{"id":250659,"date":"2026-04-03T22:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250659\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T22:22:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:22:20","slug":"san-jose-sharks-playoff-status-not-the-ultimate-measure-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250659\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ playoff status not the ultimate measure of success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, I called the San Jose Sharks\u2019 matchup with the Nashville Predators<\/a> a must-win game.<\/p>\n

I was obviously referring to this Saturday\u2019s matchup<\/a>. Please don\u2019t check the paper to verify that.<\/p>\n

Despite losing convincingly to those exact same Predators<\/a> on March 24 to fall seven points adrift of the Western Conference\u2019s final wild-card spot, the Sharks are somehow sitting in that spot as of Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Despite all the odds and my bloviations<\/a>, this team is still in the thick of what really matters in April, and that speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Sharks are no longer losers. They have already won the season \u2014playoff berth or not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a resounding testament to this young roster\u2019s sheer resilience as well as the general, magnificent ineptitude that passes for competence in the West this season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mostly a hallmark of the breathtaking brilliance of Macklin Celebrini. The 19-year-old phenom has a claim to the Hart Trophy that\u2019s as strong as anyone in the league. He isn\u2019t just an elite prospect anymore; he\u2019s an elite superstar actively threatening to match or beat Joe Thornton\u2019s hallowed franchise record of 114 points in a single season.<\/p>\n

You never want to extrapolate too far, but when a teenager casually logs his 100th point in March while dragging a franchise that took out a long-term lease on last place, you start polishing the bronze for his statue \u2014 you start using the word \u201cgenerational\u201d a lot in conversations.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Sharks might actually snap their six-year playoff drought \u2014 far and away the longest, darkest stretch in franchise history. Take their current four-game winning streak, make it five against the Preds at SAP Center Saturday, and San Jose truly controls its own destiny.<\/p>\n

Per the nerds at HockeyStats.com<\/a>, the Sharks\u2019 playoff odds sit at a coin-flip 50 percent heading into Friday. Win Saturday, and that rockets to 63 percent. Lose, and it plummets to 34 percent. We don\u2019t need to talk about that second number. We\u2019re strictly practicing positive reinforcement today.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the beautiful kicker: It truly doesn\u2019t matter what happens on Saturday, or in the final seven games that follow.<\/p>\n

Whether the Sharks limp backward to the finish line, force their way into the tournament on pure adrenaline, or maybe even steal a game or two from the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, the true goal for this season is already safely achieved.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve proven they can win. They\u2019ve successfully transitioned from a rebuilding doormat into a legitimate team to be feared in the NHL.<\/p>\n

And the best part?<\/p>\n

The best is yet to come.<\/p>\n

Look down the pipeline. It\u2019s not just Celebrini (though that might even be enough\u2026)<\/p>\n

The goalie situation is rock-solid. And the future at the position, Joshua Ravensbergen, the No. 30 overall pick in 2025, is 19 years old, tearing up the WHL, and looking like far more than just the real deal.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Michael Misa, the No. 2 overall pick in 2025. He\u2019s been an absolute revelation since the Olympic break. He\u2019s the kind of player most teams would build their entire franchise around. In San Jose, he\u2019s just another terrifying weapon in the arsenal.<\/p>\n

Up front, this team has serious depth, with Igor Chernyshov and Will Smith rapidly morphing into elite flanks for Celebrini. They\u2019re rolling four lines deep as of late \u2014 a taste of everything for their opponents. And then you trot out penalty killers like Alex Wennberg, Colin Graf, and the perpetually underrated Vincent Desharnais when you\u2019re down a man? That\u2019s as good as it gets.<\/p>\n

Every team in the league could use more talent, including the Sharks. But this team\u2019s elite farm system \u2014 perhaps the absolute top in the NHL \u2014 will provide exactly that in the years to come.<\/p>\n

To evolve into a perennial playoff contender in the years to come \u2014 and perhaps a Stanley Cup contender \u2014 this roster is really just a few defensemen away.<\/p>\n

The system will naturally provide depth there. But what this team really needs is a true power-play ace to play at the top of the Sharks\u2019 man-advantage umbrella.<\/p>\n

Who will that player be?<\/p>\n

Will it be Sam Dickinson, who is showing more offensive chops in recent weeks? Pending free agent Darren Raddysh, who emerged for the Lightning this year? Soon-to-be-traded Adam Fox? Sharks prospect and Hobey Baker finalist Eric Pohlkamp<\/a>? Or Keaton Verhoeff, the towering North Dakota product and top defenseman in this year\u2019s draft?<\/p>\n

At this point, it remains anyone\u2019s guess. The front office has options. They have the capital to be creative. They\u2019ve shown they deserve the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s not in doubt is the trajectory of this team. They\u2019re on the precipice this weekend.<\/p>\n

But what really matters is beyond tomorrow. The rebuild might be over, but the scope of how we should look at this team remains broad.<\/p>\n

And there is simply no limit to what the Sharks could be in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two weeks ago, I called the San Jose Sharks\u2019 matchup with the Nashville Predators a must-win game. I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2333,401,402,1533,181,404,182,88,90,89,98,127,1326],"class_list":{"0":"post-250659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-editors-picks","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-inside-sports","11":"tag-keywee","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-pm-report","15":"tag-san-jose","16":"tag-san-jose-headlines","17":"tag-san-jose-news","18":"tag-san-jose-sharks","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-sports-columnists"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}