For the Sharks to win the cup, you have to believe...

[Sleepy]

Since I'm bored in the offseason...

What do you have to believe will be different from expectations for the Sharks to win the cup this year? List your top 3, and you'll obviously have to be very optimistic. Assume no trades.

Example of very very optimistic: Marleau has a near-career year.
Example of too optimistic: Vlasic scores 80 points.

Here's mine:

1. Lines 2 and 3 become lines that other teams fear match-ups against on a nightly basis
2. DeBoer is a vastly superior coach to McLellan and Wilson and gets more out of everyone
3. Jones performs at an elite level for a season/playoffs, not just 19 games in 2014

I'm not sold on any of those, but I think the Sharks had their best shot at the cup when they were 3-deep up front. Unfortunately, the top line is still inferior to the top lines of others such as Anaheim and Chicago, so the Sharks will have to win on depth. We haven't seen that in a long while, but the Sharks do have the potential to be 3-deep.

DeBoer has a whole lot to prove, but if the Sharks won the cup he'd pretty much be the hottest coaching commodity in the world. This is a roster that needs its coach to make them better and hide their deficiencies.

Jones is a gamble I hope pays off, but the Sharks go nowhere if he's just average. This one might be too optimistic to use, but the Sharks would need Jones to post something near his 2014 .934 SV% 1.8 GAA, not his 2015 .906 SV%.

Click to read more...

 

[hohosaregood]

Might be too optimistic but I believe that the Sharks need to believe in themselves to win the cup. Might be a tall order though :/

 

[WTFetus]

Might be too optimistic but I believe that the Sharks need to believe in themselves to win the cup. Might be a tall order though :/

Believe in us that believes in them.

 

[sharski]

1. Jones is a top-5 goalie
2. Our team goes back to being one of the elite teams at home
3. About 12 other teams have serious injury problems during the playoffs while we go through injury-free

 

[weastern bias]

What do you have to believe will be different from expectations for the Sharks to win the cup this year

1. We'll have to actually make the playoffs

2. The entire western conference will need to get a whole lot weaker

3. SJS will have to actually play up to their abilities when matched up with a favorable playoff opponent

4. The eastern conference will have to regurgitate a lost cause finalist that would get steamrolled by a western powerhouse

I can see 1 and 4 coming to fruition

I have no optimism for 2 or 3

 

[HydroF]

I'm not buying the general pessimism. I AM optimistic and I do believe the Sharks have a roster that can win a cup.

Imo, the sharks DO have the top end talent, and with the support of strong performances from the younger and support type players, they have the potential to win it all. However, Jones has to perform. If he steps up and plays as a legit top 15 starter (at least) the sharks have the ability to win it. We still have the big name guys, and we filled out a bit with Ward and Martin.

If the vets perform like they have shown they can, and maybe a rookie or two will join the roster and add some youthful enthusiasm like in 13-14, and if Jones or Stalock solidify our goaltending situation, I do believe with will and determination these guys can do it.

 

[thrillermiller89]

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I don't have expectations for this season but I am optimistic. I think the reason for that is because last year Wilson was running his mouth talking about a rebuild and we are a tomorrow team and then went out and got John Scott. This year we didn't hear much of anything from Wilson and he went out and got Martin Jones, Paul Martin, and Joel Ward, and we have an experienced head coach (Who I believe was on the Devils during their Stanley Cup Final run). Whether or not it works is to be determined, but I appreciate the Sharks this year at least trying and not just talking.

 

[thasanjoseshawksdood*]

While all of the changes give extreme amounts of "maybe it can happen." I still believe the sharks will just end up with bad luck. And it will plague them for the next 10 years until the team is not left with any of the debree from todays team. I still will enjoy watching the team but deep inside this team is behind where other teams are starting. At some point in 2-3 years we'll have to be fighting tampa/Edmonton/islanders/ and whatever upcoming teams. We're going to be behind. Even if we somehow win a cup in the next year or two then Doug wll finally roll the credits.

 

[magic school bus]

...in Santa Claus.

 

[TheHockeyRant]

Believe in us that believes in them.

 

[Alwalys]

Jones needs to prove himself a top goalie, and the rest will fall into place.

 

[HOOCH2173]

...in Santa Claus.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Pretty sure this needs to be an avatar theme for this season. It makes way too much sense. lol

 

[Mafoofoo]

If the Sharks can believe in the power of Christmas they'll win the cup.

 

[Led Zappa]

 

[matt trick]

1) Jones must prove to be an elite goalie
2) Thornton must not only not drop off, but turn back the clock as a top 10 center (Or have Couture take a major step forward). Same goes for Marleau, but he needs to be two levels better than last year.
3) Team must acquire a top 4 PMD, giving us a secondary point threat, multiple options for feeding a deep forward class, and helping to make an excellent PP#2.

Bonus: Two of Nikolay Goldobin, Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto, Chris Tierney, Tommy Wingels, Melker Karlsson, and Joel Ward must be legit top 6 forwards, and two more need to be exceptional two-way third liners. I think this is reasonable, but not a guarantee.


