Identifying the Sharks’ main issue is easy. Fixing it won’t be so simple

NHL: San Jose Sharks have scored just 13 goals in seven games, but the lack of offense has been a season-long problem for Bob Boughner

Sharks winger Rudolfs Balcers had a breakaway in the second period against the Nashville Predators that was followed later by a partial breakaway for fellow forward Noah Gregor. Tomas Hertl then had his own one-on-one chance against goalie Juuse Saros in overtime.

If the Sharks had buried any one of those opportunities Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena, their season-long losing streak would now be over.

Instead, the Sharks were shut out for the eighth time this season and fell to 0-5-2 in their last seven games, as Ryan Johansen scored in overtime for a 1-0 Predators win.

“We talk about this all the time — it’s trying to get some bounces, trying to get a little puck luck, trying to get more shot volume to try and produce some more offense,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said, “because it’s very hard, as you can see, winning hockey games when the puck’s not going in.”

The Sharks have scored just 13 goals in their last seven games, but the lack of offense has been a season-long issue.

Going into Thursday’s road game with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sharks are averaging 2.56 goals per game, tied for 30th out of 32 NHL teams.

If that average stays the same, it would mark the Sharks’ lowest since 2012-13 when they scored 2.42 goals per game.

During 5 on 5 play, the Sharks’ numbers are even worse with just 122 goals in 72 games, a per-game average that ranks last in the league.

“Trying to outscore our mistakes has been our issue all year,” Boughner said. “We can’t ever seem to get that third goal we need once we get the second one, and that’s important.”

How important? Scoring on average just a half a goal per game more would make a huge difference for the Sharks. This season they are 6-27-7 when they score two goals or less, but 23-6-3 when they score three goals or more.

So the issue is obvious. The only question is how the Sharks will go about trying to solve the problem.

The Sharks do not have a ton of salary cap space left for next season after they signed Hertl to an eight-year, $65.1 million contract extension. They like their young prospects, like forwards William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau, who is making his AHL on Wednesday.

But to add an experienced top-six winger, the Sharks might have to create cap space by either trading players or buying out contracts.

Some candidates to be moved include goalie Adin Hill, forward Kevin Labanc, and defenseman Radim Simek.

Hill is injured and the Sharks already have two goalies under team control for next season in James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen. Labanc had fallen down the team’s depth chart before he suffered a shoulder injury in December and Simek has been a healthy scratch in nine of the last 10 games. Both Labanc and Simek have two years remaining on their respective contracts.

Parting ways with those three players in the offseason – assuming there is no retained salary and depending on what players are brought back in a trade – would create over $9 million in cap space. The Sharks might also look at buying out the final four years of defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract, which would save just over $8.8 million for the next two seasons.

Those decisions could be made by interim general manager Joe Will or whoever the next full-time GM will be if that person is hired prior to the draft.

“You’ve seen over the season we have some world-class players and some incredible talent in this organization,” Sharks president Jonathan Becher said last week. “But openly, we do need a few more pieces, which will be part of both Joe’s job and the GMs as well.”

One of those pieces needs to be a proven goal scorer.

Three forwards – Hertl, Timo Meier, and Logan Couture have combined for 82 of the Sharks’ 183 goals this season. The 20 other forwards the Sharks have used this season have combined for 69 goals. Their 12 defensemen have a combined 32 goals, which ranks 16th in the NHL.

“We’re weak in our top six,” Boughner said. “I think if you ask anybody in the league, they’ll tell you that.”

The Sharks had a big bump in scoring in March after Erik Karlsson returned from surgery, as the team scored 28 goals in eight games. But the Sharks lost 5-2 to Arizona on March 30 to begin the losing streak and it has been a struggle for San Jose to produce ever since.

Karlsson has three assists in the last seven games, a total that would be a bit higher had the Sharks been able to finish more of their chances.

“When he came back, we started playing better as a team,” Boughner said of Karlsson. “As of late, I think that his game could be better. I want to see more urgency and more emotion in his game.

“At this time of the season, I’ve asked all of the veterans to empty the tank and set a standard. A lot of nights, a lot of those guys have, and I think some nights they haven’t. He’s part of that group.”

Exacerbating the scoring issue for the Sharks was that Evander Kane, last season’s leading scorer with 22 goals in 49 games, wore out his welcome in San Jose and didn’t play a game for the NHL team before he was placed on unconditional waivers in January.

Kane has 16 goals and 13 assists in 35 games with the Edmonton Oilers this season — offense the Sharks could have used if it didn’t have the accompanying baggage.

“Let’s not forget, our top goal scorer left our lineup and we didn’t replace him,” Boughner said. “So there are not too many teams at the beginning of the year that take their top point-producing guy, an 85-90 point guy, take them out of their lineup and expect that someone else can fill those shoes. It just doesn’t happen.”