Sharks Still Need to Solve Their Right-Shot Defenseman Problem

Now that the initial frenzy of NHL free agency has ended, teams are taking the next step of looking at their rosters and finding supplemental moves to make. For instance, the San Jose Sharks’ main focus right now seems to be navigating their excessive amount of defensemen. They’ve already begun to make moves that mitigate this concern, but their current lineup still has at least eight NHL-caliber blueliners, along with one or two prospects who might be worthy of a roster spot. But within this issue, a smaller problem emerges: the Sharks’ most promising defenders are overwhelmingly left-handed shooters, and no righties have emerged to join alongside them yet. They’ll have to even out the two sides at some point, but their current roster makeup doesn’t provide a clear answer.

Sharks Haven’t Found Right-Shot Core Yet

Not only have the Sharks not identified their future right-shot defenseman, but some of the moves they’ve taken this offseason seem to bring them further away from doing so. Their most significant blue line signing was lefty Dmitry Orlov. The only righty they’ve signed is 32-year-old John Klingberg — hardly an up-and-comer. They didn’t address the issue in the draft, either. Notably, they chose not to select Henry Brzustewicz in the first round despite his being a good fit, then passed on Blake Fiddler in the second round to take the left-handed Haoxi Wang instead.

At this moment, the Sharks’ right-handed defensemen under contract are Klingberg, Timothy Liljegren and Vincent Desharnais, none of whom seem to be major pieces of the rebuild. None of them are homegrown in San Jose, and all of them are free agents at the end of this season. Most of the top young defensemen in their system, such as Luca Cagnoni, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson, are lefties. Their most promising right-hander is 23-year-old Jack Thompson, who is currently a restricted free agent and hasn’t quite established himself in the NHL, appearing in 31 games with the Sharks last season.

A mix of left-handed and right-handed defenders is crucial to a team’s success. Having defensemen on both sides who can catch and fire from the point can vastly improve the rhythm, flow and speed of an offense. Given the Sharks’ offensive struggles over the last few seasons, they could use any upgrade on that end they can get. For the moment, however, they’ve put themselves in a position where they have to figure out how to handle an imbalance on their blue line.

Sharks’ Solution Might Not Come This Season

The Sharks have multiple problems to deal with regarding their defensive logjam, leading to rumors that they are looking to trade at least one of their blueliners. But those rumors have included Liljegren and Thompson, which doesn’t exactly clarify who San Jose’s righties are going to be, whether this season or further down the line.

At this point in the offseason, there is not a lot the Sharks can do to alter their situation. All the notable righty free agents, such as Aaron Ekblad, are already signed. The front office is more interested in trading for forwards, and while they might make moves for defense during the season, they probably won’t have the package to acquire a big name. The next opportunity to add someone might be at next year’s draft, which is hard to plan for so far in advance.

None of this necessarily faults San Jose’s methodology. As a rebuilding team, they’re not likely to sign any big free agents or be the buyer in a blockbuster trade. Given that they’ve had mostly high picks in recent drafts, they’ve tended to draft the best available player rather than for need, which is entirely understandable. But that puts them in a situation with no quick remedy. As with so many parts of a rebuild, they might have no choice but to be patient with this issue.