SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks returned to work Monday owners of the fourth-worst record in the NHL at 12-21-8, a mark that represents their least-productive first half in terms of points in over a quarter-century.
There was a feeling the Sharks would take their lumps this year, but few could have predicted they’d have just 32 points in 41 games, putting them on pace for their lowest point total in a full season since 1996-97 when they had 62 under then-coach Al Sims.
It also puts the Sharks squarely in the mix to win the draft lottery and earn the opportunity to draft wunderkind forward Connor Bedard. The Arizona Coyotes, the Sharks’ opponent Tuesday, are also in that conversation.
But there are things the Sharks can and should take away from their latest stinging defeat – both in the short and long term.
The Boston Bruins have been the NHL’s gold standard so far this season, as their sweep of the three California teams, including a 4-2 win at SAP Center on Saturday, gave them a league-best 32-4-4 record.
Since the start of the 2007-08 season, after they finished last in their division for two straight years, the Bruins have the NHL’s best points percentage at .641, compiling a 696-358-144 regular season record.
Along the way, they also won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and made appearances in the final in 2013 and 2019.
“This organization has been hunting for Stanley Cups for 15 years,” Sharks coach David Quinn said Saturday of the Bruins. “(General Manager Don Sweeney) has done a hell of a job throughout his tenure there and (coach Jim Montgomery) has done a hell of a job and brought it to another level.”
“What do you have over there is a veteran team and a team that has been playing the same way for 15 years,” Sharks goalie James Reimer said of the Bruins. “They’ve got a culture that probably is very similar to this team’s culture, up until a couple of years ago, where they have the same core and do the same thing, day in and day out each season.”
So what can the Sharks learn from the Bruins, both now and in the long run?
Both Quinn and Sharks captain Logan Couture mentioned how quickly the Bruins play. Not necessarily because they have a roster filled with speedsters, but because they think the game at a fast pace and can react accordingly.
“Their quickness off walls, how fast they play,” Quinn said. “Playing fast isn’t just going up and down the ice fast. It is how quickly you play. And the other thing is the defensive pride.
“There’s a level of pride without the puck just like there is with it, and that’s when you really have something — when you can match your intensity and your commitment without the puck as you do with it. We’re closing the gap. We’re getting there, but we’re not there yet.”
Couture spent a good portion of Saturday’s game defending the Bruins’ line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak at even strength.
“They use the middle of the ice in the offensive zone extremely well,” Couture said. “Those guys have played together for a long time. All three (are) smart, skilled, top-end players, and if you don’t make good plays with the puck and you turn it over, and you don’t pick them up in the slot or around the net, they’re going to find the back of the net.”
In the long term, it perhaps wouldn’t be a stretch to say Quinn and general manager Mike Grier, two New Englanders, might use the Bruins as a blueprint for constructing the team they want to have in San Jose.
The Bruins have a culture that is the envy of most other NHL teams, established by players like Zdeno Chara and maintained over the years by Bergeron and Marchand, and others.
They also play a skilled and bruising style that has been a hallmark of Bruins teams for the past decade-plus.
Their salary cap structure has also historically been sound, although Pastrnak, a pending unrestricted free agent, could be in line for a contract that carries a $10 million average annual value or more. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy right now is the Bruins’ highest-paid player as he’s in the first year of an eight-year, $76 million deal.
“I think over the years they’ve got the most unique leadership group in the league,” Quinn said. “They’ve got a mentality to them I think that might be unmatched in the league, top to bottom. They’ve got hard skill up and down that lineup. When you have hard skill, boy, it goes a long way in our game.”
The Sharks, led by Grier, are trying to establish that same culture and identity, although it will take time. Several steady veterans like Nick Bonino, Matt Nieto, and Reimer, all pending unrestricted free agents who play a responsible game, might get dealt prior to the March 3 trade deadline.
Quinn knows there is a long road ahead. For now, though, he likes how this team has stuck together through adversity and approaches every day like it wants to get better.
“You’ve got to go through adversity before you achieve your ultimate goal, and we certainly are going through our fair share of it right now,” Quinn said. “I love coaching this team. I really do. These guys come to work every day, they do what we ask them to do, they stick together and it’s just a great group to coach.
“We’re going to get through this. I don’t know when. We are. We’re a work in progress, but we continue to work together.”
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