The San Jose Sharks are trying to emulate the Ottawa Senators.
For seven-straight seasons, the Senators were out of the playoffs, before Travis Green took over as head coach in 2024-25. Ottawa has made the playoffs in the last two years, albeit not past the first round.
The San Jose Sharks have also been out of playoffs for the last seven seasons, and head coach Ryan Warsofsky wants to follow the Senators’ path.
Sharks tools
“They’ve grown from the last couple of years of playing in that [tight-checking playoff] hockey and what it takes, and now it’s translated into the regular season, how hard they check,” Warsofsky said.
The Senators, even after trading star winger Brady Tkachuk, look like one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.
“From a coach’s perspective, fascinating to see it,” Warsofsky said. “Travis [Green] has done a really good job in the way they play, their details, their structure. They have some good personnel to play that suffocating, fast style.”
Like the Senators before Green, the Sharks are a young, highly-skilled team, learning how to play winning hockey.
So is Ottawa’s “suffocating, fast style” where San Jose wants to get to?
“Yes,” Warsofsky said.
San Jose Sharks (7-6-1)
Alex Nedeljkovic starts.
Zack Ostapchuk will come in for Adam Gaudette.
My best guess for lines this afternoon:
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Sherwood-Misa-Marchment
Stenberg-Bystedt-Toffoli
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Dellandrea
Nurse-Kesselring
Dickinson-Trouba
Allan-Orlov
Nedeljkovic
Ottawa Senators (8-5-1)
Where To Watch