San Jose Sharks
Sharks Locker Room: When Does the Losing Stop?
If you can believe it, the San Jose Sharks are in the midst of their longest losing streak of the year.
The Sharks have lost 10 in a row after a 2-1 overtime loss at the Vancouver Canucks.
When does the losing stop for the worst team in the NHL?
I don’t mean this streak — San Jose, mercifully, has just one regular season game left this year.
But it made me wonder: When’s the next time that we should expect the last-place San Jose Sharks in the playoffs? When will they not be a longshot in the Stanley Cup betting odds?
Let’s look at last-place teams over the last 25 years, and when they next made the post-season after finishing in the basement.
| Season | Last Place | Next Time in Playoffs? | Seasons to Playoffs? | Championship? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | San Jose Sharks | ? | ||
| 2023-24 | San Jose Sharks | ? | ||
| 2022-23 | Anaheim Ducks | ? | ||
| 2021-22 | Montreal Canadiens | ? | ||
| 2020-21 | Buffalo Sabres | ? | ||
| 2019-20 | Detroit Red Wings | ? | ||
| 2018-19 | Ottawa Senators | 2024-25 | 6 | |
| 2017-18 | Buffalo Sabres | ? | ||
| 2016-17 | Colorado Avalanche | 2017-18 | 1 | 2022 |
| 2015-16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2016-17 | 1 | |
| 2014-15 | Buffalo Sabres | ? | ||
| 2013-14 | Buffalo Sabres | ? | ||
| 2012-13 | Florida Panthers | 2015-16 | 3 | 2024 |
| 2011-12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2013-14 | 2 | |
| 2010-11 | Edmonton Oilers | 2016-17 | 6 | |
| 2009-10 | Edmonton Oilers | 2016-17 | 7 | |
| 2008-09 | New York Islanders | 2012-13 | 4 | |
| 2007-08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2010-11 | 3 | 2020 |
| 2006-07 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2007-08 | 1 | |
| 2005-06 | St. Louis Blues | 2008-09 | 3 | |
| 2003-04 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2006-07 | 3 | 2009 |
| 2002-03 | Carolina Hurricanes | 2005-06 | 3 | 2006 |
| 2001-02 | Atlanta Thrashers | 2006-07 | 5 | |
| 2000-01 | New York Islanders | 2001-02 | 1 | |
| 1999-00 | Atlanta Thrashers | 2006-07 | 7 |
The obvious goals for the Sharks, from worst to first, are the Colorado Avalanche, five seasons from last place to the Stanley Cup, the Pittsburgh Penguins, five seasons from last to the Cup, and the Carolina Hurricanes, three seasons from last to the Cup.
Hopefully, Macklin Celebrini can emulate Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby and Eric Staal, and lead the Sharks to a relatively quick success.
Of course, this list is also a cautionary tale. See: Buffalo Sabres, 14 years and counting out of the playoffs.
Macklin Celebrini
Celebrini, on his first goal on his hometown ice:
I remember being a kid, skating on this ice with my brothers. That was a cool moment.
It’s a dream to play in the NHL, scoring here is pretty cool.
Celebrini, on sharing the goal with fellow local Luca Cagnoni:
He played with my brother [Aiden] growing up a little bit. Knowing him growing up, it’s cool.
Celebrini, on the one thing that the San Jose Sharks have to do to stop blowing leads:
When you got the lead, you can’t be giving up chances and off-man rushes. You have to play smarter. That [Linus Karlsson] goal was on me. I kind of got caught a little bit.
See the full interview here
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on the penalty kill:
PK was really good. It’s two games in a row we’ve really locked it in. We obviously tinkered with some things, and we’ve gotten some chemistry with some pairs.
[Noah Gregor] is a guy that stepped up on the penalty kill. Wennberg has played a lot of minutes. [Liljegren is] starting to PK, which he didn’t do earlier in the year.
Warsofsky, on Alexandar Georgiev’s performance:
He was really good. Made some huge saves when we were on our heels.
See the full interview here
Luca Cagnoni
Cagnoni says he, Gushchin, and Schuldt landed about 11 AM today in Vancouver.
Found out late last night that he was going back to the NHL, about 20-25 friends and family made it for his last-minute hometown debut
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 15, 2025
Cagnoni, on what he learned last time in NHL that he tried to apply tonight:
Just wanted to play hard, box out hard, make it challenging for the team to play against me…have a little pest in my game.