With the Kane off season (innocent or guilty), and a number of major losses, I think the Hawks will struggle to get out of the Central Division. The Canucks looked to have moved themselves out of a playoff spot. The Sharks must continue to be a match-up problem for a very good Ducks team, and the Kings struggling to rebuild their bottom 4 D would be a big help. I think Weal and Lucic will be a big upgrade over Williams and Stoll of last year.

Dallas, Calgary (matchup problem), and Edmonton (starting the year after), all got better. St. Louis is worse, but like Nashville they're a matchup problem with an elite defensive pairing with size and skating ability.

I would guess Vlasic gives Taransenko more trouble than just about anybody.

 

[Barrie22]

1) Jones must prove to be an elite goalie
2) Thornton must not only not drop off, but turn back the clock as a top 10 center (Or have Couture take a major step forward). Same goes for Marleau, but he needs to be two levels better than last year.
3) Team must acquire a top 4 PMD, giving us a secondary point threat, multiple options for feeding a deep forward class, and helping to make an excellent PP#2.

Bonus: Two of Nikolay Goldobin, Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto, Chris Tierney, Tommy Wingels, Melker Karlsson, and Joel Ward must be legit top 6 forwards, and two more need to be exceptional two-way third liners. I think this is reasonable, but not a guarantee.


With the Kane off season (innocent or guilty), and a number of major losses, I think the Hawks will struggle to get out of the Central Division. The Canucks looked to have moved themselves out of a playoff spot. The Sharks must continue to be a match-up problem for a very good Ducks team, and the Kings struggling to rebuild their bottom 4 D would be a big help. I think Weal and Lucic will be a big upgrade over Williams and Stoll of last year.

Dallas, Calgary (matchup problem), and Edmonton (starting the year after), all got better. St. Louis is worse, but like Nashville they're a matchup problem with an elite defensive pairing with size and skating ability.

I would guess Vlasic gives Taransenko more trouble than just about anybody.

were ****** since none of that is actually going to happen other then maybe jones.

 

[matt trick]

were ****** since none of that is actually going to happen other then maybe jones.

We've already traded our 1st, it kind of has to be a go for it year. It doesn't need to be a Byfuglien or Spurgeon, but acquirng a #4 RH PMD shouldn't be out of the question. A guy around Demers' level would do. Dangling Wingels/Mueller/Dillon may do the trick.

Also, a Marleau resurgence, and Thornton stepping up his game a bit (he's pretty fairly a top 15 center) under a new coach, isn't completely out of the question.

 

[Zarzh]

Jones has to be solid and clutch.

Don't lose to Chicago/LA. Whether that's because we don't play them, they regress, or we win a close series it has to happen. I see Anaheim as a pretender because Boudreau's regular season coaching is extremely underappreciated and St. Louis as a close series.

Deboer with Kovalchuk/Parise is more indicative of his coaching ability than without.

 

[Nolan11]

1 complete buy in from every player on deboers pressure hockey. We wil need our players to work harder than the other team to take away the time and space of our opponents. (New system has to work , players have to work and no off ice distractions)

2 Nearly all of our under 25s have got to take a good step fwd in their development. Hertl nieto tierney karlsson Dillon maybe mueller but especially jones have to become solid second liners or second pairings an average (top 10) playoff goalie. All of them are currently tweeners that have the potential to be solid contributors. We need most of them to develop quickly if we are going to utilize depth and work ethic to beat higher talented teams.

3. Need all our stars to stay healthy and play up to their current potential. Don't need them to totally carry team, just carry their piece of the load. (No series off).

 

[RainbowDash]

Believe in us that believes in them.

 

[sjshrky27]

 

[hohosaregood]

 

[stator]

Interesting that I notice less about the defensive needs this year than past ones, which includes me.

I believe the number one problem, and what kept the Sharks out of the playoffs was their mental fortitude and a lack of believing in themselves as winners. Adding Ward and Jones puts much of that mental fortitude back on the team and will rub off on the younger players. If the Sharks get a heathly Torres back, well, that just adds to it in spades.

The top two keys to success in this coming season are:

1- Martin Jones (and is #1 on most of the list here). As someone posted above, Martin needs to play as a top goalie for the season. This is not unreasonable since a 1st round draft pick was the trade. The question is whether he can handle this pressure.

2- Deboer who has a hot and cold record. Hopefully, we'll see his hot hand.

3- DW not making the same mistakes as last season.

Other keys, which I believe will be likely are Marleau, Hertl, and Culture. Culture has put up very good stats last season, but rather stealthy. We've add this discussion here already. But I believe the lack of recognition is due to his +/- ending up -6. With the defense changes, I expect Culture will wind up the season on the positive side.

Hertl has the time now to regain his full confidence with the knee. I believe we'll see better performance from Hertl this season. I think it is a question of how much, not whether.

A Marleau, like Hertl, has basically one direction... up (or out due to injury). I don't believe their performance will get worse, but only improve.

A team with productive Pavelski, Thornton, Melker, Marleau, Hertl, and Couture will have forward lines to be recon with.

So I am going to call it now.... Sharks are a playoff team. We will see them in the 1st round, and could reach the conference finals depending on the three keys above.