The Sharks don’t have a scoring issue. At least, not the one that should be keeping everyone up at night.
Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres made the attack look lifeless, sure, but the deeper problem is sitting on the blue line - and it’s costing San Jose plenty. General manager Mike Grier spent the last calendar year throwing money and draft capital at veteran defensemen, and what he bought was a $20 million unit that isn’t moving the needle.
That’s the uncomfortable part now hanging over SAP Center: can the same GM who built this defense also be the one to repair it?
There are pieces here that make sense. Michael Kesselring is one of them.
Jacob Trouba has real veteran edge. Nolan Allan has looked sharp when he plays, and 19-year-old Sam Dickinson keeps showing encouraging traits when he uses his body instead of relying on his stick.
But the spotlight keeps landing on the two defensemen soaking up massive minutes while giving San Jose almost nothing back: Darnell Nurse and Dmitry Orlov.
Orlov, especially, was a mess against Buffalo.
He was on the ice for the first power-play group despite producing just one power-play assist this season, and his work at 5-on-5 has been tough to defend in any sense of the word. He had two bad giveaways Tuesday and contributed to a few more.
On the Sabres’ empty-net goal in the final minute, with San Jose trailing 1-0 and the goalie pulled, Orlov stood flat-footed at the blue line watching the puck sit five feet away. When he finally moved, he made the wrong read, handed Buffalo an easy clear, lost the race and watched the clincher go in.
That kind of play has become too familiar.
It also raises another question: why is Luca Cagnoni, the supposed power-play quarterback, parked on the second unit while Orlov logs 3:20 of man-advantage time? If Cagnoni is only getting about 50 seconds with the extra skater, and he’s being paired with Orlov at even strength, that doesn’t look like development. It looks like punishment.
Nurse, meanwhile, came in with a massive $9.25 million annual cap hit through 2030, and Tuesday was more evidence that size alone doesn’t solve San Jose’s problems. He wasn’t disastrous, but he didn’t change the game either. In 24 minutes of ice time, he was just there.
That’s the issue with this blue line as a whole. Between Nurse and Trouba, who carries an $8.25 million cap hit, Grier has paid premium prices for veteran muscle that can deliver hits but offers limited offense. When Kesselring is the only defenseman pushing the puck through the neutral zone with real purpose, the structure is off.
And Buffalo offered a sharp contrast. Olen Zellweger was the cleanest skater on the ice against the Sharks, slipping through pressure, firing crisp outlet passes and running the umbrella with ease. The Sabres got him for a second-round pick last year, and he looked like exactly the kind of defender San Jose could use in teal.
There may be help down the road. Keaton Verhoeff, Ryan Lin and AHL playmaker Eric Pohlcamp could all become answers eventually. But they’re not answers right now, and the big-league roster is the one sinking.
Orlov is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and the Sharks can’t keep pretending this version of him belongs in the lineup. Move him, bench him or send him on his way - just don’t keep running him out there like this is sustainable.
Grier did get things right up front, and Yaroslav Askarov gives the club a legitimate option in net. But the defensive blueprint is dragging everything else down. If it doesn’t get fixed soon, San Jose is staring at an eighth straight season without a playoff berth.
In Other News...
Sharks Have A Scoring Problem As One Big Line Decision Looms
The Sharks returned home from a six-game road trip with points in hand and a familiar issue still staring them down: where the scoring is supposed to come from at even strength. A 2-0 loss to Buffalo at SAP Center was a reminder that the group can defend and get goaltending, with Yaroslav Askarov turning aside 38 shots, but it still spent long stretches chasing the puck as the Sabres controlled the shot count through the first two periods.
With Vancouver next on the schedule, the attention now shifts to a bigger lineup question that could shape San Joses offense in the short term. The coaching staff has been looking for a way to jolt the 5-on-5 attack, and one possibility involves changing how Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are deployed, a decision that could say a lot about how aggressively the Sharks want to chase more production. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Face Growing Pressure Around Simon Edvinssons Future
Artturi Lehkonens strong start in Colorado has only added another wrinkle to a market that already figures to be busy, with the winger sitting as the Avalanches leading goal scorer and extension talks still not close to the finish line. If he keeps producing at this pace, the sense around the league is that he could push his next contract beyond what Colorado wants to pay, which only raises the stakes for a number of teams keeping an eye on the trade and free-agent landscape.
Elsewhere, the defense market is drawing attention too, and one name circulating is Simon Edvinsson. Nashville has shown interest in the young Red Wings defenseman, and so has San Jose, as Detroit works to get him signed before the Dec. 1 deadline. The Predators are also said to be looking for young skill and could explore moving veteran defensemen Nicolas Hague and Brady Skjei, leaving Edvinssons situation as one more under-the-radar item worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Roster Shakeup Suddenly Puts First Round Pick In Focus
A loss to Buffalo was enough to push the Sharks into another round of roster juggling, with center Filip Bystedt and defenseman Libor Hajek coming up from the Barracuda and Luca Cagnoni heading back to the AHL. The moves come at a time when San Jose is still trying to sort through its lineup on the fly, and they also open the door for a closer look at some of the organizations younger depth options.
The roster shift was tied in part to injuries, with Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov landing on injured reserve because of upper-body issues. For Bystedt, the timing is especially notable after being recalled into a situation where the Sharks suddenly need bodies and answers, and the next few days should tell whether this is just a temporary patch or a chance for the first-round pick to get a longer look. [Read more 🡒]