It doesn’t take an NHL GM to figure out that the San Jose Sharks need to improve their defense to get to the next level.

That’s no disrespect, truly, to their current blueliners, who have done admirable work to help the Sharks to a surprising 23-19-3.

But if the San Jose Sharks are going to be a Cup contender, like their counterparts on Sunday night, the Vegas Golden Knights, they’re going to need some internal and external growth on the blueline in the coming years.

This isn’t an overreaction to a 7-2 loss on Sunday to Vegas.

Here’s what a league source, not with the San Jose Sharks or Knights, texted San Jose Hockey Now during the game.

“The Sharks need more skill and more bite on the backend. They’ve got a couple of average puck-movers now — way better than previous years,” he noted. “But they get exposed in coverage. Compete is there, but against heavy teams like this, they get pushed around.”

Everybody, of course, wants more skill and bite and heaviness down low, to compete with the Jack Eichels and Mark Stones and Tomas Hertls of the world. And this doesn’t mean that the Sharks should invest in just big, heavy defenders in the future.

A great defense is about balance, a winning formula of skill and bite and heaviness that can play any way that you want.

But it’s clear that the San Jose Sharks need more defensemen who can first and foremost, end plays…like the Golden Knights also have.

“They got big trees back there. That is the new era of the National Hockey League is big, long defensemen,” Warsofsky said of Vegas, who checked in at 6-foot-2 or above with every one of their defensemen tonight. “So if you’re big and long and you’ve got some ability to play, make some plays, and close and kill plays, you’ll play in this league for a long time.”

And if you’ve got enough of these guys, you might be a contender for a very long time, too, like Vegas has been.

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on what makes the Vegas power play so lethal:

One, they have everything you really want on a power play.

They have an elite guy on the half-wall in Eichel. They got a big guy in Stone as a righty, and then they have Tommy in the middle as a lefty, and then they get a one-timer on the flank, and then you get Mitch Marner on top, and that’s without Theodore.

There [are] dangerous weapons at all five spots, that’s what makes it difficult.

Michael Misa

Misa, on what he did well tonight, what he needs to improve:

I thought I came out with speed. Defensively, some things I need to clean up, getting back to this level. But yeah, I thought I was moving my feet well.

John Klingberg

Klingberg, on what makes the Vegas Golden Knights’ power play so good:

They’re just very poised with the puck. They know their outs when they don’t face the net either, when they have their back [to the net], they know where their outs are, and they’re bringing the puck to net. They’ve been playing together for so long, they know each other very well. They’re a great PP.

Alex Wennberg

Wennberg, on how the San Jose Sharks can emulate how the Vegas Golden Knights play 5-on-5:

The way they’re shrinking the zone. Obviously, you don’t really get that much time and space. They’re quick, closing time. For us, maybe get some momentum, get some long shifts, it’s a little bit one-and-done. So obviously, they did a good job.

But like I said, I feel like every time we talk about us playing good hockey, it’s always come down to our identity and how we play. And right now, no matter who we play against, what team it is, we got to go back to what we know we can be successful with. And today, I didn’t feel we played that game.