`We will be better'
Sharks are eager to move past a season in which they recorded just 19 victories
The next time the San Jose Sharks play a game, Macklin Celebrini might be in the lineup.
That could be one of the few things the Sharks and their fans can look forward to after the franchise finished its worst season in nearly three decades.
The Sharks on Thursday allowed two goals in the first period and three more in a span of 3:03 in the second in what became a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome in the last game of the regular season for both teams.
San Jose's lone goal came from Fabian Zetterlund with nine seconds left, spoiling Gilroy native Dustin Wolf's shutout bid.
“A game is a full 60 minutes,” Zetterlund said. “I don't remember the last time we played a full 60. We learn from it. Everyone's going to get home now and get better during the offseason and come back stronger.”
The Sharks (19-54-9) will have their exit interviews today, and will be eager to move past a season in which they became the first team in the salary cap era (since 2005-06), to win fewer than 20 games in a full 82-game season.
“It's tough to reflect on it right now with everything that just happened and how it went, but obviously we need to take steps to get better,” Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs said. “That's something we want to do, that's something we want to provide, and we'll look to do that.”
The last NHL team not to win 20 games in a full season was Atlanta in 2001-02 when the Thrashers went 19-47-11-5.
San Jose's .287 points percentage this season equals that of the 1995-96 team for third-lowest in franchise history, eclipsing only the Cow Palace-era Sharks in 1991-92 (.244) and 1992-93 (.143).
“It's just tough to end like that,” Burroughs said. “It's just not the way we wanted to go out.”
One of the few positives this season for the Sharks is that they have a 25.5% chance of winning the NHL Draft lottery next month and selecting Celebrini, the Hobey Baker Award winner and former Jr. Sharks forward widely considered the best player available this year.
Celebrini, still just 17, had 64 points in 38 games as a freshman at Boston University, which advanced to the Frozen Four earlier this month. He is expected to turn pro.
Although no one realistically thought they would make the playoffs this season, the Sharks also did not feel they would finish in last place.
But after a disastrous 0-10-1 start and an inability to gain much traction after that point, the Sharks fully committed to the rebuild. That led to trading Tomas Hertl in March to the Vegas Golden Knights for prospect David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round draft pick.
Over the final few weeks of the season — and especially over these last few games — the Sharks were icing the youngest and most inexperienced lineups they've had all season.
“We've made a lot of changes and there's a lot of new faces,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “It's tough to learn on the go in a short period of time, what's expected of you and it's hard.
“But we're not the only team that's gone through it and as I've said repeatedly, we're at a situation where we kind of understood that this was going to be a difficult year. But we will be better moving forward.”