SHARKS OFFENSIVE: Best Case Scenario Where Celebrini, Smith, and Misa ELEVATE San Jose’s Attack

The off-season is about wish casting the best-case scenarios for the San Jose Shark, so we dig into the perfect 26-27 season for San Jose. Your Locked-On Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked-On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, my name is JD Young, and on today's episode of Locked-On Sharks, we're going to be looking at the best-case scenarios for the San Jose Sharks in the 26-27 season. We'll discuss Ascrow making big strides this season. We'll talk about how the defense gets much better with everybody coming together. First, we're going to focus on the offense and how it grows around Macklencel-Abrini. On today's episode, we're going to dive into best-case scenarios for the San Jose Sharks that are realistic. Macklencel-Abrini puts up 100 goals and scores 250 points, not a realistic kind of scenario for San Jose. It would be really sick, that wouldn't it? As we expect this team to take further steps and to be a potential playoff team this year, there's a lot of potential growth on this team. It's easy to look at this team and say, yeah, we expect X, Y, and Z to get better just because of either A, some of the growth from young players, B, some of the new talent added in C, just because we don't expect, most of the time, you don't expect your team to get worse. We've had off seasons where we knew the Sharks got worse, but as the Sharks have exited this rebuild and we're going to start to become a competitive team, it's good to look at what happens of everything lines up for you this season. Everything that we expect or hope to happen happens. So let's start with the offense. I think this is one of the areas where it's a very easy path to see the offense continuing to get better. Of course, Mack won last year, put on an absolute show as he broke the Sharks record for points in a season for the franchise with 115, right, 40 goals. It was an absolute like just superstar, like superstar as a 19 year old. When we expect maybe Celebrity, maybe like a slight dip in production, if he comes down like a little bit, that wouldn't be unexpected and also wouldn't be expected if he continued to grow. But as where does it sound for a third year player, you kind of know what you're going to expect from Macklin, Celebrity, and from a player who has already become one of the best players in HL, and as we talked about yesterday, right, a player who you could argue is a top 10 player in this league. But I think for San Jose, like the offense continuing to take some strides would go a long way. You know, this team was still kind of in the middle of the pack here when it came to goals 4251, you know, goals they were tied with the Florida Panthers and just ahead of the flyers and right behind the leaves. You know, kind of in the middle of the pack there, but you expect this team to kind of start to creep towards a top 10 offense when it comes to, you know, to, and it would come to their offense and comes to scoring goals. And I think the biggest, the best scenario would be Celebrity continues to play at the pace that he's playing and if he's putting up 110, 120 points somewhere in that range. But then the rest of the guys start to grow around him, right, Michael Misa, for example, right, becomes the, you know, 60 70 point player on the second line. Will Smith establishes himself as a 30 to 35 goal score, like a perennial 30 to 35 goal score. You know, Evers Stenberg comes in and is an absolute like color candidate from from day one and establishes himself as a, you know, playmaking offensive force for the sharks and, you know, quickly earns a top six role for San Jose. This thing, you know, Igor Shunoshov, you know, becomes an everyday NHL player and, you know, is a guy who can light up the lamp and help kind of drive play as well. All those things are very realistic things to happen and it'll be the, this season will be very much about like, okay, how much of those things come true, right, like how and to what extent, right, if Stenberg comes in and is like a point for game type of player. From day one, I think that's fair to say, probably going to exceed expectations, right, if, if Shunoshov, you know, kind of comes in and becomes, you know, like becomes an everyday NHL player and as a guy who's, you know, puts up 25, 20 to 25 goals and, you know, like looks and then kind of provides that little bit different something else like, okay, those are, those are, you know, I think high expectations, but legitimate expectation. Like realistic expectations for, for Shunoshov and, you know, Smith is a 30 to 35 goal score. If he gets even higher than that, you feel like that's, those are all realistic outcomes for Will Smith and the same thing where Michael Misa right at Misa becomes a, you know, 17, 18 minute and night player and is, you know, putting up 20 to 25 goals, 40 assists, something like in that range. You know, those all, you can see all those things happen and it's just going to be how many of those things happen for this short offense to kind of continue to take the next steps and, you know, and if the power play. Take some big steps and becomes a more efficient group as we talked about earlier this off season as a, you know, group that got a lot of opportunities, but maybe wasn't as efficient as you would like. If all those things happen, you could easily see this offense kind of propelling itself into a top 10 offense in the NHL because, you know, realistically, you'd have to score probably about 30 more goals in the season. One, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, 10. So the ducks scored 273 goals last year, they are the 10th best offense. The sharks for a 251. So we'll just say 25 more goals throughout the season. The sharks able to find 25 like there's a, again, that's a lot of a lot of goals right there. I just potentially talked about. Yes, I know you asked William