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Division rivals can make or break an entire NHL team’s year, whether it’s in the regular season or the second round of the playoffs. That’s why the Vancouver Canucks are undoubtedly keeping tabs on all seven of their fellow Pacific Division teams.
Throughout July, we’ll take a look at a new Pacific rival, and how they fared last year, how they’ve improved in the offseason, and what to expect from them in 2024-25. Today, we’re starting with the San Jose Sharks.
The current iterations of the Canucks and Sharks are about as similar as eating a steak dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant and leftovers from a dumpster behind an Applebee’s. While the Canucks rocketed to a Pacific Division title, the Sharks won an NHL-worst 19 games, three less than 2022-23 and San Jose’s worst finish since 1996.
Last season the Canucks beat the Sharks in three of four meetings, including an infamous 10-1 whooping in November. Fun fact, half of Vancouver’s ten goals in that game were scored by players who are no longer on the team!
The Sharks tanking efforts earned them the ultimate dream of a lagging franchise in Vancouver’s very own Macklin Celebrini, who walked the stage as the first overall pick a couple weeks ago and is expected to pull the team out of the basement. The situation couldn’t be more perfect for Celebrini; his dad Rick works as the VP of Player Health and Performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors after being hired away from the Canucks five years ago.
But Celebrini can’t do it all alone. Despite all the draft capital they’ve accumulated over the past few seasons, the Sharks supporting cast is still pretty limited. The biggest free agent signing the Sharks made was signing Tyler Toffoli on July 1st for a price tag of $6 million AAV, where he’ll likely be slotted in as Celebrini’s new winger.
A number of young guns make up the forward corps, including William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, and Will Smith. The blue line is led by 25-year-old Mario Ferraro, who scored 21 points last season. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic represent the old guard of the Sharks’ heyday (even if they aren’t the same players they once were).
Despite all of San Jose’s additions, the Canucks won’t have a hard time handling the Sharks.
The Sharks should be an improved team from last season, especially with Celebrini leading the charge. But even with the franchise saviour already onboard, the Sharks are still a long ways off from competing for a Stanley Cup again. This season is all about bringing the fans back to the SAP Center – the Sharks finished second last in average attendance out of the 31 teams not playing in a college arena – and re-igniting interest in the team throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Hockey is better off when the Sharks are competitive, and the Shark Tank is at full capacity. It just might take two or three years for them to get there.
Bold Prediction
Macklin Celebrini will score more points in a Calder-winning campaign this season than Connor Bedard did last year in Chicago (61 pts).
Season Series
November 2nd at SAP Center
December 23rd at Rogers Arena
February 6th at SAP Center
April 14th at Rogers Arena
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