What the SJ Sharks can learn from the Colorado Avalanche
Nico Sturm opened the small wooden box that held the Stanley Cup ring that he earned last season as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Inside was not only the 14-karat white gold ring, set with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, but a short video that showed the team’s onice celebration right after their Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sturm received the ring Tuesday night after the Sharks were walloped 6-0 by the Avalanche, a completely one-sided affair that showed the obvious disparity between the two franchises. One appears ready to chase another Cup, the other has one of the worst records in the NHL as it tries to lay a foundation for its own success years down the line.
“Obviously, it takes a while to build an organization and a roster to where everybody, every piece fits exactly where it needs to be,” Sturm said. “I think that’s what we’re trying to do, is trying to get guys and players that play a certain part, and that doesn’t happen from today until tomorrow.”
Sturm, 27, is one of those pieces.
The Sharks signed Sturm to a three-year, $6 million contract last offseason and so far, it looks like one of general manager Mike Grier’s shrewdest moves. Sturm, the team’s third-line center, already has established new career highs in goals (13), points (21), and average time on ice (14:39), and is one of San Jose’s top penalty-killing forwards.
“He certainly brings a lot of characteristics you’re looking for in any organization, but in particular, the situation we’re in as we
continue to move forward here and add pieces to where we ultimately want to be,” Sharks coach David Quinn said of Sturm. “He’s a great teammate, very diligent in his work ethic on and off the ice, hard to play against. Does a lot of good things for us.”
The Sharks are firmly in a transitional period. Forwards Timo Meier, Mikey Eyssimont, and Nick Bonino, plus winger Matt Nieto and defensemen Jaycob Megna, were all offloaded before last Friday’s trade deadline, and more changes will likely be forthcoming this summer as Grier continues to reshape the roster.
“I don’t expect us to be Stanley Cup contenders next year, but the goal has to be to move in the right direction and take the next step,” Sturm said. “Next year we’ve got to be much better than we were this year. The (0-5-0) start hurt us really bad, but also, just in general, how we’ve played at home.
“So you want to be able to see progress. From the conversations that I’ve had with management and the coaching staff, I’m going to try to do my part and keep up my high standards and try to show the other players around me, especially the young kids, what it takes to form a championship team. I want to be a part of that.”
Sturm said he and Grier talked to each other prior to the deadline, but he wasn’t interested in going elsewhere.
“(Grier’s) a stand-up guy. We’ve always had open and honest conversations,” Sturm said. “But I told him I signed here for three years, I knew what I was going to sign up for, so that hasn’t really changed for me.”
For the Sharks, there’s nowhere to go but up. After Tuesday’s games, San Jose, at 19-3412, had the league’s second-worst points percentage at .385, only ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets mark of .367.
It’s the same situation the Avalanche was in seven years ago. Colorado finished last in the NHL with a 22-56-4 record but had foundational pieces like Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon, and Mikko Rantanen to build around.
There are promising young players in the Sharks’ system, too, and the team has a realistic chance of winning the draft lottery and having wunderkind center Connor Bedard on its roster next season. But as much as Grier wants to try and quickly turn things around, the Sharks have a long way to go before they can once again be a Cup contender like the Avalanche are right now.
Colorado, after an inconsistent start thanks to numerous injuries, is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and entered Wednesday in third place in the Central Division. The Avs will be tough for any opposing team to deal with in the first round of the playoffs, as they look to become the third team in eight years to repeat at Cup champions.
“I just think in general, as an organization, you can always learn from winners,” Sturm said. “The one thing I took away last year from that experience is that everybody there knew exactly what their job was coming to the rink every day. From (Mackinnon), the equipment guy, everybody knew.
“For me, I knew, ‘OK, I’m going to play my eight, nine minutes a night, worry about the penalty kill, worry about my job.’ So I didn’t have to worry about putting up points or the power play. There’s never a shred of doubt about what your responsibility was.”