15. The San Jose Sharks last missed the playoffs in 2014-15, and that was their only miss since 2002-03. One year later, they went to the Stanley Cup Final. That is the mindset for the upcoming off-season. Surprises happen, but GM Doug Wilson has let it be known he is not interested in disrupting his core. There will be interest in Brenden Dillon and Melker Karlsson (their number-two forward on the league’s best penalty kill after Barclay Goodrow). Will be interesting to see what the Sharks do with Aaron Dell, who has pushed his way ahead of Martin Jones.
16. Wilson will have cap space. If you believe the surest predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour, he will have an aggressive summer. Five years ago, he made a coaching change (we’ll see how that unfolds); signed free agents Joonas Donskoi, Paul Martin and Joel Ward; and traded for Jones. At the last minute, he decided against another deal that would have sent Tomas Hertl and the pick that became Timo Meier to St. Louis for T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk. Now, Hertl and Meier are big parts of what San Jose plans to do.