San Jose Sharks - The art of losing

[These Are The Days]

I have always had a soft spot for the Sharks. I could not possibly be happier with how the tan-DURRRRRR REBUILD is going. Unless you are Buffalo you can't just be genuinely struggling. No it must ALWAYS be deliberate! Hang tough guys. You're almost done

I hope the Sharks wreck the league once Tampa has to start their own tan-GRRR REBUILD I MEAN REBUILD! Gosh I did it again

 

[Roof Daddy]

I can’t speak on all of these games throughout that stretch, only their game against the Oilers, but that particular game shouldn’t be overly deflating. Yes, they were holding on to a 2-1 lead until 18 seconds left (only to lose 3-2 just 36 seconds later), but that game shouldn’t ever have been at that point if not for an other-worldly performance by Askarov. Put Georgiev in and it’s probably 5-2 Oil after 2 periods.

So speaking strictly of that game, I’d be pretty excited about the future if I’m a Sharks fan knowing I’ve got a stud goalie and super star in the making up front, to go with a handful of other great young players on the roster and in the prospect pool.

Point being, the fact that all of theses heartbreaking losses/leads coughed up occur in the the same 10 game stretch will only be trivia to reminisce over when the Sharks are dominating again. As an Oil fan who survived the decade of darkness, I’ll take 10 blown leads in the 3rd over a couple blow outs where you turn off the game in the first intermission.

A 3-2 OTL doesn’t incite jerseys thrown on the ice. Being on the losing end of a couple consecutive 6-0 games does though.

 

[BKarchitect]

They still seem to be competitive and I’m not sure anybody would’ve said they were ready to come out of the rebuild this year. As long as Cele and the youngsters are taking steps, it seems everything is going about how it should. Certainly the points about getting stuck in a loop of losing are salient - but IMO the younger core of this team is not at the stage where I’d be too worried as a bunch of the kids literally just got there.

If this continues for another 2-3 years, then yes, panic time perhaps for “losing culture” atmosphere. But for now, identifying talent and empowering it into leadership roles to “be the change” seems reasonable.

Stay in most games, don’t like finish last by 20 points but be reasonably in the bottom 2-3 of the league, get some lottery luck and go get Schaefer. He’s the finishing jewel to the talent overhaul. He will do for Dickinson what Celebrini did for Smith - take the pressure off from having to be “the guy” on that side of the ice. Having Celebrini, Smith, Schaefer, Dickinson and Askarov would be the envy of the league as a core to build the future around.

 

[HockeyVirus]

That’s a bit rich given that the Leafs played Garrett Sparks into the ground the year Matthews was available.

The Leafs tanked exactly 1 season where they had 0 prospects on the roster and din't trade any vets. There was no multi years of losing and then when they start winning games trading off good players to lose more.

That is why they were a playoff team next season when they had 8 rookies on the roster and the rest of the team had vets

 

[NyQuil]

The Leafs tanked exactly 1 season where they had 0 prospects on the roster and din't trade any vets. There was no multi years of losing and then when they start winning games trading off good players to lose more.

That is why they were a playoff team next season when they had 8 rookies on the roster and the rest of the team had vets

You think the Sharks plan on riding Georgiev as their long-term plan at the goalie position?

 

[HockeyVirus]

You think the Sharks plan on riding Georgiev as their long-term plan at the goalie position?

No, but the move is similar enough to when the Sabres traded away not 1 but 2 goalies in the Eichel tank year who were winning them games. It sends the message losing is encouraged and it is hard to break.

They basically dealt a goalie having a top 10 season for the worst goalie in the NHL. And went from a small win streak where the kids were leading the way to blowing leads every game mostly due to goaltending.

Easy way to derail development.

 

[Roof Daddy]

The Leafs tanked exactly 1 season where they had 0 prospects on the roster and din't trade any vets. There was no multi years of losing and then when they start winning games trading off good players to lose more.

