Erik Karlsson has been traded from the Ottawa Senators to the San Jose Sharks. Is he enough to erase a long history of the Sharks being really bad in the playoffs?
It’s about damn time. The summer of Erik Karlsson rumors is finally over, as the league’s top defenseman has been traded to the San Jose Sharks. The same San Jose Sharks who can’t ever seem to put it together in the post-season.
Earlier today, Erik Karlsson was traded to the Sharks for a handful of picks and players that you probably don’t care about (Chris Tierny, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Norris, Rudolfs Balcers, 2020 1st round pick, 2019 2nd round pick, two conditional picks).
Sources say the #Sens have dealt Erik Karlsson to the Sharks in exchange for Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Norris, Rudolfs Balcers, 2020 1st, 2019 2nd and two conditional picks.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) September 13, 2018
Sharks fans are obviously ecstatic with the deal and who are we to rain on their parade right now. So we won’t rain, but a light drizzle can’t hurt anybody, right?
Despite the risk of this take being thrown back in my face if the San Jose Sharks win the 2019 Stanley Cup final (it won’t because they won’t), I’m going to say it anyway: The San Jose Sharks will probably lose in the first round of the playoffs.
Go ahead and @ me. Yes, I’m playing heel on this one but it’s because years and years of history is on my side. Over the past 21 seasons, the San Jose Sharks have made the playoffs 18 times (One lockout – so 18/20 seasons). They have lost in the first round in seven of those appearances, with an additional seven eliminations coming in round 2. Oh, and they have won zero Stanley Cups.
Anyone who has followed hockey over the past 20 years knows that there are specific moments in which this team and it’s fans have their hearts broken every single season, so we won’t go into any details. The question is, is Erik Karlsson better than fate?
It’s a close call. He’s extremely talented. The Sharks’ top four D-men include Karlsson, Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun. This is borderline unfair to the rest of the league. Martin Jones is a great goaltender and they have a list of forwards that can get the job done offensively. Entering the 2019 playoffs, the Sharks might be the best team in the national hockey league.
Still, they will lose. Which is not to say they will be bad, because every team but one loses on the road to the Stanley Cup, but consider who they have to go up against to get there.
To even make the Stanley Cup final, the Sharks are going to have to go through some combination of the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators. This won’t be easy, especially since both the Preds and Jets look like such heavyweights for Cup contention.
I love Erik Karlsson. He’s an incredible player, a seemingly great person and a surefire hall-of-famer. He also has a great flow/facial hair combination going on, a look that only he (or a pirate) can pull off. Unfortunately for him, he joined the one team in the NHL that is never going to win a Stanley Cup.
The Sharks have been freindzoned by Lord Stanley. On paper, they have everything it takes. They are a good looking team, talented and trendy. The type of team you’d want to take home to mom and dad. Unfortunately, it’s damn hard to get out of the friendzone.
No one is more excited about this deal today than 200-year-old grizzled veteran Joe Thornton, who is probably as deserving of a Stanley Cup as anyone who has ever played in the NHL. Joe enters his 135th season in the NHL with the best chance he’s ever had at a Cup.
For Thornton’s sake, maybe a small part of me wants them to make the final, but for him to have to experience another heartbreaking finals loss would be too much to take. Sorry, Joe.
Joe Thornton via text message when I asked him for his reaction on his team getting Erik Karlsson: ``F------ Incredible!"
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 13, 2018
On the other side of the deal, the Ottawa Senators have “completed the most important trade of their rebuild” as they continue their quest to be irrelevant until 2040. They added some picks and prospects that may or may not turn out to be decent players. Rudolfs Balcers, though. What a name!
Apologies to all of the Ottawa fans who have had to watch this team go from being a game away from the 2016-17 Stanley Cup finals with the league’s best defenseman to an AHL team two years later. Incredible work by Eugene Melnyk and the Sens front office.
Disclaimer: This piece was written by a person who said everything there is to say about the Washington Capitals choking at every stage of the 2018 playoffs and never winning a Cup. If you’re a Sharks fan, you can thank me next June.