and Celebrini. Couture, Vlasic, Wennberg, two top 9 forwards all off cap this year or before. $30M or so.

Core: Celebrini, Smith, Schaefer, Kaprizov, Eklund, Dickinson, Musty, Muk, Cherny, 2026 10th overall, Zetterlund, and Askarov. Nice Russian contingent and the future is bright!

 

[coooldude]

63. Celebrini and Smith combine for 100 points. 61-65 behind Columbus for the draft lottery. Sharks draft Schaefer third.

Get a 1st less a 3rd for Granland, a 2nd for Ceci (Edm), 4th for Sturm, 5th for Kunin and Vanecek, 6th for Rita.

Sign Top 4 RHD, top backup goalie and two Wennberg-caliber top 9 forwards (Granlund most welcome back) on two year deals.

Following year, draft 10th with 80 points but announcement of contention is made with signing Kaprizov (!) and long-term extensions to Askarov, Smith, and Celebrini. Couture, Vlasic, Wennberg, two top 9 forwards all off cap this year or before. $30M or so.

Core: Celebrini, Smith, Schaefer, Kaprizov, Eklund, Dickinson, Musty, Muk, Cherny, 2026 10th overall, Zetterlund, and Askarov. Nice Russian contingent and the future is bright!

Love the vision.

 

[LilLeeroy]

I think people are forgetting just how bad of a team this was last year. They had a goal differential of -146 and were pretty lucky to get 47 points.

Guys like Toffoli and Wahlman provide some skill that the Sharks completely lacked last year but neither is a guy that will drastically change the results of a team.

 

[STL Shark]

View attachment 906615
I think people are forgetting just how bad of a team this was last year. They had a goal differential of -146 and were pretty lucky to get 47 points.

Guys like Toffoli and Wahlman provide some skill that the Sharks completely lacked last year but neither is a guy that will drastically change the results of a team.

At the same time, we had Luke Kunin playing 2C for half the season by default because of the rest of the roster being injured or not good. We now have real center depth with Celebrini, Granlund, Smith, Wennberg, Goodrow, and Dellandrea all being better options for that spot than having to play Kunin there.

The defense isn't going to be great, but having Benning over Addison and Ceci over Burroughs is a pretty large gap. Add in Walman over the group of Vlasic/Okhotiuk/MacDonald on the left side (plus being able to bring Ferraro down closer to the 20 mins a night instead of 23 mins) and that group is a lot better.

So while yes, last year was historically bad, we also have turned over the bulk of last year's roster and basically every subtraction (sans Hertl - though very limited by injury) has been clearly upgraded. It won't be amazing this year, but getting into the mid-upper 60's in points is 100% on the cards (and still makes us one of the 5 worst teams in the league).

 

[LilLeeroy]

At the same time, we had Luke Kunin playing 2C for half the season by default because of the rest of the roster being injured or not good. We now have real center depth with Celebrini, Granlund, Smith, Wennberg, Goodrow, and Dellandrea all being better options for that spot than having to play Kunin there.

The defense isn't going to be great, but having Benning over Addison and Ceci over Burroughs is a pretty large gap. Add in Walman over the group of Vlasic/Okhotiuk/MacDonald on the left side (plus being able to bring Ferraro down closer to the 20 mins a night instead of 23 mins) and that group is a lot better.

So while yes, last year was historically bad, we also have turned over the bulk of last year's roster and basically every subtraction (sans Hertl - though very limited by injury) has been clearly upgraded. It won't be amazing this year, but getting into the mid-upper 60's in points is 100% on the cards (and still makes us one of the 5 worst teams in the league).

Wennberg, Goodrow, and Dellandrea aren't good either. A lot of the additions from last offseason were highly heralded going into last season, but with a core as bad as the Sharks they weren't able to do anything.

None of the guys acquired have the ability to drive possession.

Celebrini and Smith are rookies and like most rookies, with very few exceptions, will almost surely have a negative impact on the team while they are figuring things out.

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

Wennberg, Goodrow, and Dellandrea aren't good either. A lot of the additions from last offseason were highly heralded going into last season, but with a core as bad as the Sharks they weren't able to do anything.