That is why they were a playoff team next season when they had 8 rookies on the roster and the rest of the team had vets

Are you telling me the Leafs weren’t tanking the year before in the McDavid sweepstakes (settling for Marner at 4th OA as a consolation)???

 

[HockeyVirus]

Are you telling me the Leafs weren’t tanking the year before in the McDavid sweepstakes (settling for Marner at 4th OA as a consolation)???

No? The team literally imploded down the stetch. Not sure if I can share it this way but I sorted the standings that year by March 1st.

https://www.shrpsports.com/nhl/stand.php

As of March 1st the year they drafted Marner the Leafs were 32-22-8 on March 1st and HOLDING A PLAYOFF SPOT then went on to lose almost every remaining game.

 

[Shark Finn]

Could the mods please change the title to better suit the contents of the thread (Leafs)?

 

[Helistin]

No, but the move is similar enough to when the Sabres traded away not 1 but 2 goalies in the Eichel tank year who were winning them games. It sends the message losing is encouraged and it is hard to break.

They basically dealt a goalie having a top 10 season for the worst goalie in the NHL. And went from a small win streak where the kids were leading the way to blowing leads every game mostly due to goaltending.

Easy way to derail development.

I was thinking about the same similarity the other day.

Sharks with Blackwood in net most nights at least got a fighting chance but after the trade with Georgiev in net you can be sure he lets in couple of soft goals in the worst possible time.
When you get outgoalied 100 percent of the time it's very hard to win games , especially for a rebuilding team.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I’ve been told that things like “morale” and “culture” aren’t a real thing according to the sharks board. I’ve also been told Georgiev wasn’t brought in to help tank.

Morale and culture change as a roster changes and matures. It’s a temporary thing. Losing now for long term gain is painful but the right path for a rebuilding club.

 

[ClydeLee]

Don't dig the Toronto contrast as if they did things right. They've been selling false contenders for ages and nost sensible people have known for a good 6 years they have a severe top Defensiveman issue. The notion they've been better set to tank 1 year is super flawed. Sure 2017 had 2 options but 2018 had a lot. If they weren't in the back half of those drafts. They could of solved that issue well before getting a Tanev or McCabe guys now, who actually play strong d.

If the sharks do wind up with Shaeffer out of this draft. And he's healthy, they look good to have a base core of 3-5 stand out players all spread across their team. That's dangerous. A lot more than trying to push to be a good team this year with just Dickinson as a top Dman who may be a limited 2way d.

 

[Cloned]

Fourgiev will help you get Hagens. Dont worry.

Small correction

The disrespect for Martone here is horror bad.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Georgie is not someone I'd want around young kids in the locker room. Especially with how poorly he's playing. Avs have gotten something like .93 hockey out of their new goalies, Georgie posts a .87 behind the same team. He's got an aura around him that should be ran away from.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

No? The team literally imploded down the stetch. Not sure if I can share it this way but I sorted the standings that year by March 1st.

https://www.shrpsports.com/nhl/stand.php

As of March 1st the year they drafted Marner the Leafs were 32-22-8 on March 1st and HOLDING A PLAYOFF SPOT then went on to lose almost every remaining game.

You’re mixing years up.

Leafs drafted Marner in 2015. 2014-15 Leafs definitely weren’t holding a playoff spot in March.

They maybe weren’t a tank team to start, but they were definitely on the tanking path once they fired Carlyle and hired Horachek.

 

[HockeyVirus]

You’re mixing years up.

Leafs drafted Marner in 2015. 2014-15 Leafs definitely weren’t holding a playoff spot in March.

They maybe weren’t a tank team to start, but they were definitely on the tanking path once they fired Carlyle and hired Horachek.

True those years all blend together, but what I am certain of is at no point did the Leafs ever commit to tanking or rebuilding before they got Marner, and was only because it was obvious Kessel had quit on the team and so had others.

