SAINT PAUL, MINN. — What should the San Jose Sharks look like, when they’re right?

We got a glimpse of it in a 4-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. It’s their sixth loss in their last seven.

“I thought we worked harder. I thought we got above quicker. We reloaded quicker without the puck,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Sharks tools

Center Collin Graf (51), along with wingers Kiefer Sherwood (44) and Mason Marchment (27) are all top of the puck in this 2-1-2. So is defenseman Jacob Trouba (65). Also, to Warsofsky’s point, Graf, Sherwood, and Marchment are all playing on their toes, and alternating as the high defensive forward, the F3, when the other two forwards are forechecking.

There is, however, one key area of disconnect in this clip here, which has plagued the San Jose Sharks all season.

They’re creating offensive zone turnovers off the forecheck and have done so all season.

Per Stathletes, the Sharks are eighth in the NHL with 9.26 OZ Turnovers Forced Per 60.

For comparison, the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes (10.98) lead the league in this category, while the Ottawa Senators (9.56), who Warsofsky expressed a lot of admiration for recently, are seventh.

Last year, Carolina led the NHL in this stat, Ottawa was third, and San Jose was 18th.

Both the Canes and the Sens are teams that rely on a heavy forecheck to create offense.

But the San Jose Sharks are not converting these turnovers into offense.

The Sharks are 23rd in the NHL with 13.82 5-on-5 Scoring Chances Per 60. They’re 27th with 1.43 High-Danger Scoring Chances Per 60.

The Hurricanes are first in 5-on-5 Scoring Chances Per 60 and sixth in High-Danger Scoring Chances. They were also very high in both categories last year. The Senators, actually, are more average in both areas this season, but last year, they were top-10 in both.

The Sharks were 20th in 5-on-5 Scoring Chances Per 60 and 14th in High-Danger last season.

Can San Jose solve this disconnect soon?

This could be as simple as going to the net more.

That could be the key to unlocking a lot more 5-on-5 offense, which they sorely need. San Jose is, as well-documented, last in the NHL is 5-on-5 goals.

But it’s also not that simple: Do the Sharks have enough personnel that crashes the net with impunity? You don’t need 12 forwards to do it, but maybe they can use a couple more.

That could be something for GM Mike Grier to solve for in the future.