The San Jose Sharks are very much one of the worst teams in the NHL right now. At 5-16-2, they are actually sitting in 32nd place out of 32. They could go on to be amongst the worst single-season teams in the history of the league.
On Thursday night, they were on the East Coast to take on the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are very much on the opposite end of the spectrum right now as they are 15-4-3 which is good for first place in the Atlantic Division which might be the best in the NHL right now from top to bottom.
To the surprise of nobody, they lost 3-0 as Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins shut them down badly. It was the type of game that Boston needed to win so that they can keep pace with the other top teams in the Eastern Conference. Losing to the Sharks is not a good look for anyone, especially those top squads.
As for the Sharks, there was a very cool person in the Boston crowd cheering them on. Their number one prospect, Will Smith, was in attendance. He attends Boston College so it isn’t that far of a commute to get to the game at the TD Garden.
The San Jose Sharks are hoping for big things from Will Smith in the future
San Jose made Smith their fourth overall pick of the first round in the 2023 NHL Draft. This appears to be a very good selection as he is an incredibly skilled player that will certainly be a force in the NHL one day.
It is pretty clear that San Jose is in the ugly faze of their rebuild right now. They didn’t win the Draft Lottery and they weren’t lucky enough to be the runner-up either so they ended up with Smith at four. He is not a bad player to start the rebuilding process with at all.
Gone are the days of Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski with the Sharks. That core didn’t win the Stanley Cup but they made many deep runs including a trip to the Final. Now, it is on Smith to lead a new group of Sharks to the promised land.
Smith is currently part of the best line in college hockey. He plays center and his wingers are Gabe Perreault (a New York Rangers first-round pick) and Ryan Leonard (a Washington Capitals first-round pick).
This trio just dominates every game they play and it is fun to watch. BC is going to be right in the mix for the Frozen Four when the season comes to an end.
Smith couldn’t love seeing the Sharks have no chance in this game but he is expected to be part of the solution for them. He would have been one of their best players if he suited up in this game against the Bruins.
It is unclear if he will come to the NHL next year or go for another year at BC. Either way, watching him play will be fun regardless of where.
The Sharks will be in the mix for the lottery this season. Someone like Macklin Celebrini (who goes to BC rival Boston University) or Cole Eiserman (he will go to BU next season) would certainly look good in the system with Will Smith. That journey continues for San Jose on Friday night when they visit the New Jersey Devils.