The year they drafted Marner it was very similar though. They fired Carlyle because the expectations were to be a playoff team. Management were just completely incompetnent. Signing big ticket UFAs who were boat anchors, trading first round picks unprotected we had no business trading etc all to just try and squeek into the post season.

Anyone trying to compare what Toronto did with Sharks, Sabres, Wings, Hawks, etc are completely uninformed. Reminder Matthews as a rookie had Bozak, JVR, Kadri, Komarov, Gardiner, Rielly, Polak, Freddy Andersen.

So literally as rookies he had a starting goalie, several top 6 vets and top 4 dmen. Then added youth on top

 

[gary559]

Get Georgiev out before he starts damaging the locker room, start playing Askarov more, he's ready, and holding him back will probably just piss him off too. Win some games. Sell vets at the deadline and go back to being horror bad and collect a top 3 pick.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

The Sharks have a fantastic stock of young talent, but at this stage they are still making quite a few rookie mistakes. So this is basically a learning year, even if very frustrating to the players. Next season they can bring in some more Cup-pedigree players to install the proper attitude and also get a real goalie, and it would not surprise me at all if they make the playoffs.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

So far Grier is doing things the right way. The Sharks are building up a stockpile of talent and should get another high pick in 2025 to add to the organization.

SJ is on par with several playoff teams in goals scored this season. They are a fun team to watch because the young players are very good offensively. Those dudes are learning fast while building up experience.

Goals allowed is where SJ has been gosh awful. And that's ok. The team should have the cap space to upgrade at goalie and bring in some free agent defensive help once Grier thinks it's time to pull the trigger in terms of trying to qualify for the playoffs. I look for this to happen within a couple seasons after this one.

 

[themelkman]

Hopefully it doesnt get to Mack. Hes really soaring right now and we need to keep that up

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

So far Grier is doing things the right way. The Sharks are building up a stockpile of talent and should get another high pick in 2025 to add to the organization.

SJ is on par with several playoff teams in goals scored this season. They are a fun team to watch because the young players are very good offensively. Those dudes are learning fast while building up experience.

Goals allowed is where SJ has been gosh awful. And that's ok. The team should have the cap space to upgrade at goalie and bring in some free agent defensive help once Grier thinks it's time to pull the trigger in terms of trying to qualify for the playoffs. I look for this to happen within a couple seasons after this one.

Why would they be looking to upgrade in goal?

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Why would they be looking to upgrade in goal?

Because Georgiev will naturally regress after he wins the Vezina.

 

[JianYang]

It's a tricky balance.

You want to lose but if players get the hint that management is okay with it and isn't helping you, that's how you get into perpetual losing due to a poor culture build.

The only time I'd be happy sacrificing culture for a high pick is if that draft class has a once in a decade kind of talent.

 

[super6646]

Like Rommel in the desert

Overrated. Great tactical general but had a poor grasp of logistics.

The Sharks don’t have that problem. They have the logistical apparatus to really tank it up.

 

[DJN21]

True those years all blend together, but what I am certain of is at no point did the Leafs ever commit to tanking or rebuilding before they got Marner, and was only because it was obvious Kessel had quit on the team and so had others.

The year they drafted Marner it was very similar though. They fired Carlyle because the expectations were to be a playoff team. Management were just completely incompetnent. Signing big ticket UFAs who were boat anchors, trading first round picks unprotected we had no business trading etc all to just try and squeek into the post season.

Anyone trying to compare what Toronto did with Sharks, Sabres, Wings, Hawks, etc are completely uninformed. Reminder Matthews as a rookie had Bozak, JVR, Kadri, Komarov, Gardiner, Rielly, Polak, Freddy Andersen.

So literally as rookies he had a starting goalie, several top 6 vets and top 4 dmen. Then added youth on top

you were certain before until proven wrong....seems credible. Leaf Kool-aid for everyone!!! This dude's buying!^^^ If you drink enough you can be just like the Leafs!.....