Sharks’ all-2000s team: Franchise icons dominate the first line, but who makes the second?

This is the second in a series on the major Bay Area pro teams’ top performers of the last 25 years. The all-2000s 49ers were unveiled yesterday, and the Giants and Warriors will come next week.

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks became one of the NHL’s top feel-good stories during the 1990s.

They put down roots and grew the game in a non-traditional hockey market, played before sold-out crowds inside a new downtown arena, won two playoff series in stunning fashion, had fans do ‘the chomp’ at the start of each power play, and sold a ton of merchandise as they popularized the color teal.

But it was over the last quarter-century that the Sharks went from plucky upstarts to legitimate contenders.

From Jan. 1, 2000 to Monday, the Sharks had a points percentage of .565, a mark bettered by only 10 other teams, and only three other teams – Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Boston – had played in more playoff games than San Jose’s 204.

The 12 Sharks players Bay Area News Group selected to represent the franchise’s all-quarter-century team all played significant roles in that success, particularly from 2004 to 2019 when the franchise reached its greatest heights, advancing to the Western Conference final five times and the Stanley Cup once in 2016.

We chose six forwards, four defensemen and two goalies, for a complete first and second team.

Here’s who made the list.

First team

FORWARDS

Joe Thornton: No one did more to help the Sharks become one of the NHL’s best teams than Thornton, who remains the only player in franchise history to win both the Hart Memorial and Art Ross trophies. During his 15 seasons in San Jose, Thornton led the Sharks to 13 playoff appearances. One of the game’s elite playmakers, Thornton this century leads all Sharks players with 1,055 points and 804 assists. Next year, he’ll likely become the first player who spent most of his career with the Sharks to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Patrick Marleau: Although Marleau, known as “Mr. Shark,” began his tenure in San Jose in 1997, he is still first on the franchise’s all-time list this century in games played (1,411), goals (480), playoff points (116), power-play goals (156) and game-winning goals (92). He’s also second in points (1,014) and assists (534). In his final NHL season in 2020-21, Marleau became the NHL’s all-time leader in games played with 1,779. He and Thornton are the only two Sharks players to have their numbers retired by the organization.

Joe Pavelski: A seventh-round pick by the Sharks in 2003, Pavelski would go on to play 963 games for the team and become one of its most distinguished captains. This century, Pavelski is second on the Sharks list in goals (355) and plus-minus (plus-108), third in points (761), and fourth in games played and assists (406). During his time as the Sharks captain from 2015 to 2019, Pavelski had 276 points in 320 games and helped the team reach two Western Conference finals and the Cup final in 2016.

DEFENSEMEN

Brent Burns: Acquired in 2011 from Minnesota, Burns, while with the Sharks, would become the NHL’s most prolific offensive defenseman. In 798 regular season games in San Jose from 2011 to 2022, Burns would score 594 points, more than any other player at his position. Burns was also a workhorse, as he led the team’s skaters in average time on ice every year from 2014-15 to 2021-22. As a Shark, Burns was a Norris Trophy finalist three times and became the first Sharks player to win the award as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2017. His 29 goals in 2016-17 remain a team record for blueliners.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic: A second-round draft pick by the Sharks in 2005, Vlasic would begin his NHL career the following year as a 19-year-old — when he was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie team — and go on to become one of the NHL’s premiere shutdown defensemen. Starting with his rookie season, Vlasic averaged over 20 minutes of ice time per game for 14 straight years, as he became the Sharks’ top penalty killer while regularly matching up against the opponent’s top line. Vlasic has played in 1,296 games with the Sharks and is one of only two defensemen in team history to win an Olympic gold medal.

GOALIE

Evgeni Nabokov: Nabokov played for the Sharks from 2000 to 2010 and owns several of the team’s goaltending records, both single season and career. He remains the only player in franchise history to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2001, and he finished in the top six in Vezina Trophy voting as the league’s best goalie six times from 2001 to 2010. Nabokov is the franchise leader in games played (563), wins (293) and shutouts (50), and played a staggering 77 games during the 2007-08 season, a team record that will likely never be approached by another goalie.

Second team

FORWARDS

Logan Couture: Couture, taken ninth overall by San Jose in 2007 and the Sharks’ captain since the start of 2019-2020 season, ranks fourth among all of the team’s players this century in scoring with 701 points during the regular season. Where Couture has excelled, though, is in the playoffs, where he has 101 points in 116 career postseason games, a 0.87 points-per-game average that leads all Sharks players since 2000.

Tomas Hertl: Hertl, now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, was drafted 17th overall by San Jose in 2012 and is sixth among all Sharks this century with 484 points as he developed into the team’s number one centerman. One wonders, though, what his career statistics would look like had he not endured a litany of injuries, starting with the knee surgery he underwent halfway through his rookie season in 2013-14.

Timo Meier: Meier, drafted ninth overall by San Jose in 2015, never came close to breaking Jonathan Cheechoo’s single-season franchise record of 56 goals, set during the 2005-06 season. But Meier, now with the New Jersey Devils, had three 30-goal seasons, spent more time in a Sharks uniform, and wound up with more points than Cheechoo, 316 to 291.

Honorable mention: Jonathan Cheechoo, Vincent Damphousse, Ryane Clowe, Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci, Kevin Labanc.

DEFENSEMEN

Dan Boyle: Boyle played with the Sharks from 2008 to 2014 and ranks second among all of the team’s defensemen in scoring since Jan. 1, 2000, with 269 points in 431 games. For four seasons from 2008-09 to 2011-12, Boyle led all NHL defensemen with 213 points. He also became the first Sharks defenseman to win an Olympic gold medal as he played for Canada with Thornton, Marleau and Dany Heatley at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Erik Karlsson: Acquired in a blockbuster trade from Ottawa in September 2018, Karlsson had mixed results in five seasons in San Jose. He had 243 points in 293 regular season games, including 101 points in 82 games in 2022-23, but the Sharks made the playoffs only once in those five seasons. Still, after his 101-point year, Karlsson became just the second Sharks defenseman to win the Norris Trophy. He was traded to Pittsburgh in Aug. 2023.

Honorable mention: Scott Hannan, Justin Braun, Brad Stuart, Douglas Murray.

GOALIE

Martin Jones: Jones led the team to its first and only trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016. In 327 regular season games with the Sharks from 2015 to 2021, Jones had a record of 170-121-27 with a .907 save percentage and 18 shutouts. Jones finished seventh in Vezina Trophy voting in 2016 and sixth in 2017. In 60 playoff games with the Sharks, Jones was 32-27, with seven of those losses coming in overtime.

Honorable mention: Antti Niemi, Vesa Toskala.