One week from now, the Sharks will host the Ducks at SAP Center, icing a roster that’s a bit different than the one that swept Anaheim in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs five months ago.
Joe Thornton is healthy after his second knee surgery in two years. Defenseman Joakim Ryan is a lock for a top-six spot after sitting out every playoff game against the Ducks.
Oh, and somebody named Erik Karlsson will suit up for San Jose, too.
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In all, five players who didn’t see the ice in the series clincher could play for the Sharks on Oct. 3. So, what will the Sharks look like on opening night? Here’s our best guess right now.
Goaltenders
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
San Jose Sharks
Analysis: This doesn’t require much explanation.
Jones enters the first of a six-year, $34.5 million contract extension, and he started more games in the last three seasons (190) than every goalie in the NHL other than Cam Talbot (193). Dell, meanwhile, signed a two-year, $3.8 million extension of his own in February, leaving the 29-year-old firmly entrenched as Jones’ backup.
Defensemen
Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Erik Karlsson
Joakim Ryan-Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon-Justin Braun
Radim Simek-Tim Heed
Analysis: This top six is identical to the one we envisioned in the aftermath of the Karlsson trade, and all signs point to these pairings on opening night. Karlsson primarily has skated with Marc-Edouard Vlasic since arriving in camp a week ago, and the other two pairings played together in Saturday’s preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights -- the only preseason game so far where a majority of the top six defensemen suited up.
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer has said at camp that the team believes it has eight NHL defensemen. This projection reflects that belief, as well as the roster-building reality: Radim Simek and Tim Heed would need to be waived in order to be sent down to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Their contracts -- Simek makes $675,000 against the salary cap, Heed $650,000 -- would be easy to digest for a team scouring the waiver wire, and the Sharks wouldn’t receive any assets in return.
Forwards
Evander Kane-Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl-Logan Couture-Timo Meier
Joonas Donskoi-Antti Suomela-Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen-Barclay Goodrow-Melker Karlsson
Rourke Chartier
Analysis: If you’re wondering what purpose the preseason serves, consider the following: The Sharks’ top two lines already have played more five-on-five minutes together this preseason (14:39 for the first, 10:49 for the second) than the entirety of the previous regular season. That’s a natural by-product of having Evander Kane and Joe Thornton in the lineup at the same time, but Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Timo Meier played all of 75 seconds together last season. Building chemistry arguably is most important for possible third-line center Antti Suomela, as the Finnish rookie looks to adjust to the North American game.
There’s also the possibility that players can win jobs. DeBoer has said the full body of work matters most, but strong preseason performances can open eyes. Center Rourke Chartier seems to have done that, with five points in four preseason games. That mark is second only to Barclay Goodrow, whose solid play as a fourth-line center last season strengthens his case to start the season in that spot.
Chartier’s emergence leaves rookie forward Dylan Gambrell as the odd man out in this projection. It might not be an open-and-shut case, as Gambrell has been a better possession player than Chartier so far. But Gambrell hasn't been as productive offensively, and he carries a higher cap hit. He’s waivers exempt, unlike Heed and Simek, so the Sharks can send him to the Barracuda to start the season and not worry about losing him.