San Jose Sharks Have The Talent

The young Sharks are hungry

Preseason is a great opportunity to test line combinations, give rookies a taste of the NHL, and work off the summer rust. Unfortunately, the Sharks lost in a shootout last night, but after reading notes about the preseason opener against the Kings, one thing stood out in my mind: the Sharks organization is really deep.

With the veteran talent currently in place, the top four lines are relatively locked up. As a result, there are only a few bench spots available for young players to make their leap into the NHL. Guys like Devin Setoguchi, Lukas Kaspar, and Torrey Mitchell showed that they can play. In last night's 5 - 6 loss, this line combination accounted for 9 points (3 goals and 6 assists). Granted, this was a preseason game full of rookies on both ends of the ice, but the skill is clearly there.

Moreover, we have kids like Logan Couture, Jamie McGinn, Mike Morris, and Ty Wishart who are all eager to reach the big leagues, showing that they can produce at every level they've skated in. They're probably not ready for the NHL right now, but give them a few years in Worcester and they'll all be deserving a shot.

Overall, the Sharks' current NHL roster is still young and openings will be limited over the next three years. As a result, there is going to be a lot of good, young talent playing down on the farm...this should make Coach Roy Sommer pretty happy. More importantly, this should make fans happy. In a long NHL season, it's always nice to have troops at the ready.

A San Jose Sharks Blog