The San Jose Sharks enter the new season with a clean slate and realistic hope for improvement after several poor campaigns. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith enter sophomore years expected to progress, while William Eklund aims to cement a top-six role. Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa seek to prove NHL readiness. Yaroslav Askarov will compete for the starting goaltender job. Veterans Tyler Toffoli, Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg and Alex Wennberg provide experience, defensive stability and scoring support. Predictions will compare the team's performance to five statistical benchmarks from last season, including how quickly the team secures its first win.
As the San Jose Sharks' season nears, the Sharks are starting out with a clean slate, and that means a reason to hope. While this might be a bit of an understatement, the Sharks have not done well the past few seasons. But that could change this season. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are now entering their sophomore seasons, and barring a sophomore slump, they should take a step forward.
William Eklund is looking to establish himself as a bona fide top-six forward in the NHL. Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa are both looking to show that they belong in the NHL. Then, there's Yaroslav Askarov, who will have his first shot at showing that he's the NHL starting goaltender he believes himself to be. When you put it all together, you get a young Sharks team that could make some waves and be a tough out for any of the teams in the league this season.
The real measuring stick will not be where the Sharks finish in the league this season as much as how it stacks up against the Sharks' teams of the past few seasons. So, in this edition of Fear the Five, we're going to do some predictions and guess how much better the Sharks will do compared to five of last season's stats.
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