The Pacific Division is arguably the weakest in the National Hockey League, and the team we’ll look at today is a big reason for that.
Welcome to the Oilersnation summer series called Off-Season Review, in which we’ll take a dive into what’s going on with the other 15 teams in the Western Conference. So far in the series, we’ve looked at the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. Now, we get to the bottom-feeding San Jose Sharks.

The San Jose Sharks 2023-24 Season in a Nutshell

The San Jose Sharks had a really poor season, finishing with a league-worst 19-54-9 with 47 points. This included an 11-game winless streak to start the season, tied for the second-longest in league history, as well as the longest in franchise history. In the end, it worked out for them, as they landed the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft. 
It’s a season they’d love to erase from their memory, though. In 33 of their 82 games, the Sharks allowed five or more goals, including 18 games with eight or more goals. In back-to-back games in early November, the Sharks allowed 10 goals in each game while scoring a total of three goals, setting the tone for the season.
Before the trade deadline, the Sharks traded Anthony Duclair and a seventh-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jack Thompson and a 2024 third-round pick. On Mar. 8, they acquired former Oiler Klim Kostin from the Detroit Red Wings, while trading Nikita Okhotyuk to the Calgary Flames for a fifth-round pick.
They remained busy at the deadline, moving netminder Kaapo Kähkönen to the New Jersey Devils for Vitek Vanecek and a 2025 seventh-round pick. In his place, they moved a 2025 seventh-round pick for netminder Devin Cooley.
Their biggest move at the deadline was when they traded long-time servant Tomáš Hertl to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round pick. The Sharks retained some money, taking up their last retention spot, which is not a great sign for a rebuilding team.

Some Notable Statistics

Of the players remaining on the roster, Mikael Granlund was the leading goal scorer, potting 12 goals and 60 points in 69 games. Rookie William Eklund had a successful first season in the National Hockey League, scoring 16 goals and 45 points.
The team’s leading goal-scorer was Fabian Zetterlund, who scored a career-high 24 goals and 44 points in 82 games. The 24-year-old was acquired at the 2023 deadline for Timo Meier. San Jose signed sixth-overall pick in the 2018 draft, Filip Zadina, to a one-year deal, and he potted 13 goals and 23 points, falling one point shy of matching a career-high.
All things considered, the San Jose Sharks goalies had a successful season. Mackenzie Blackwood played 44 games and had an .899 save percentage and a 3.45 goals-against average. Before he was saved by the New Jersey Devils, Kaapo Kähkönen had an .895 save percentage and a 3.81 goals-against average in 31 games.
In all honesty, there isn’t much here, as the Sharks were terrible in 2023-24.

Off-Season Transactions

However, they made a whole bunch of moves since the off-season began – whether it be trades, signings, waiver claims, or drafting players.
Starting with trades, the Sharks acquired Ty Dellandrea from the Dallas Stars for a 2025 fourth-round pick. The 24-year-old right-shot centre was selected 13th overall in the 2018 draft but didn’t have much of an opportunity with the Stars
The Sharks also made a one-for-one trade with the Nashville Predators, moving prospect Ozzy Wiesblatt for prospect Egor Afansayev. Their biggest trade was when they acquired second-pairing defenceman Jake Walman and a 2024 second-round pick for future considerations.
Trading for that pick allowed them to move on from a second-round pick, packaging it with the 14th-overall pick to move up in the draft, landing the 11th-overall pick. On top of that, the Sharks traded depth defenceman Kyle Burroughs to the Los Angeles Kings for Carl Grundstrom.
The Sharks had a good draft day, selecting Macklin Celebrini with the first-overall pick, as well as defenceman Sam Dickinson with the 11th-overall pick. Later on in the draft, San Jose picked up players with high ceilings, such as Leo Sahlin-Wallenius.
On the waiver wire, they picked up veteran centre and former Shark Barclay Goodrow, who won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. On top of that, he scored six goals and eight points in 16 postseason games with the New York Rangers.
And then came the signings. They re-signed restricted free agent Ty Dellandrea to a two-year deal worth $2.6 million, with a cap hit of $1.3 million annually. Fellow restricted free agent Carl Grundstrom signed a two-year deal worth $3.6 million, with an annual cap hit of $1.8 million.
Moreover, the Sharks also signed Tyler Toffoli to a four-year deal with a $6 million annual cap hit, along with Alexander Wennberg to a two-year deal with a $5 million cap hit. Luke Kunin re-signed to a one-year deal worth $2.75 million, while the Sharks made a handful of other moves for depth purposes.
All in all, the Sharks are going to have a rough 2024-25 season, but their rebuild is looking promising.
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Previously in this series…