sharon_orn
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How does a team go from years of postseason disappointments to a season where they didn't even make the playoffs to making the first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history? The San Jose Sharks have taken an awfully unconventional path to get to this point, that's for sure. Their blueprint is not one that most teams would consider copying in trying to build a contender. It would take too long and there'd be too much heartache along the way, but four of the Sharks' most important players in this postseason run have been with the team at least 10 years: Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The other two biggest contributors, Logan Couture and Brent Burns, have been with the team with seven and five years, respectively. What makes the Sharks' run this year particularly intriguing is how close GM Doug Wilson sounded like he wanted to blow it all up. He spoke of the Sharks being a "tomorrow team" and that they needed to change the pieces around after the crushing playoff ouster at the hands of eventual champion Los Angeles Kings in 2014. But the two guys that appeared to be most likely to be shipped out were Thornton and Marleau. The no-move clauses tied to their contracts the previous year made them pretty much impo sible to move unle s they wanted to be moved. At the time, they made it clear they didn't want to move. The Sharks then went through a disastrous 2014-15 that was full of drama and off-ice sniping between players and management in the pre s. Head coach Todd McLellan basically left the team, with the Sharks basically letting him walk. Last summer, Wilson shed any notion of rebuilding and added three outside players that ended up being major contributors to the team and set the Sharks back on a path to competitivene s. Throw in the Mark Reynolds Jersey hiring of head coach Peter DeBoer and the recipe for succe s appeared finally set. It may have been unconventional, but after decades of trying and failing, the Sharks will finally play for the Stanley Cup. Here's how the 2015-16 Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks were built: General manager Doug Wilson has been building this Sharks team since taking the job in 2003. USATSI The Draft Every team that has won each of the last five Stanley Cups, which includes the Sharks' opponent in this year's final, had the benefit of picking either first, second or third overall in drafts a few years ahead of their title runs. The 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins had two first-overall picks (Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury) and two second-overalls (Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal) on their roster. The 2010, 2013 and 2015 Chicago Blackhawks had a No. 1 (Patrick Kane) and No. 3 (Jonathan Toews) leading them to three titles. The Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014 at least had former No. 2 pick Drew Doughty. The Sharks haven't had a top-three pick since 1998. However, they also picked second overall in 1997 and picked up a young fella named Patrick Marleau. He would go on to become the face of the franchise for the better part of two decades and even in a slightly diminished role in 2016, is a contributor. And the guy they picked third overall in 1998 -- Brad Stuart -- was part of the package that landed them Joe Thornton, the guy who went one spot ahead of Marleau in 1997. With few top-level picks over the years, the Sharks have had to make the most of their drafts and occasionally get a little lucky, too. Wilson has been the GM since 2003, meaning every draft pick aside from Marleau has come under his watch and they've had some really good ones. Here are the home-grown Sharks: Player Year Round (Overall Pick) Playoff Production Patrick Marleau 1997 1st (2nd) 18 games, 4 goals, 8 a sists Logan Couture 2007 1st (9th) 18 games, 8 goals, 16 a sists Tomas Hertl 2012 1st (17th) 18 games, 5 goals, 5 a sists Marc-Edouard Vlasic 2005 2nd (35th) 18 games 1 goal, 10 a sists Matthew Nieto 2011 2nd (47th) 11 games, 1 Wade Davis Jersey goal, 2 a sists Chris Tierney 2012 2nd (55th) 18 games, 5 goals, 2 a sists Tommy Wingels 2008 6th (177th) 16 games, 2 goals, 0 a sists Justin Braun 2007 7th (201st) 18 games, 0 goals, 4 a sists Joe Pavelski 2003 7th (205th) 18 games, 13 goals, 9 a sists Total Production 39 goals, 56 a sists, 95 points Of the 21 players that have suited up in a playoff game this year for the Sharks, nine are original draftees. That's 42 percent of the roster. Their 95 collective points account for 57 percent of San Jose's total offense this postseason. The Sharks' two most productive players this postseason were draft picks. Logan Couture was the No. 9 overall pick in 2007 and made his debut in 2009-10. He leads all players this postseason with 24 points. However, the crowning achievement of Wilson's tenure as GM is landing Joe Pavelski in the seventh round, 205th overall in a 2003 draft that is widely considered one of the deepest drafts in the last 20 years. Among all the players picked in that draft, Pavelski ranks sixth with 266 career goals. One of the best goal scorers of the last four years, Pavelski is leading the playoffs with 13 goals and looks like a Conn Smythe favorite at this point. The Sharks got a little lucky again in the seventh round in 2007 when they nabbed Justin Braun at 201st overall. After years of in-house development, Braun has grown into a really solid shutdown defenseman. Another extremely important draft in Sharks history is 2005. