San Jose Sharks: A template everyone should follow

In their 27 year existence, the San Jose Sharks have never won the ultimate prize. However, they have been the most consistently successful team the league has ever seen.

Think of all the NHL teams that are considered a dynasty. The Chicago Blackhawks, LA Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins all come to mind, but why does nobody ever think about the San Jose Sharks?

The answer is simple. The Sharks have never won the Stanley Cup so they’re not considered true winners. In order to become a dynasty, you must win the championship multiple times in a short span.

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Even though the Sharks are not technically a dynasty, they are still one of the most successful teams the NHL has ever seen. In 26 seasons in the NHL, they’ve missed the playoffs six times. Four of those times came in their first six years. Their ability to draft and develop allows them to constantly inject youth into the lineup to keep the team flowing.

Look at their roster right now. Yes, they have older players like Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, but they’re still adding younger, promising players like Kevin Labanc and Tomas Hertl.

On the roster, ten players were drafted by the Sharks themselves. Players like Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Pavelski, and Logan Couture were all drafted and developed by San Jose.

Ever since the Toronto Maple Leafs did such a public rebuild, rebuilding has become a new trend in the NHL, with teams like the New York Rangers following suit. But have you noticed that San Jose has never had to go through such a thing? The effectiveness of their drafting and developing allows them to constantly “rebuild” on the fly.

Whenever the team seems to be getting older or when Doug Wilson wants to see a change in the style of play, he has the talent in the system to get things shaken up. The constant cycle of draft, develop, sign long-term, trade/leave for free agency, repeat happens for every player. But because they start at different times, the Sharks are able to keep everybody under the cap. There are never too many long-term deals and there are always entry-level deals to balance them out.

A lot of this success is due to Wilson, arguably one of the best general managers in the league. He trusts his scouts and staff to make decisions and it is this respect between both parties that create such a successful environment and that encourages the scouts to be honest with their assessments. In his 14 years as Sharks general manager, they have made it to the playoffs 13 times. Wilson is one of the reasons why this team is so consistent and other teams need to look at how he works to try and model his accomplishments.

As mentioned before, there are some obvious dynasty teams out there so I decided to calculate the percentage of times a team makes it to the playoffs:

1. Montreal Canadiens: 82%
2. San Jose Sharks: 74%
3. Detroit Red Wings: 70%
4. Chicago Blackhawks: 67%
5. Pittsburgh Penguins: 65%
6. Los Angeles Kings: 59%

At the end of the day, hockey is all about luck. The best you can do is make it to the playoffs and hope for the best. Many teams don’t even get that first step done but San Jose is able to make it happen 74% of the time. If they can continue to be a perennial playoff contender, their luck is bound to change. Hopefully, it happens before Joe Thornton retires.