San Jose Sharks News & Rumors: 17-Game Losing Streak, Misa, Warsofsky, Celebrini’s Future & More
Hello everybody and welcome into another Sharks news and rumors video here at the Hockey Writers YouTube channel. I’m your host Matthew Zetur and as always joined by Alex Hutton as we continue covering the Sharks over this season. I Alex, how’s it going? Going good. Glad to be uh glad to be doing this again. Wish we could be um talk about after stringing together a couple wins, but you know, hope hopefully that that comes in time. Yeah, unfortunately this video is going to talk about a lot about losing um because the Sharks are haven’t won a game yet this season. Um, but there is some positivity in the fact that Michael Misa did get his first career point, first NHL point against the Islanders, an assist. Uh, still hasn’t scored his first goal yet. Um, he’s played three games already and just got his first point. Uh, how have you uh how’s he looked uh over his first three games in the NHL? Um, improving as he’s gone along, I think. Getting more get more confident, just comfortable with the pace of NHL play. that that point that assist he got to to set up the goal for for Adam Goddard was a great play. Um you know right in front of the net just like seeing it and having the presence of mind to make that pass rather than trying to shoot it. Um but making the the right play and the even better play it he was in great shooting position but just to um get an even better opportunity for a goal was was a great sign to be able to do that at at 18 years old um is a is a great step and hopefully an indication of of more things to come. Yeah, I mean very early in his career he’s got three shots on goal as well. I know I think first time we were talking he only had the one game under his belt and it was no shots, nothing. Uh but now he Yeah, he’s starting to get some chances. His ice time is around the 12 I mean his first game he had 15 minutes. He’s been around the 12 minute 12 and a half minute mark average the last couple games. So, I mean, he’s not playing a ton. Uh, which I mean, we can talk about later on about what what should be happening with the young guys. Um, but yeah, it’s a he’ll keep progressing and we’ll see again, we’ll see if he stays in the NHL or if he gets sent back to junior. uh he’s still got a number of games he can still play um before that decision has to be made, but we’ll see if that ends up being the case that he’ll be sent back to uh to junior, which I’m sure the Sagenov Spirit would love him to come back to to uh to see if he can help them out. But um we’ll see how that goes. All right. Well, let’s talk about the losing. They haven’t won a game this season. This is going back to last season. 17game losing streak. I which is bad. It’s It’s not good. It’s been a long time since Sharks fans has been able to celebrate a win. Um I mean there’s not much else really. What are you seeing? I mean is there is there some hope that this will end or Yeah. I mean it’s just a long time since the last win. Yeah. I mean, you you you think it has to end eventually, just the the laws of hockey and math and physics say eventually they’ll they’ll score more goals than the other team in one of these games. But I I I think it it starts at at the trade deadline last year when they when they moved, you know, Miley Granland, Jake Walman, and all these sort of veteran guys who were helping just hold things down a little bit and just establish some steadiness and and consistency there. Obviously, they still weren’t winning a ton, but they were doing it for every now and then. And I think just since then they they traded away those guys and haven’t found their their replacements. Um the guys who are going to do that like you look at the the defensive guys they’ve acquired they acquired this off season. I would say of them Demetri Orv is having the best season. Uh but but none of them have I mean John Clingberg wasn’t playing great and he got hurt. Nick Lety has been playing great. So, just the the guys they were they replaced um in that area. Um haven’t haven’t found um the the new guys for the for those roles this year. Um and you know in the forwards was one of their one of their best players, one of their top scorers, veteran leader and you know they there there’s a void there as well. Uh I think that’s a big part of it. And then you know the the young guys they’re they’re doing some of them are doing okay. Min Celerbrini is is still doing pretty well, but you know, it’s just there’s they they need that that leadership is really important and the those guys are still learning and still developing. So, that’s a factor in it as well. And I think when especially when you’re a young team, losing kind of lead to to more losing. If you get into bad habits, you struggle with confidence, it can be tough to to turn that around as well. For sure. I mean, they’re they haven’t been losing by, you know, it’s they’re not close losses. Uh I mean there are some actually there’s quite a few that are not blowouts. Uh but they’re allowing a lot of goals. Like their second game of the season was 76 loss. I mean they scored enough to win but you when you allow seven I’m sorry you’re probably not going to win. Um and even if you do you have to outscore your problems and they’ve allowed quite a few goals. Um, and that that’s tough when you can’t score to I mean when you have to score to to win I score a ton of goals to win it’s not a recipe for success right so um they have to start limiting the amount of goals again so that their offense can bring them to