San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn coaches from the bench against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn said he’s starting to get excited about next season following the team’s hectic week of transactions but knows more moves could be on the way, including the departure of Erik Karlsson.
More than a week after he won his third career Norris Trophy – and reiterated his desire to play for a Stanley Cup contending team – Karlsson remains a Shark as general manager Mike Grier continues to chip away on a possible trade involving the all-star defenseman, who is coming off a 101-point season.
Such a seismic move would figure to have a dramatic impact on how the Sharks generate offense, particularly from the back end with no true heir apparent to take over those heavy minutes and play that same dynamic role.
Quinn, entering his second year as San Jose’s coach, has thought about what the Sharks might look like without Karlsson but doesn’t want to harp on something that hasn’t happened yet — and may not for a while.
“I’m not the general manager and he’s still here until he’s not, and when I look forward to our d-corps, he’s on it,” Quinn said Wednesday of Karlsson after he observed the second day of the team’s development camp. “If he’s not here, it looks a lot different … and (it) opens up an opportunity for us to maybe get somebody else.
“So, it’s really a status quo situation. We’ve just got to hold and wait to see what we look like in September.”
Karlsson’s impact on the Sharks last season cannot be overstated, as he averaged a team-high 25:37 in ice time per game and personally played in all 82 games for the first time since 2015-16. He was among the NHL leaders in even-strength scoring with 74 points and quarterbacked a power play that was operating at around 20 percent at the midway point of the season before it started to tail off.
The Sharks acquired winger Anthony Duclair from Florida, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood from New Jersey, and signed defenseman Kyle Burroughs and forward Givani Smith as free agents. But without a player like Karlsson, how many adjustments would Quinn and his staff have to make?
“I wouldn’t say much,” Quinn said. “Your system isn’t tailored to one guy.”
Quinn said structurally, the Sharks “might alter a few things.” But with or without Karlsson, “our identity is going to be the same. As an organization, we’ve talked about how we want to play, how we want to look.”
Karlsson, in his acceptance speech at the NHL Awards show in Nashville, said Quinn and the Sharks’ coaching staff “rejuvenated a guy like me.”
“He was phenomenal in so many ways last year, on and off the ice,” Quinn said. “A season for the ages for a defenseman. The fourth leading scorer in the National Hockey League 5-on-5 really says it all. Just really happy for him, and it was a tough few years leading into last year from an injury standpoint. When he’s healthy, he certainly has shown that he’s the best defenseman in this league.”
QUINN ON BORDELEAU: The Sharks appear to have a vacancy at the fourth-line center position after they traded Steven Lorentz to the Panthers to acquire Duclair.
Asked if the 5-10, 175-pound Thomas Bordeleau, who had 22 goals for the Barracuda last season and is entering a contract year, could fill that spot, usually reserved for a bigger player, Quinn said, “He’s got a great opportunity here to make our team and I know how he feels. He feels this is the time to get it done. He’s in his third year with us and it’s time.”
Bordeleau was drafted as a centerman but considering the logjam the team had down the middle, was mostly used as a winger when he briefly played with the Sharks last season. He had two assists in eight games and averaged about 15 minutes of ice time in a somewhat uneven stint from an effectiveness standpoint.
“Where (Bordeleau) fits and what position he plays is going to be predicated on how he plays,” Quinn said. “Our roster looks the way it does today, but on September 21 (the start of training camp), it might look completely different. You just never know. But as we stand here today, he’s got an incredible opportunity.”
DEAL DONE: The Sharks signed defenseman Leon Gawanke to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal is worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $325,000 in the AHL, per CapFriendly. Gawanke was acquired from Winnipeg on Sunday for fellow defenseman Artemi Kniazev after he had 45 points in 68 games last season for Manitoba of the AHL.
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka