Sharks at the All-Star break: Letter grades for players, coaches and management

It’s tough to give decent grades to players on a team that sits 26th in the NHL. After all, only one skater has played at least 10games this season and does not have a negative plus-minus rating.

That would be Antti Suomela, and he is at a zero plus-minus rating after 11 NHL games this season. Everyone else is a minus, as it now appears the Sharks, at 21-25-4, will miss the playoffs for just the second time since the 2002-03 season.

Still, some players, who have been around all season, have performed better than others.

Here are our letter grades for members of the Sharks after 50games this season.

Forwards

Logan Couture — His value is on full display at the moment, with the Sharks 2-3-0 in his absence. Couture’s production is down, but no one forward is asked to do more. (B).

Barclay Goodrow — Has played just about every forward position this season and has already set career highs in goals (eight) and points (21). One of the few Sharks outperforming their contracts. (B).

Evander Kane — With a team-high 19 goals, Kane is on pace to better last year’s total of 30, which matched a career high, Still, consistency, particularly at even strength, has been an issue. (B-).

Tomas Hertl — Has battled a nagging lower body injury the last couple of months. Still, with 15goals and 35points, he is well behind last year’s pace when he scored 35 goals and had 74 points. (C+).

Patrick Marleau — Like many forwards, Marleau needs to be more consistent. But overall, the Sharks are happy he’s back in the room. (C).

Joe Thornton — Thornton’s production has improved in the second half, but he and linemates Kevin Labanc and Marcus Sorensen haven’t recaptured the magic they had last season. (C).

Joel Kellman — Has solidified the Sharks’ fourth line with his solid two-way play. Could use a few more points, but Sharks have to be generally pleased with what they’ve seen (C).

Timo Meier — Got off to a very slow start and his ice time has gradually been reduced all season. He’s just 23, but more is needed from him. (C-).

Kevin Labanc — Has the worst plus-minus among all Sharks forwards (-22), and still has to prove he can play a top six role in the NHL. (C-).

Noah Gregor — Can skate at an NHL level and had some moments of promise as a fourth liner earlier this season. Needs to round out his game to stay up with the big club, though. (C-).

Dylan Gambrell — Took a step this season in terms of compete level, but his production was minimal. Was reassigned to Barracuda on Dec. 18. Who knows when he’ll be back. (D).

Stefan Noesen — Needs to be more consistent in terms of production, energy and physicality. Has one goal in 14games. (D).

Marcus Sorensen — Has fallen flat in his bid to build on a breakout 2018-19 season. Has 10 points in 46games and was a healthy scratch for the Sharks’ game in Vancouver (D-).

Defensemen

Erik Karlsson — Is now tied for the team lead in points but has only shown in bits and pieces what has made him so special last decade. Has been defending better, but still has penchant for making risky plays. This team hasn’t been good enough to overcome some of those mistakes. (C+).

Brent Burns — Has improved under interim coach Bob Boughner. But after he had 83points last season, may not get to 50 this season. This team is starved for goals and needs Burns, who is banged up right now, to help lead the way. (C+).

Brenden Dillon — Has been steady all season and has largely shown that he can take on a little extra ice time. Figures to be sought after at the NHL trade deadline in a few weeks. (B).

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — A lot of nuances to Vlasic’s game go unnoticed, but it’s not a stretch to say he can be better at both ends of the ice. His ice time is down a bit from last season, as is his offensive production. (B-).

Mario Ferraro — Ferraro has been the Sharks’ best rookie this season by a mile. As a first-year professional, he’s had to learn on the fly at the NHL level. But relative to his age and experience, he has been a steady third-pair defenseman for most of the season. (B).

Radim Simek — Despite the recent road trip, the Sharks are a better team with Simek in the lineup. That said, his knee injury has been an issue for a majority of the season. Will he still be a Shark next season? (C+).

Tim Heed — Heed did not have a good training camp, but has been more steady in terms of his play in the defensive end. Has just one assist in 25 games, though. (D).

Goalies

Martin Jones — The Sharks were hoping Jones was turning a corner when he went 10-2-0 with a .902 save percentage in November. In 10 games since then, though, he’s been 1-8-1 with an .878 save percentage. Where might the Sharks be with a few more saves? (D).

Aaron Dell — Dell is trending up. He went 1-2-2 in December with a .911 save percentage, and in seven games this month, is 4-3-0with a .924save percentage. (B).

Coaching

The Sharks are 6-9-2 since Bob Boughner was named interim coach Dec. 11. He has tried to get the Sharks to commit to a certain, defense-first identity with mixed results. He and his staff — Roy Sommer, Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov — have gotten to know one another on the fly. While a coaching change may have been necessary, it may have also been a doomed season from the get-go. (C).

Management

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson needed to add an experienced winger in the offseason to offset losses in free agency, and he didn’t, after he made promises to young players in the organization that they would get a chance to compete for roster spots. Most of those players were not ready. Goaltending was a big question mark before the season began and remains one now. Making a move to shore up his roster when things went sour in early December also didn’t happen. The Sharks have significant problems. Is Wilson the one to fix those problems? (D).