For the first time since 2019, the San Jose Sharks are in contention for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs late in the season. While the possibility of such a young upstart team making the postseason is exciting, they still have a lot of work to do to get in.
The race for the final Western Conference wild card spot is incredibly tight, and as many as six teams could have a reasonable shot at claiming it. With just a few games left in the regular season, let’s take a look at where the Sharks and the teams they’re competing against find themselves.
Sharks Clustered Among Many Contenders
Simply put, the Sharks and their competition are being kept alive by how weak the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture is. While the last current playoff team in the Eastern Conference has 90 points, the final current West playoff team has 81. The Sharks and their 79 points would be comfortably out of the postseason in the East, but thanks to geography, they’re still very much alive.
Besides the Sharks, five other teams could reach the last West playoff spot without it being completely shocking: the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken. San Jose trails the Predators and Kings by two points while leading all the others. However, they and the Kraken have played 75 games while the others have played 76.
While projection models can vary, most sites that examine playoff odds give the Sharks the third-best chance of making the playoffs among those teams, with Los Angeles first and Nashville second. However, the odds can swing wildly based on just a few results. For instance, on Hockey Stats, San Jose’s probability of reaching the postseason was 11.6% on March 28, rose to 49.9% on April 3, and sits at 26.2% as of today (April 6). With so many teams clustered so tightly, a separation of just a point or two can make a major difference, and the low-scoring nature of hockey only adds to the volatility.
The good news for the Sharks is that they have the second-easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NHL, but the bad news is that the only team with an easier schedule is the Kings. The Sharks play the Predators and Jets once each — they’re 2-0 against Winnipeg this season, but have lost an unbelievable 15 straight to Nashville. Meanwhile, the Kings play Nashville once and Seattle once. The Sharks have three games remaining against current playoff teams, compared to two for the Kings and three for the Predators.
Sharks Can Seize Playoff Opportunity
The Sharks are crammed into a tight postseason race, a far more exciting position to be in than the last-place finishes of the last two seasons. While they are not currently in a playoff spot, they have a chance to separate themselves by simply winning all their remaining games. That kind of push is something they’re not used to, and a seven-game winning streak would be difficult to pull off, but if they do, they’ll make the playoffs.
Related: 3 Wins This Season That Could Prove Pivotal for the Sharks
A playoff appearance, no matter how it ends, would be a great benefit to the future of the Sharks franchise. Their young players would get a great look at the pressure and unique environment that comes with the postseason, allowing themselves to gear up for the subsequent playoff runs they expect to have. It would be a perfect reward, both for the team and their fans and the wild journey they’ve been on this season.
The Sharks have improbably hung around a playoff spot for most of the season, and while they looked like they might drop out of the picture at various times, they still haven’t yet. Now comes one final charge, and they know exactly the context in which it will happen.