That was the first time in a while I was able to catch the whole game from start to finish and to be honest, it sucked. Celly’s goal was a pure snipe but it felt even at the time like a flimsy bulwark against the inevitable. You’re not gonna win many games where you get doubled up on in shots, and while Georgiev genuinely played well (tremendous saves, including shorthanded, though the goal against wasn’t a great one to let in) he was never going to steal a game. Not going to be too harsh because this lineup was a… Read more »
I hope he does Resign Kovalenko. Being a rookie and this is first full season playing on North American ice, I feel there is a lot of room for improvement. IMO, he can be a valuable middle-six winger while prospects like Lund, Musty, Chernyshov and Haltunnen start their professional careers and players like Cardwell are just starting to crack the Sharks lineup. Your point on Liljegren is a result of the TDL. The same goes with the injuries we are seeing (as well as it is the end of a long season which is normal). We all hope that GMMG… Read more »
I like 37, he’s an excellent skater and has good offensive skills and instincts. I think he wants to be a better defender too, my wife and I love the funny expressions he makes on the bench in his own little world, he reminds me of the Geico caveman, I hope we keep him and he gets a good mentor to nurture him into the player that he obviously has the natural ability to be.
That’s Liljegren, right? You’re in luck, he’s signed for next year already, he’ll be back
He sucks. He looks like an NHL defender when he skates but that’s about it. Ferraro is better. Hell, Thrun mid season was better.
Thrun has never looked better than Liljegren. Thrun has never even looked average let alone good this year.
Yeah he did. Liljegren has had like 5 games where he looked like he was trying to reach his potential and 2 were against his old team. You hate him fine. You’re still wrong. It was brief before he got injured but it did happen.
Liljegren has had way more than 5 good games. Thrun hasn’t even had 5 good games. Outside of the late season AHL callups he was the worst defenseman on the Sharks this season.
I’ll never understand why you are so high on a below average sized D who is a terrible skater and has absolutely no offense to his game.
I’m not “high” on thrun as much as I am down on Liljegren.
i just want the Quinn coaching tree to finally be cut down completely, it’s been historically horrible. Their teams don’t forecheck hard and aren’t assignment sound defensively. Two things that don’t require any special talents, just good coaching and motivation. I want a good ol western Canadian prairie boy from Red Deer or something I’m sick of the Massachusetts Nepo soft hockey bullshit.
Come on, man. Look at last night’s lineup. Blaming this team’s performance down the stretch on the coach is like blaming a fart for climate change.
You know that jeu ne se quoi? Well…Warso doesn’t have it, whatever the fuck it is 😂. Nobody likes Nepotism, especially when it doesn’t work. I like your response though.
He hasn’t lost the team and his lineup is so bereft of talent that we have no idea. There is no strategy on Earth where you can do much better with this undersized, under skilled team.
Now if they bring in two major RHD pieces and Marner and we are still playing like this? Well then I’ll join your bandwagon
How many of y’all are at the same time: lamenting the losing streak; praising GMMG for making unnecessary moves this season (Walman and Zetts, specifically); and decrying the lack of talent on this team? Asking for a friend. Bottom line: We have had firesale after firesale, and sure, great ROI on some trades/assets, but also destroyed some chemistry and remain at rock bottom. We need to build at this point, but only GMMG has control of that. not you and I. We need 2 top D. We need at least 1 more top 6 forward. We need a plan B… Read more »
I think you and I sound mostly in agreement, although I support the moves Grier made with the only obvious exception being the Goodrow waiver pickup. And even that one won’t kill us the next two years. Hell bumping up against the cap to the point where $3.6M makes a difference would be a problem I welcome at this point. I know why the roster is bad and I know the team’s goals. I trust Grier and I think Warsovsky and his team have achieved all or almost all of the goals we wanted to see. Will Smith’s progression was… Read more »
I agree we are saying similar things. Where we differ is our trust level of GMMG. I don’t trust him at the same level. Going into this season, he said he made moves (Grundstrom, Goodrow, Wennberg, Delandrea) to improve our compete level. While I concede we have been blown out less often this year, by every other metric I have seen, our compete level is as bad as last year. Then the trade deadline moves seemed to be a lean into tanking, rather than helping set the team for the future. The felt rash, and ill-conceived, rather than planned or… Read more »
I will be attending my 40th regular season hockey game this season on Wednesday, so I feel like I have some skin in this game personally. Most games have been fun and I feel like the team played hard and just weren’t as talented or they ran out of gas. Other games, I had my face in my palms wishing beers didn’t cost $142. Most of the year, the team was simply too small. I joked with my friends asking why they always used the floppy sticks. They just could not beat back opposing for checks and they got consistently… Read more »
Just wrong. The fact they were in as many 1 goal games as they were with this goaltending proves the opposite of what you assert.
