Well, ESPN's pre-season Power Rankings have
the Sharks as big winners this season, sort of. Specifically, the Sharks are
ranked 32nd - as in, dead last, making them strong candidates to win the 2024
Draft Lottery.
Yes, we know Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik
Karlsson is gone, along with Timo Meier. Somehow, however, I don't think things
will be as bad as predicted. OK, maybe players like Marc-Edouard Vlasic and
Logan Couture are getting on in years and our goaltender tandem of Mackenzie
Blackwood and Kaapo Kähkönen won't strike fear in the hearts of other
teams. But the Sharks still have veterans like Tomas Hertl and Mario Ferraro
and newbies like William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau. They might surprise us
all.
We are officially rebuilding and the Sharks better days hopefully
are ahead of them, when players like Will Smith, Quentin Musty, and Shakir
Mukhamadullin arrive in coming years. For now, not much is expected of the
Sharks, except a fifth consecutive season out of the playoffs. We've had no
playoffs at all this decade. Tough to deal with when the Sharks used to make
them every year, despite never skating away with the Big Trophy.
There's not much left for Sharks fans to do but
cheer on the team. To me, the franchise's biggest concern has to be the
frightening drop in attendance. Once known for sellouts, the Sharks are
becoming more synonymous with empty seats. Not good.
So as the new
season begins, let's support our team when they win and when they don't. All we
can do is hope for the best.
