Sharks even worse than expected with nine losses, need a win on homestand

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We’re now into November and the San Jose Sharks have yet to win a hockey game this season.

The Sharks were never going to be a great team, but currently holding an 0-8-1 to start the year, the team is often struggling just to keep up.

Perhaps the most disappointing part for the team so far has been the lack of offense. With the additions of some veteran forwards, along with young talent making their way into the lineup, it really seemed like San Jose was set for more scoring. That just hasn’t been the case whatsoever, and through nine games this season, the Sharks astonishingly have just nine goals.

Anthony Duclair, who should arguably be the team’s second-best forward right now behind only Tomas Hertl (with Logan Couture injured), has one goal in nine games, which is his only point so far. Mike Hoffman has a single assist. Filip Zadina started fairly well, but still has just two goals (and two points) overall.

Meanwhile, Alexander Barabanov went pointless through six games before being injured, and will now miss 4-6 weeks. Luke Kunin also has just one goal. Kevin Labanc seemed like he’d be waived, then wasn’t, but still has yet to register a point in six games.

Even young talent that we hoped would be a difference-maker haven’t seen big offensive results. William Eklund has two points in nine games (but does look poised for better numbers as the year goes on), while Fabian Zetterlund, who admittedly did look very good when paired with Nico Sturm and Givani Smith, has three points. Thomas Bordeleau was also reassigned to the AHL as well. Up front, it’s hard to find a ton of positives for the Sharks, with the goals simply not coming.

They’re unlikely to get much scoring help from the blue line either, with the loss of Erik Karlsson being felt in a big way. The Sharks have yet to get a goal from a defenseman this season, with several defenders still being without a point. On the defensive side, while the Sharks did add pieces over the offseason, it still seems like a bit of a makeshift group made up of what should be mostly bottom-pairing defensemen.

Perhaps the one bright spot is that the team’s goaltending has shockingly been alright. There have been bumps, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty hard to place blame on Mackenzie Blackwood and Kaapo Kahkonen for San Jose’s losses. Each netminder is holding a .907 save percentage, despite the Sharks giving up an average of 38 shots per game to this point. So far, goaltending has been about as good as you could’ve hoped for from the tandem.

Now, the hope is that while the Sharks are likely already destined to finish near the bottom of the NHL standings, something good can come out of the year. Whether that’s young players like Eklund making an impact at the NHL level, or the Sharks making some trades to acquire future assets, the focus is on building for later. But with 73 games to go this year, the team needs something to build on short-term, and hopefully, now’s the time for a win.

The Sharks will kick off a four-game homestand tonight, as they host the Vancouver Canucks, who are currently 6-2-1 this season. The following games will come against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers.

I think it’s pretty tough to predict when we can expect the Sharks to pick up this first victory, but with four straight home games, this seems like as good of a time as any.