the team was actually more competitive in most games after the TDL so there goes your theory. I’m sorry but your who bitter premise is disproven by reality.
As for your first question… only a couple of the dumb ones. Most of us get where this team is at. Those moves are only deemed “unnecessary” to bittermen fanboys (and girls.. fanpeeps?).
your shopping list looks identical to the one that myself and a few others keep reposting.
probably not getting Coutures cap space unless the go over the cap. Sounds like he isn’t officially retiring because he wants his money. Good for him. I’m betting he gets on the coaching track in the next few years.
I don’t have much hope for a great backup goalie option. It would require a trade, and I can’t see it worthwhile to give up assets for that right now. Getting a massive improvement on the blue line could make even Georgiev look a lot better, so I think focusing there is the right approach. Either way, can’t put Askarov in front of that firing squad, so they have to do something. They will still have $40M+ in cap space even without Couture’s $8M. We are assuming they will keep the retention slot to maximize the return on Wennberg at… Read more »
I would take Vanachek back over Georgie. There are a couple other guys and some teams will want to move a backup who’s making a little too much. There will be options. There always are.
oh I wasn’t saying they would use the LTIR space next season, just stating the reality of the cap hit. I think they spend more toward the cap than the floor but that’s with keeping Couture and Vlasics full salary on the books.
You are powerfully stupid. Hiring someone’s previous assistant is not nepotism. And Quinn doesn’t have a coaching tree. He just has guys who were on his staff.
It was in reference to the uncanny Massachusetts Boston influence on literary everything. Im sure Nepotism isn’t the best word, maybe regionalism?
You can lead a dum dum to google but you can’t make him search for the definition of a word. 🤣
Speaking of definitions, Shorty is the textbook one of a narcissists 💯 and you gave me my name lol
It was a joke dum dum. I know where the name came from. 😉😘
Yes he is. Brilliantly stated. He saw me use the word in a previous comment and thought he would throw it out there without looking it up first. I said he was illiterate.🤣🤣🤣
Yeah he does dum dum. Talent deprived team has played hard almost the entire season despite nothing to play for. Thats a coaching staff doing a great job. But you know Jack shit about coaching so of course you wouldn’t be able to recognize it.
is That how he came up with his new nickname? I do blame Old Boom Boom for climate change.😜🤣
Wanting Warso gone after one season as a rookie coach with the team he was given is not a good move. He needs at a minimum one more season with a decent team to make any real kind of evaluation. Look at how the rookies have developed. Celebrini still looks good, Smith is night and day from game one, and Graf steadily improved. Lund, Cagnoni, among others did not look out of place. Unlike last season, the Sharks were in most of their games and were not blown out and their longest loosing streak (the one they are on now)… Read more »
Amen
Hallelujah!
I’ll donate 50$ right now to shengs travel fund if you tell me what you did for a living, 🙏 cmon
I was in the military and then I worked in tech. Show me the receipt for your donation.
50$ for “in tech” did you work in the cafeteria at applied Materials or were you the VP of Adobe ? Please tell me it was HR 😂😂 omg imagine if Shorky is letting out the frustration of working in HR 😂😂
So you’re going to skip out? Pretty much what I expected. Imagine if you were right about something for a change. That would be spectacular.