Aquin, right? And, you know, like you're maybe celebrity isn't as efficient and stuff like that, but there's a lot of reason to believe that this team can be a top 10 offense because of just the natural growth from second year. You know, guys are going from the second to third year guys gone from the working season to their second season, like there's a lot of optimism that the growth should be there in a much deeper team offensively, right? Let me think about the additions of like, nice to march, man. Thank you for sure. What you showed up in the year last year, like the sharks should be able to realistically roll out three lines that you feel can score at any given time. And this is a far cry from last year where it was very much. I mean, I mean, you know, you're going to get some winter production as well. And then, you know, two years ago or the last kind of couple years where the sharks were very much a one line team. So the deeper offensive group would be huge for San Jose, if as in their quest to try to get a, you know, back into the playoffs this season for the first time since 2019. Yeah, I think best case scenario for the offense is all those guys kind of take those next steps, right? And this offense becomes a top 10 offense in the NHL when it comes to goal production. The analytics are much more in favor of San Jose where they're a positive coursey team, right? They're a team that is driving play. They're not just kind of taking advantage of their opportunities, which is what realistically San Jose did a lot last year, right? Where they were usually outshot most nights or they were given way more shot attempts and they were creating, but they were still finding ways to score because celebrity is just so freaking good. So more sustainable offense that I think is kind of the best way to put this where the offense takes those steps. They're, they're a much more in control offense and a, you know, offense that can score more. two ways right they can get on the rush or if they need to cycle it like whatever they find ways to get the puck back of the net and if this offense is I think you know a top 10 offense I think that bodes very well for them to potentially make the playoffs so we're gonna talk about the defense here and just a second and all the new pieces and how they come together so we'll get to that here in one second ready to business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together one app for accounting another inventory another for sales and somehow none of them talk to each other that's where odu comes in odu is an all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one powerful platform from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing everything works in one place odu is one platform to manage grow and scale your business best organizations know that success isn't just about talent so having everyone working towards that same goal it's true in sports just like it is in business you think about just the way the sharks have been going through this rebuild right it's been slow they've been trying to get top in talent this isn't just you know we're gonna overreact to one thing the organization the organization has a vision they're sticking to it and now you're going to start to see the results because everyone is working from the same playbook great organizations win because operations matter that's why you should get odu try for free today at odu.com/lockdown that's odo.com/lockdown all right do of course my thank you for making the locked on sharks your first listen if you haven't checked out the every day or club now is a great time to do so with the season right around the corner five bucks a month that's it five dollars you get add free audio episodes of every episode of locked on sharks as well as a newsletter with every episode you get a weekly bonus episode just for every day or during this season as well as access to our discord and more to go check it out over at locked on sharks.supercast or click the link in the show notes to learn more so the offense taking big strides i think another huge success for the sharks this season would be the defense dragging itself out of the cellar right and this is very much a group that you you saw my career go extreme overhaul right two-thirds of the defense is going to be brand new this season compared to what we saw last year right to meet your love holdover sam dickinson holdover those are the only two guys who were who are back from last year who are kind of main stays with the team we know donnell nurse Jacob truba micro kessler ring and then he expects most likely look at can yoni and or air poll camp but we're just going to go with can yoni just because his role and stuff so you have a brand new group of defenders coming in and the hope is that these guys congel pretty quickly if you remember last year right where you had a lot of new pieces coming in the defense was a little bit slow to start things going you know and start the season it wasn't tall the first you know kind of month or so in the season i think that you saw the defense really kind of settle in as best as it could and i think for san Jose that you're having that defense settle in earlier because you do have some veterans coming in right nurse truba those two guys have played a ton of hockey right and you know i'll keep stressing it yes are they overpaid 100% are they also better than what we had last year i firmly believe so right and then you have a little bit of a you know a wild card and kind of an x factor in micro kessler ring who i think is very much going to be playing with the chip on her shoulder looking to come in and kind of get back to his uta days i think he's going to be coming in ready to go the the growth of sam Dickinson now that he kind of survived your one in the nhl how has he kind of learned from that and what you know can he kind of cut down on some of those mistakes and focus on and kind of be a better two-way defenseman and can we