a win right so yeah absolutely and I think that it’s just it it puts everybody in a tough spot because the offense feels like they have to score so much the goalies feel like they have to be perfect when all they’re doing is getting faced with these shots kind of right in the right in prime position and so that makes that makes things really tough especially when Yarlav Asarov you know young goalie like I said young players it can be even tougher on them um and so I mean he’s trying to figure everything out and you know just like taking taking the loss to the to the Islanders last night you know they allowed four goals and I would say three of them were not his fault so it’s it’s just a tough situation all around. Mhm. So, for reference, their last win was uh against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 27th last season. They went on an 11game losing streak to end the season. Um so, I mean, they’re Yeah, it’s been a long time. And even that win, they had to score six goals to win. It wasn’t a shootout, so five goals um to win. So, we’ll see. Do you have a I mean it’s kind of tough, but where do you see a a game maybe coming up that could generate a win? That’s that’s a that’s a good question. Let me let me just sort of look at their uh their upcoming schedule just to remind myself when exactly uh upcoming games are. Um well that’s that’s that’s tough to say on on the road trip right now. that’s that’s tricking some good teams in there as well. So, I think maybe they get they get back home towards the end of the month, so maybe they can sort of once they get back home and get um back there, maybe they can some sort of a more comfortable place, maybe something in there. But it’s it’s just it’s it’s just it’s that’s a tough thing to prognosticate right now just because of how the losing just sort of keeps spiraling. Yeah. I mean, play the the Rangers, that’s tough. Devils next, that’s tough. Wild are tough. Kings, Devils again. I mean, Avalanche. Oh my gosh. I mean, there’s just so many different I mean, really good teams coming up. I It’s going to be tough to get a win out of any of these. So, we’ll see. We’ll see when the losing streak does end. All right. Well, I mean, we got to continue talking about it, but head coach, I mean, it’s tough. Uh, he knew coming in, uh, Roxy coming in that he was he was going to behind the bench of a rebuilding team. Uh, he’s showing a lot of frustration lately for losing. he wants to win. Um, do you see him I mean the adjustments that he’s made I mean we talked about our last news and rumors about you know the balance of veterans and young guys. Do you see something that he could do to maybe change this and turn this around or I mean thing is is understandable to be frustrated even you know that you’re probably going to be losing. Yeah, it it’s it’s tough and I think you just as a coach in that situation, you’re just you start kind of throwing stuff at the wall just to see what what sticks a little bit. This gets so desperate. This is I just I I remember reading a thing. This is not a hockey story, but I remember reading a story about when when Urban Meyer was the coach of the Jaguars, how when he like when when they were everything was kind of going off the rails, he he talked about like I would just like sit there and like just lay in my bed at night and going like I feel like we have the players to be winning some of these games. What are we doing wrong? And I feel like I feel like that’s got to be something that a lot of head coaches of losing teams have to be experiencing. And I’m sure that’s something he’s that Worski is feeling right now. And it’s a it’s just a tough spot. I mean, I think I think I think the one one of the changes would be on on defense trying to just switch just keep switching things up there. You know, we talked about how how rough of a start to the season Nick Lety has has had. Maybe maybe he gets scratched scratched a few times just to see if putting other guys into those spots works or, you know, mixing up the pairings a little bit to see if other guys can work better with each other. Um, but it’s a it’s a tough situation to to be in. And obviously we talk about the issues he’s had with, you know, young players and building up their confidence versus trying to limit their mistakes and how tough that can be, but it’s just it’s a difficult, like I said, it’s a difficult situation for for him right now. It is. I mean, the thing is is it’s kind of tough to gauge. Is it the system that he’s putting that that’s doing the losing or is it because the inexperience the defense corps there’s quite a few veterans on there. I mean, it’s not like it’s a young overly young, but there’s quite a few new guys in there, too, even though they’re veterans. Um, learning a system that’s that’s new, right? So, do you see maybe it’s that that as well? I mean, is it something that And it’s only a second season uh with the team, too. So, it’s not like I Yeah. And it’s tough with so many changes when they, you know, trade away so many guys at the deadline and all of a sudden you have new guys, new young guys coming in. It’s tough to kind of pinpoint a a system together when you keep changing the players, too. It it definitely is. Yeah. And I think that’s one of the things to to be considered is can they establish those guys and get more consistency. You know, in I wasn’t sure I wasn’t sure about it at the time, but in retrospect, giving Tyler to Foley a four-year deal was a was a great move because it gave them some veteran consistency on the forward lines. I think they that’s something I’m actually speaking of, you know, hockey writers here. writers think I’m writing an article about right now actually is finding that same kind of consistency on the defensive side of things. