Amid winless start, should Sharks GM Grier make move?

Most everyone within the San Jose Sharks organization knew this was going to be a difficult season. And once the Sharks got a closer look at this month's schedule – with one playoff-caliber opponent lined up after another – there was little doubt that they were going to be hit hard with adversity.

But this 0-7-1 start by the Sharks had to have surpassed anyone's greatest fears.

The Sharks have scored eight goals in eight games, tied for the third-fewest by any team since the center red line was introduced in 1943-44.

They've been shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 2014.

They're currently on their longest scoring drought — seven-and-half periods — in over 16 years.

There are trust issues within the group.

And no one quite knows when this will end, both the losing streak and this rebuild as a whole.

So, what happens now? General manager Mike Grier has been transparent about where the Sharks are as an organization. No one was kidding themselves thinking this was a playoff team, and a top-three pick in next year's NHL Draft always seemed like more of a possibility than not.

But for now, even with the start being this brutal, don't expect any drastic changes. There's a longterm plan in place and the sense is that the Sharks are not going to make any hurried or emotional decisions. If any changes are made, such as a trade, it will be with the big picture in mind.

Expect the trade buzz to pick up, though, as we get closer to early March when the Sharks will try to weaponize their cap space and turn some of their pending unrestricted free agents into future assets.

So at least for the next little while, it's on the coaches and the guys in the room to figure things out.

“How you get out of it is by sticking together,” Sharks winger Mike Hoffman said. “The players in the locker room, we're the ones who are going to have to do it. There's no one coming to help us, no one coming to save us.”

Some Sharks fans on social media are wondering if second-year coach David Quinn should be relieved of his duties, and that's natural considering the difficulties San Jose has had at both ends of the ice. Perhaps nothing can be guaranteed on that front, especially if the losing continues unabated, but Quinn is in the second year of a three-year contract and it feels like Grier won't be so hasty in that respect.

To be fair to Quinn, it would be better to judge him once he gets Logan Couture and Mikael Granlund back healthy, and the Sharks have a more complete roster. Most teams in the Sharks' position would be going through the same kind of issues without two of their top three centers.

Granlund could be back as soon as Sunday when the Sharks play Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals to end this forgettable five-game road trip.

Now, is Quinn the longterm solution in San Jose? Time will tell. But, judging by the improved effort Friday, 24 hours after getting smoked 6-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the players haven't quit on their coach.

“(Thursday) wasn't good enough, and we had to put our better foot forward today,” Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs said. “It's disappointing the result that came in, and obviously, we need to find something offensively. But the effort was there, and you can't fault the guys for that.”

Part of the responsibility of this Sharks coaching staff is to get William Eklund to the next level as a player. The rebuild will go a lot smoother if Eklund, now 21, develops into a bona fide top-six forward, and Friday's outing might have been his best in 25 career NHL games.

Eklund had a couple of miscues, no doubt, and of course, no goals were scored. But he wanted the puck on his stick and was confident enough in his own abilities to try and make something happen. He even mixed it up with Hurricanes forward and noted pest Michael Bunting.

“He played with attitude today, which he's going to have to play with,” Quinn said of Eklund,

Earlier this week, Quinn asked the 5-foot11, 181-pound Eklund why Lightning star Brayden Point, listed at 5-10 and 178 pounds, produces so much offense at this level.

“It's not cuteness, it's not skills, which he has certainly has, it's way more about an attitude and a pace,” Quinn said of Point. “We were talking about that and if he's going to be the player we think he's capable of, he's got to continue to add that to his game. So I certainly liked a lot about his game tonight.”

From Eklund's perspective, there's an easy way on Sunday for the Sharks to get out of this rut.

“Win the game,” he said.