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was selected in the second round and has played over 700 games for the Sharks. Now he's the team's No. 1 defenseman. However, it's also important because that was the draft that the team selected Devin Setoguchi, who had some great years in San Jose. However, Setoguchi's impact is felt more now because he was part of the package that was traded to acquire Brent Burns. Free Agents The Sharks have become a little more conservative in their pursuit of free agents, but this offseason was an extremely important one on the open market for the Sharks as they managed to find the top-four defenseman they severely lacked in Paul Martin and a proven playoff performer in Joel Ward, but that's not all: Player Year Signed Original Term Playoff Production Melker Karl son 2014 1 year 18 games, 3 goals, 1 a sist Joonas Donskoi 2015 2 years 18 games, 5 goals, 4 a sists Paul Martin 2015 4 years 18 games, 0 goals, 5 a sists Joel Ward 2015 3 years 18 games, 6 goals, 5 a sists Dainius Zubrus 2015 1 year, 2-way 9 games, 1 goal, 1 a sists Total Production 15 goals, 16 a sists, 31 points As noted, Martin and Ward came in and signified that the Sharks were ditching any notion as a rebuild. They didn't nece sarily come cheap, but both filled significant needs at the time. Martin, who came to the Sharks as a free agent after five seasons with the Penguins, spent the bulk of his time at even strength playing with Brent Burns. He has been the steady, predictable straight man to Burns' wheeling, dealing style of play and it worked in spades. Burns had the best season of his career and Martin quietly had a great season himself, while making the top pairing more defensively sound. Ward has made himself at Daniel Murphy Jersey home on the power play and had one of the better seasons of his career at 35 years old. He has 11 points in 18 games in the playoffs and it seems like all six of his goals have come in big moments. Let's not foget about Joonas Donskoi, though. After being drafted by the Florida Panthers, Donskoi was not signed by the team. That made him a free agent. He had a tremendous season in Finland's top pro league last year and an even better performance in the Finnish league's playoffs where he was named MVP. That earned Donskoi a deal with the Sharks that didn't cost the team a whole lot of cap space as he was eligible for an entry-level contract. Now he's a top-six forward playing alongside Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture. His skill and speed have helped round out the top of San Jose's lineup. Trades The Sharks are one of the teams who have had such succe s with trades that it has helped them make significant additions to their core. That can be tough and expensive to do It all starts with the deal that brought Thornton to San Jose back in Greg Holland Jersey 2005-06, but Wilson's other trades to fill out this roster have, by and large, hit. Here's a look Player (Traded From) Year acquired Key Expense(s) Playoff Production Joe Thornton (Boston) 2005 Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm 18 games, 3 goals, 15 a sists Brent Burns (Minnesota) 2011 Setoguchi, Coyle 18 games, 6 goals, 14 a sists Brenden Dillon (Dallas) 2014 Jason Demers 18 games, 0 goals, 0 a sists Martin Jones (Boston) 2015 2016 first-round pick 18 games, .919 save percentage Nick Spaling (Toronto) 2016 Second-round pick 18 games, 0 goals, 1 a sist Roman Polak (Toronto) 2016 Second-round pick 18 games, 0 goals, 0 a sists James Reimer (Toronto) 2016 Alex Stalock 1 game, .857 save percentage Total Production 9 goals, 30 a sists, 39 points Thornton's arrival in 2005-06 remains one of the most important moments in Sharks history. He put together two ma sive seasons right off the bat, one of which landed him Hart Trophy honors. Over 11 seasons, he has 887 points in 835 games in San Jose. Along with Marleau, he became a face of the franchise and built on what is sure to be a Hall of Fame career. Now he has a shot at the one thing he's mi sing. The next most important deal was landing Brent Burns during the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. The Sharks took a bit of a risk on the contract, sending over Devin Setoguchi, who had been so good for the team to that point, their top prospect in Charlie Coyle, and a first-round draft choice. Burns responded by improving in every single year in San Jose and watching the point totals go with them. Now he's a Norris Trophy finalist and one of the most productive defensemen in the game today. Wilson's more recent trades have been paying off as well. His most important offseason addition was obviously Martin Jones, who had never been a No. 1 goalie in the NHL and didn't have much of an opportunity to prove if he could be. The Sharks had the benefit of Jones being traded out of their division on draft DJ LeMahieu Jersey day, when the Los Angeles Kings sent him to the Boston Bruins. There's probably no way the Sharks would have been able to get him from the Kings. The Bruins, however, were far more likely to deal him. The Sharks thought enough of him to send a first-round pick and promising prospect Sean Kuraly to the Bruins. He made 65 starts for the Sharks in the regular season and has been between the pipes for all but 30 minutes of action in these playoffs. Wilson also managed to fill out depth with players like Nick Spaling and Roman Polak, a fourth-liner and bottom-pairing defenseman, respectively. They also got an experienced backup as a "just in case" kind of thing in James Reimer, who was excellent in the regular season, but not needed in the playoffs. The Sharks have done well for themselves in player acquisition overall. Their draft haul over the years landed them four of their top-six forwards, both defensemen in their top shutdown pairing and valued depth forwards. They got two important pieces of their core in trades, and didn't have to overspend in free agency to fill significant needs. It's hard to believe now (it wasn't as much then) that this was a team that was on the verge of being torn apart for a complete rebuild as we've seen other teams do in recent years. The fact is, they always had a team that was capable of contending, it just never all came together at the same time. Wilson never managed to destroy what he built and now he is reaping the benefits of 13 years of his work as the team's GM. Getting to the Stanley Cup Final took far longer than anyone expected and certainly than anyone from Sharks ownership on down wanted, but this team belongs exactly where it is right now. All of those years of suffering will be worth it if San Jose can grab just four more wins.