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s a big thing and I think you need to start having and we talked about maybe getting you know establishing what core you’re going to have even with the veterans like and I know there’s going to be young guys part of it but you got to start establishing some like you say consistency so that the system stays with these guys. you can start establishing that culture, that system how you’re going to play. So, I mean, yeah, that’s a big big deal. I think that definitely has to start uh soon. All right. Uh to finish, I I mean, this might be a drastic thing uh so so soon, but Mlin Celibbrini, I I mean, the winning has to I think start soon for for him to I mean, his ELC is going to come up pretty quick here. Uh they’re going to have to resign him. Do they have to start winning a little more consistently for him to uh stay here long term or is it going to be a point where he’s going to be like I don’t want to deal with this. I don’t want to go to a team that I know him be winning. I mean, I I I think it’s it’s still a little bit early to be to be really getting into that. Um but I do think that’s obviously something to to keep in mind um down the road. You know, I think that I think you you’ve seen him postgame a few times and in interview scrums and things like that just how how frustrated he’s been with all the losing. And it’s, you know, very understandable because the thing about, you know, young players in the NHL is these are guys who were probably winning a lot with their youth teams, winning a lot with their junior teams, winning a lot in college, whatever it might have been, and then they get to the NHL and because they’re drafted so high, they might be on a not quite as great team that’s losing a lot more than they’re used to. So, it can really be kind of a a sudden punch to to experience that. And I think that is something you you’ve seen in in recent years how how difficult that can be with a with a few different uh high drafts. I think you saw that a lot with Connor Bard these last couple years, quite frankly, how tough it’s been for him in a in a tough situation in Chicago. And I think you you don’t want that that that joy to go away. I think that’s a that’s a big part of it is you don’t want a player to like start associating their the team that they’re on with taking the fun out of hockey. Yeah. And I think I think for for the moment he’s he’s still hanging there because he’s he’s got he’s made some, you know, great friendships with a lot of the guys on the team. I think that if that can stay the same, that’s a good start, but then the winning has to has to follow as well. Yeah. And I mean it is I mean when these guys get drafted and they’re probably an expectation that that’s probably going to happen. uh they they’re not going to run into a a winning environment right away. I mean it’s very rare that happens. Um but I mean yeah it’s going to be tough and I mean frustration losing no one likes losing. I mean if you do there’s something wrong. Um so I mean and also I I know there’s always big things that you don’t want to start having that as being part of the culture that it’s a losing culture. We we’re just going to be losing every game. Um that that has to change soon I think but I don’t know if it’s at that point where like well Mlin is going to want to trade he wants out of San Jose I don’t think that’s at that point and even Bard I mean that’s been talk about that is he going to be in Chicago he said he wants to be and all that so I think I think in the end he will be it’ll be fine but I there has to be a point where he starts seeing that upward where it kind of changes and he’ll be part of that I mean he’ll be part of that change too um so I mean we’ll Once all the young guys start kind of hitting their stride, I think that’s but it’s it’s going to take some time. And I don’t know when that’ll be, but there’s going to be a lot of uh a lot of losing I think still. I mean, they could end up with Gavin McKenna at the end of this as well. And that just keeps adding to the talent that they’ve got on this team, right? you know, and and between that and also him, it it’ll be interesting to see just with him, you know, obviously being a restricted free agent um before anything else. You know, how much say will he be able to to have over it if if he really wanted to, what would he be able to do to to kind of force his hand force their hand on that situation will be would be if it got to that point, it would be something to to pay attention to. Yeah, we’ll we’ll keep an eye on that for sure. And hopefully by the time we do this video next, there’ll be a win uh we can talk about. But thanks Alex for coming on. Talking Sharks as always. Make sure you’re checking out everything at talks.com. We’ve got lots of content throughout the site and also our substacks and the other YouTube videos we’ve got out there. So make sure you’re checking all that out. But until our next one, we’ll see you next time.
In this edition of the San Jose Sharks News & Rumors rundown, Matthew Zator and Alex Hutton discuss Michael Misa’s first NHL point, the current 17-game losing streak going back to last season, Ryan Warsofsky’s public frustration, Macklin Celebrini’s long-term future, and more.
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1 comment
Calgary is even worse then San Jose!