see more of those offensive flashes that we saw from him at london and this all kind of what made him such an exciting young defenseman as he was kind of heading over and again you know giving the keys to the the power play hopefully to look a canyony here really boost the the power play and gives the sharks another puck moving defense so they're not spending so much time in their own defensive zone and like again there's a lot of it's an easy path for the defense to just be better than it was last year because of right just just the upgrade and talent again truba nurse overpaid yes i still again i think those guys are way better than than some of the players that they trotted out last year um but i also think a lot of just the kind of internal growth of some of these players made we talked about uh Dickinson earlier and just that that grew step from rookie season to a sophomore season and hopefully the sharks kind of take the training those off him a little bit more this year and uh let him kind of jump into the play more and let him you know do what he does so well and that is drive play from the blue line here and get into the offense and i think a big thing will be finding the right partner for for samtik and sim but i think you have way more realistic options now right um whether it's kesslering whether it's truba you know whether it is uh darnel nurse i know nurse is a lefty as well but there's i just i believe there's just more options for sanosate to kind of mix and match a little bit better um than what we saw last year uh compare you know and again i just i think that talent level is very much raised up a little bit and going from one of a terrible defense to just uh middle of the pack defense i think it's going to bow well for sanosate and right and if they can you know help to limit some of the time of their defensive zone and i think a big thing we'll talk about a little bit more when we talk about a scrub in the third section but right you you can't be the third worst team when it comes to goals allowed right 292 goals this year only the least in the connox gave up more and you don't have any minus 41 goal differential which was one two three four the fifth worst in the nhl right um if you want to be a legitimate playoff team you you can't be in that range you have to be you know again i think going from minus 41 to like if you're in or if you're anywhere around zero that is a massive jump and there's a team that has made a lot of massive jumps in the goal differential over the last couple seasons right you go back to two years ago when they were at minus 150 last year right minus 150 to minus 105 and then minus 105 to minus 41 that that's zero an improvement by 60 goals there if you can get closer to zero right improved offense defense is much better and hopefully make sure life easier on goal on the goal tending i think they're that's an easy pathway for the sharks to just be a better team right it is the defense is just better right make makes everybody's lives better and makes everybody's lives easier here so i i think the defense you know jelly quickly making major strides and just becoming kind of more of a competent middle of the pack unit i think is is kind of the best case scenario for this team i'm not again realistically like i don't think they have the pieces to be like a top 10 defense just because right some questions who's the true number one uh it kind of feels like they have a lot more kind of they have some guys who could be potential twos like you think like a Dickinson for example kessel ring if he kind of returns the form but a lot more kind of threes and fours on this team compared to last year where's a lot more kind of fives and sixes on this team at the defensive level so i think this is very much a a pretty easy path to success here and just kind of get back into the middle get back into the middle of the pack defensively so we're going to talk about ascribe and kind of his best case scenario here in just one second when workplace chaos hits in either right hire indeed sponsored jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills certifications and location so as time gets fed searching and more time gets fed finding the right fit people are are finding quality hires on indeed right now in the minute i'm talking to you uh your companies or companies like yours have made 27 hires on indeed according to indeed data worldwide we know usually the biggest difference isn't someone doing more work, it's having somebody who knows it's exactly what needs to happen when help that helps everything runs smoother. So a spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing a cancer check all your boxes. Let's stress less time, more results. We need the right person to cut through the cast as a job for indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show, we a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status. It deserves an indeed.com/podcast. Just head over to indeed.com/podcast Right now, a support or show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com/podcast. Terms, Ignitions, Supply, need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. (upbeat music) All right, do of course want to thank you for making it locked on Sharks Your First Listen. When you're done with this episode, go check out the locked on NHL show. You got you covered Monday through Friday for all the biggest stories around the NHL. I'm gonna start getting you geared up for a new season. So make sure you find the longer area. You get podcasts. And of course, you can watch on YouTube as well. I think the other best case scenario is Asgarov becomes a above average starter. Again, realistic here, right? If Asgarov becomes an above average starter, you know, if he's in the top kind of 15 when it comes to like, say percentage, goals against average, you know, goals saved above expect to kind of all those key stats. This team I think is very much safely in the playoff race. And it