None of the guys acquired have the ability to drive possession.

Celebrini and Smith are rookies and like most rookies, with very few exceptions, will almost surely have a negative impact on the team while they are figuring things out.

I’m not saying it’s necessarily false, but I’d like to see evidence that conclusively supports that most rookies have a negative impact on their teams. In general, rigorous studies on aging curves show NHLers peak earlier than conventional wisdom had previously suggested.

More importantly, though, I don’t think the behavior of most rookies is especially relevant to the behavior of two rookies who had the two highest scoring rates in college hockey. Celebrini and Smith have shown every reason to believe they are special and it is perfectly reasonable to believe they will both have positive impacts on our team on day one.

 

[one2gamble]

they will get tired because they havent been conditioned to play against "men" for the grind of an NHL season. Learning how to pace yourself and play correctly is going to be a bit of a challenge for most rookies.

That said, its not 1996. These kids have grown up in pro programs and are much more likely to make an impact than in the past.

I still think its high 50's, maybe low 60's at best.

 

[Hangemhigh]

I don't think there will be much improvement as far as points go. Maybe losing 5-2 instead of losing 5-0.

 

[mogambomoroo]

We'll see how it goes, I believe that there is going to be a lot more drive to win with excellent talent in Celebrini and Smith.

There will be a lot of hard nights, but also fair amount of storyline moments that will keep the team and fans hopeful.

It's going to be a marathon, we will need patience with Warsofsky and the kids.
Good things will follow, if they don't rush things out.

 

[Dicdonya]

View attachment 906615
I think people are forgetting just how bad of a team this was last year. They had a goal differential of -146 and were pretty lucky to get 47 points.

Guys like Toffoli and Wahlman provide some skill that the Sharks completely lacked last year but neither is a guy that will drastically change the results of a team.

You're not wrong, but on the flip side we did shore up the defense with some depth guys, and our offensive lines are simply better than they were last year. on paper.

If Smith/Celebrini have great rookie years instead of just decent ones, our offense could be significantly improved from last year, which could lead to several more wins just by outscoring our defensive woes.

The only way this team is anywhere near as bad as they were last year is if Smith/Celebrini just straight up stink and struggle to deal with the NHL game in a big way.

There is also the wildcard of Askarov, who through outcompeting someone in camp, or being called up for injuries, could potentially take the starting roll and run with it if he's truly the prospects we hope he is. Having a true number 1 goalie could also lead to several more wins than we had last year.

Lastly I think there is going to be a general boost to the teams performance simply because I think players will be more motivated this year, we are done with the tear down portion of the rebuild, and now the general sentiment in the organization should be far more positive and upbeat. Now players should be competing to be a part of the future of this team, instead of just spinning their wheels during a tear down, not knowing if they'll be the next to go in an attempt to recoup/gain assets for the rebuild.

 

[Alaskanice]

You're not wrong, but on the flip side we did shore up the defense with some depth guys, and our offensive lines are simply better than they were last year. on paper.

If Smith/Celebrini have great rookie years instead of just decent ones, our offense could be significantly improved from last year, which could lead to several more wins just by outscoring our defensive woes.

The only way this team is anywhere near as bad as they were last year is if Smith/Celebrini just straight up stink and struggle to deal with the NHL game in a big way.

There is also the wildcard of Askarov, who through outcompeting someone in camp, or being called up for injuries, could potentially take the starting roll and run with it if he's truly the prospects we hope he is. Having a true number 1 goalie could also lead to several more wins than we had last year.

Lastly I think there is going to be a general boost to the teams performance simply because I think players will be more motivated this year, we are done with the tear down portion of the rebuild, and now the general sentiment in the organization should be far more positive and upbeat. Now players should be competing to be a part of the future of this team, instead of just spinning their wheels during a tear down, not knowing if they'll be the next to go in an attempt to recoup/gain assets for the rebuild.

Well thought out post. I agree that a few of the players are going to be more motivated to stay on this team. There are exciting seasons ahead.