What Type of Player Should Sharks Target This Off-Season?

Who couldn’t help the San Jose Sharks be better next year?

When you’re arguably the worst team of the salary cap era – the Sharks’ -150 Goal Differential for this season was the most since the Ottawa Senators’ -196 in 1993-94 – it feels like virtually half of the NHL would be an improvement.

So of course top UFAs like center Sam Reinhart and winger Steven Stamkos and defenseman Brady Skjei might be difference-makers. Of course big-name trade targets like Mitch Marner and Martin Necas and Nikolaj Ehlers would be great gets.

But realistically?

The San Jose Sharks need to balance that desperate need to create a more positive, competitive environment for star prospects Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith to walk into, perhaps as soon as next year – without going overboard.

The Sharks aren’t close enough to contention where they’d be attractive to an older free agent used to winning like Stamkos – or where it’d make sense to offer a 29-year-old 50-goal scorer like Reinhart a maximum contract.

In much the same way, they’re not in a good position yet to offer meaningful assets to land a star like Marner via trade.

Simply put, the San Jose Sharks must get appreciably better next season, but without seriously mortgaging their future. At this point in their rebuild, it’s still crucial to keep their first-round picks and avoid handing out long, potentially crippling contracts.

So with that in mind, here are four positions of need that the Sharks must address, along with more likely free agent or trade targets.

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