should be a playoff team there, right? And the reason, you know, again, it's an easy path. Asgarov who showed plenty of flashes, especially look at November and also showed plenty of times where here, you saw a rookie gold tender going through or you know, a kind of tough rookie season. And this team still was four points out of a playoff spot despite subpar gold tendon from Asgarov. So with Asgarov, who's in a contract here, comes out shows that he can be this guy that was worthy of a first round pick. And the guy that we saw in the AHL with the Barracuda, like, this seems to be really good together. It's like this team's going to be good. And improved defense, right? Again, going from a bottom of the barrel defense to a middle of the pack defense helps a lot. You're expected to get less shot attempts and less, hopefully less dangerous opportunities as the shark's offense continues to improve and can hopefully spend more time in their own zone and they're controlling the puck more. Right? You're not just getting ASCII in Madalca, just while kind of getting just hammered by shots and shot attempts every night. And you know, if you can cut down those, you're less likely to have mistakes from Asgarov's point of view and where you can kind of be sharper because they're right, you're just facing less when onslaught night and night out. And just the growth from Asgarov, right? I really do believe Asgarov has the potential to be a good goalie, right? You see the athleticism, you see how well he can track the puck. Does he have things he needs to work on 100%, right? That glove hand. And I think a lot of that kind of just maybe overcompensating for the amount of workload and by workload, I mean like shot attempts and stuff like that. I think the game slowing down for him kind of able to read the plays a little bit better. And again, just not facing, you know, the amount of shots. I think it's a pretty like, again, I think it's a very easy, the best case scenario for ASCII. And I am, is there a world where ASCII just like goes absolutely bananas and kind of maybe has a good just for false set type of performance where right, false set who is, you know, already kind of put himself as a potential like top 10 goalie. I think he made the goal NHL networks goalies list here, pulling it up right now. Yeah, he was number nine, sorry, excuse me. Is there a world where he does that 100%, but I think we're realistically, I think Asgarov kind of settles himself into the top half of goal tenders, right? It's kind of starting goal tenders. And you know, if he's in that like number 12, 13, 14 range, that's a massive improvement from last year, from what we saw for San Jose. And you know, if, I think I'll give all three of these things happen, right? If the offense becomes a top 10 offense and the defense becomes a middle of the pack defense and Asgarov kind of establishes himself as a, you know, 12th best, 13th best goalie in the NHL. This is a playoff team, like no doubt in my mind. Like this is a team that you're probably talking about second seed in the Pacific, right? You're maybe challenging. Like I think it's going to be between like Vegas and Edmonton, those guys until further notice are the top two, you know, guys on the team, are like the top two kind of teams in the Pacific. But right, like they both those teams self questions. And if again, if all these things happen here, again, the offense is a top 10 offense defense middle of the pack and ask these a top kind of 12 goalie, this team could easily be the second team in the Pacific, right? And hosting playoff, like hosting a playoff series against the third team in the Pacific. Like I think that's the absolute, like best, best, best case sit, like realistic best case scenario, right? Is there a very slim world where the sharks could win the Pacific? Yes, but I think a lot has to happen. Is there a real more realistic path that this team is like the second best team in the Pacific? Yeah, there is. Again, you can, you don't have to squint too hard to see that. So I think what's going to happen and we'll spend some time talking kind of worst case scenarios later this week is you'll see the offense make some growth straight. The defense will make some growth. Will the offense kind of hit its ceiling for this season? Probably not, you know, the defense will it hit its ceiling for this season? Probably not. And we'll ask you hit its his ceiling for this season. Probably not, but I think the it'll be very much how close to the ceiling can those kind of specific groups or players get will kind of be the deciding factor for San Jose as they try to make the playoffs. And right, if the offense is like 12th and the defense is, you know, maybe like 20th and Ascii's like middle of the pack, you know, like the 17th or 17th best goalie, they're probably more like a wildcard team, right? Or fighting for a wildcard spot type of thing. And I think that's going to be kind of where those, those different things are going to kind of help determine how good this team can be this season. But it's right there. Like none of these things I think are massive reaches. Like none of these, you know, potential, like the offense, right, the young players getting better is not like a massive reach, right? The new talent and the defense. It's not a massive reach for the defensive group to get better and ask you. It was shown flashes of being good. I don't think it's a potential reach for him to just be a better player in year two than he was as a rookie. So that's going to be it for me today. We'll be back tomorrow. So make sure you phone along wherever you get podcasts. Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on TikTok at Lockdown Sharks. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky at my fri-hole. Make sure to check out the every day or club again, five bucks a month at free audio episodes and more, lockdownsharks.supercast as well as, yeah. 'Til tomorrow. Bye, friends. [MUSIC PLAYING]