Comparing This Year’s Sharks’ Opening Night Roster to Last Year’s

The San Jose Sharks could be much deeper up front this year.

And in a perhaps surprising way, considering they traded reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, maybe they’re deeper on defense.

Yesterday, the San Jose Sharks released their 23-man opening night roster. They’re starting the season with 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies.

Let’s go position by position.

Forwards: Alexander Barabanov, Thomas Bordeleau, Anthony Duclair, William Eklund, Mikael Granlund, Tomas Hertl, Mike Hoffman, Luke Kunin, Kevin Labanc, Givani Smith, Nico Sturm, Filip Zadina, Fabian Zetterlund

This is how head coach David Quinn ran lines on Monday, the San Jose Sharks’ second practice with this exact roster.

Hoffman-Hertl-Zadina
Eklund-Granlund-Kunin
Barabanov-Bordeleau-Duclair
Smith-Sturm-Labanc-Zetterlund

Sturm is solidly-entrenched as the fourth-line center, while Smith, Labanc, and Zetterlund rotated on his wings.

This is a much different look than last season’s opening night lines in Prague.

Timo Meier-Hertl-Luke Kunin
Oskar Lindblom-Logan Couture-Labanc
Noah Gregor-Nick Bonino-Matt Nieto
Steven Lorentz-Sturm-Jonah Gadjovich

What stands out with this season’s roster?

Read the Full Article at NBC Sports Bay Area