Shorky the HR manager ! Love it. Of course I’ll donate 50 to sheng, I always try to help his cause as much as I can without my wife noticing🤣
Nepper Mike is doing a fine Job he’s not going anywhere and Hockey is a very fluid game its not like football where it can take 2 seasons to get everyone up to speed with the playbook, Hockey coaching is as much pushing the right buttons and Psychological as anything. I just personally don’t think Warso has that bench boss swagger and character where the boys look up to him like a seasoned skipper at the helm in the bearing sea. I’m just some dip shit sharks fan with an iPhone and I grew up watching Daryl Sutter and Bruce… Read more »
ah… from your perch on your couch you’ve surmised all this? Geez how is the NHL not knocking on your door to offer 6 figures and a coaching job?🤨
Exactly. Between just Shak, Celly, Smith, Graf & Cags there is more than enough proof the coaching staff at both levels is doing a great job. Celly had a great season but he very easily could have struggled without good coaching and a good support system. It’s a testament to a great staff.
Well said. The single most important part of Warsofsky’s job is to develop younger players. And while one can question how much credit the HC deserves, there is no question that key young players including Celebrini, Smith, Mukh and Graf all took major steps in the right direction. Jack Thompson looked like he’s getting close to an NHL level. You can look at the “didn’t” list, guys who we’d hoped would, but didn’t take big steps. Thrun, Kostin, Kovalenko among them. A bunch of NHL cameos with too little to tell about the Sharks NHL coaching impact: Cagnoni, Ostapchuk, Cardwell,… Read more »
I agree that they have good young talent. However, most of them are not ready for full time NHL roles. GMMG (IMO) needs to identify players he can acquire to fill the gaps in the meantime (which IMO is a season or two or three). Of course I am not referring to Graf, Smith, Thrun, Eklund, Asky or Celebrini (players like this). Time is essential, yes, but they need to start winning more now. I believe the gaps we have now are: 1) Two (RDs preferably) middle pair defensemen 2) A 1B goalie 3) A second line center 4) A… Read more »
Moronic as usual. The Sharks rookies could learn consistency from you. Consistently making the same dumb argument.
On another topic, I just noticed that Wheeler has an absolutely raving review of Pohlkamp from yesterday regarding his opinions from the Frozen Four. With the team sucking the last two years, I’ve read a lot of Wheeler and he isn’t one of those “everyone is great” kinda writers blowing smoke up desperate fans’ rear ends. So when he says Pohlkamp played a strong, defensively responsible two way game with massive offense as well, I say, “Whoa.” Sounds like he’ll go back to Denver to be their #1 Dman next year, but maybe he will be on the mix here… Read more »
I’m very high on Pohlkamp. Seems like he’s really developed into something since he was drafted.
Think he led them in +/-, just ahead Buium.
Also interested to see he wasn’t paired with Buium, but rather the lead on the 2nd pair to give Denver two top pairs, essentially. So nothing in his numbers can be attributed to circling in Buium’s gravity other than maybe some.slightly easier overall matchups, though that is pure speculation on my part. But if Pohlkamp can keep up with the NHL speed, he’s literally the shape of a brick and he’s got a lethal shot that we all saw at the prospect game. I was trying to be conservative and not factor him into any future plans, but now I’m… Read more »
He should be able to keep up. He looked like the fastest guy at the rookie camp.
Great to hear! Can’t hit on everyone so you need some guys like him to develop into legit NHL contributors when you least expect.
He’s such an interesting player. He has an almost rover-like offensive game but he loves to hit and defend. He reminds me of a miniature Dustin Byfuglien with better feet.
Marner won’t sign with this franchise. 60 wins in 3 seasons is pathetic. Start of season ending up like end of season. Crappy
The one thing we know for sure is Marner wants money. He probably has a few options, but ya never know. I think 7/$15M AAV later and he’s living next door to Jumbo in Saratoga or Los Gatos or wherever those guys live
Marner loved Jumbo and Patty. They could be strong influences. A player getting roasted by local media all the time? Come to SJ with minimal media who aren’t questioning players heart? That’s a powerful lure.
You know what else entices players to go somewhere? Money
Sharks have plenty if they want to spend.
The fans wanting Wars out is ridiculous. I think he squeezed the most he could out of a terrible line up. The D is atrocious. I’m sorry but when Mario Ferraro is your best D player there’s a problem. Drafting Schaefer will address this. Dickinson coming will address this. Cagnoni getting seasoned addresses this. Only a one more win than last year but and with the leagues leading most loses by one sharks could had 4-5 more. I think this season was better than last beyond what record suggests. After this draft I would love to see sharks win maybe… Read more »