Now that the San Jose Sharks have halted their season-opening skid by winning three of their last six games, they can return to thinking about the big picture. Gone is the need to simply register a win and remove that burden. But with no expectations of contention either, the team can make moves that aren’t necessarily designed to win this season. One crucial such move is to look into the possibility of giving their goalie prospects playing time in the NHL. It almost undoubtedly has to happen at some point this season, and now is a good time to at least start entertaining the option.
Sharks Have Stabilized as a Team
Apart from a brief appearance for Magnus Chrona against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 4, none of the Sharks’ goalie prospects have played this season. Given the team’s struggles so far, this is perfectly reasonable. With the team in such a chaotic state, it wouldn’t have been fair to the young goalies to be placed in that situation. Making the jump from the American Hockey League (AHL) to the NHL is difficult enough, and to do so when the team is out of sorts is nearly impossible.
But now the Sharks have improved, and while they’re still at the bottom of the NHL standings, they are playing much better hockey. At the very least, they look functional and comfortable on NHL ice, and are no longer getting blown out on a nightly basis. Now that the team has settled into a more competent style of play, it might be time to give more goalies time in net. They now have an opportunity to play behind a more complete, serviceable hockey team, which will be crucial for their confidence and development as they get adjusted to the NHL.
Sharks’ Goaltending Future Remains Uncertain
The Sharks’ two current goalies are Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood, and it’s not clear how much longer they’ll be in San Jose. Of the two, Blackwood has been the better performer this season, but they’ve been hard to evaluate given the roster struggling in front of them. At the moment, however, the best bet is that Blackwood will be back next season while Kahkonen won’t, creating at least one open roster spot.
Related: Sharks’ Gushchin Reaches NHL With More Prospects to Follow
Given that the Sharks almost certainly won’t make the playoffs this season, they can use some of the remaining games to prepare for next season, testing out different netminders to see who might fill that space in the lineup. This is essentially a no-risk situation for the team. If any goalie emerges as a potential long-term starter, the Sharks have a much clearer picture of their goaltending future. If none of them do, San Jose can simply use the offseason to reevaluate the state of their goalies and determine their next steps as the latest part of their rebuild.
Magnus Chrona Headlines Interesting Prospect Group
While the Sharks don’t have any truly elite goaltending prospects in their pipeline at the moment, they do have a few intriguing names. Both Georgi Romanov and the previously mentioned Chrona played well at the Rookie Showcase in September and the preseason. Given that Chrona was the first of the two to receive NHL playing time, we have a sense of which one the coaching staff favors right now. Eetu Makiniemi is currently in the ECHL after recovering from a hip injury, but played well in a brief NHL stint last season and could easily rise through the ranks as the season continues.
In fact, there is no reason for each of them to not get a least a few starts this season. All of them have used their time on the ice to show that they deserve a chance at an NHL roster spot, and all of them have demonstrated enough skill to raise interest in the potential of their future at the highest level.
The Sharks have spent several straight seasons with a lot of questions about their goaltending. Given the state of the team, this year is a perfect time to try to answer many of them. The answers may create a clear long-term plan, or they may lead to more adjustments — but either way, they should try to take advantage of their situation to get ahead of future challenges.
