NHL 20 Team Guide: San Jose Sharks Player Ratings, Roster & Top Prospects

From strong Stanley Cup contenders in 2018/19 to bottom of the Western Conference in 2020: the San Jose Sharks have sunk like a rock.

Taking on the hefty contract of Erik Karlsson and subsequently losing much of the team’s strength in depth has further exposed the declining state of goaltending.

However, the team is still bustling with competitive talent and with a few tweaks, the Sharks could be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in NHL 20.

In this NHL 20 team guide, you can find all of the players on the San Jose Sharks roster, the best Sharks prospects, upcoming picks, and where the team and prospect pool needs improving.

The latest roster at the time (31 March Roster) was used for this guide.

Logan Couture, Center, 86 OVR

Age: 30
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Playmaker Center
Height/Weight: 185cm, 93kg
Shoots: Left
Best Stats: 90 Deking, Speed, Acceleration, Agility

Despite the Sharks struggling to perform from the off, Logan Couture was stringing together a fairly decent season, which was unfortunately interrupted by injury.

Having played 52 games up to the lockdown, Couture scored 16 goals, 39 points, and held an admirable neutral plus-minus rating.

In NHL 20, Couture’s strengths are in his puck skills and skating, with the center boasting 90 deking, 89 hand-eye, 89 passing, 89 puck control, 90 acceleration, 90 agility, and 90 speed.

Currently the team’s highest-rated center, Couture is pivotal to the offence, with his 88 defensive awareness, 87 stick checking, and 89 durability also making him a strong defensive presence.

Erik Karlsson, Defenseman. 90 OVR

Age: 29
Nationality: Swedish
Position: Offensive Defenseman
Height/Weight: 183cm, 87kg
Shoots: Right
Best Stats: 95 Deking, Passing, Puck Control

After a relatively tepid first season in San Jose, Erik Karlsson kept his form following the eight-year deal that made the former Ottawa Senators captain the highest-paid defenseman in NHL history.

Through 56 games played up to the lockdown, the Swede notched six goals and 40 points to stand as the fourth-highest scorer of the Sharks.

Karlsson has some of the highest puck skills ratings in the game as well as the best speed score of any defenseman in NHL 20.

The offensive defenseman totes lofty ratings of 95 deking, 94 hand-eye, 95 passing, 95 puck control, 92 agility, 92 speed, 92 acceleration, 94 offensive awareness, and 92 defensive awareness.

Martin Jones, Goaltender, 82 OVR

Age: 29
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Hybrid Goaltender
Height/Weight: 193cm, 88kg
Glove: Left
Best Stats: 90 Speed, 88 Agility, 86 Five Hole

What started as a tremendous indirect trade from the rival Kings, facilitated by the Boston Bruins, Martin Jones has gradually declined in his performances since 2015/16.

While still a tremendous competitor in the postseason, up until the 2019 playoffs, Jones’ regular season displays have sunk significantly over the last couple of years, landing 17 wins in 41 games with a .896 save percentage in 2019/20.

Jones does boast some favourable attributes in NHL 20, though, with his 88 agility, 90 speed, 86 vision, and 193cm frame coming in handy during games.

However, with a rating of 82 OVR, an 80 for poise, 85 for rebound control, and 85 for recover, Jones is best used as a back-up goaltender.

NHL 20 San Jose Sharks Roster

From the latest update, 31 March Online Roster, this is how the San Jose Sharks first lines start.

Of course, with players like Erik Karlsson and Marc-Édouard Vlasic, the top defensive pairing could be much better, but the Sharks severely lack depth.

Evander Kane (85) – Logan Couture (86) – Kevin Labanc (82)
Radim Simek (77) – Brent Burns (89)
Aaron Dell (82)

Name	Overall	Age	Position	Role	Shoots	Best Stats
Logan Couture	86	30	Center	Playmaker	Left	90 Deking, 90 Speed, 90 Acceleration
Tomas Hertl	85	25	Center	Sniper	Left	90 Deking, 89 Puck Control, 89 Offensive Awareness
Joe Thornton	83	40	Center	Playmaker	Left	90 Poise, 90 Balance, 90 Strength
Antti Suomela	77	25	Center	Two-Way	Left	85 Wrist Shot Power, 85 Speed, 85 Durability
Melker Karlsson	77	29	Center	Two-Way	Right	88 Durability, 87 Acceleration, 87 Agility
Dylan Gambrell	76	23	Center	Two-Way	Right	85 Durability, 85 Agility, 84 Speed
Noah Gregor	74	21	Center	Two-Way	Left	85 Durability, 84 Wrist Shot Power, 84 Agility
Alexander True	72	22	Center	Two-Way	Left	86 Strength, 86 Balance, 85 Durability
Joel Kellman	71	25	Center	Playmaker	Left	83 Speed, 82 Passing, 82 Offensive Awareness
Evander Kane	85	28	Left Wing	Power Forward	Left	89 Strength, 89 Agility, 89 Speed
Kevin Labanc	82	23	Left Wing	Two-Way	Right	90 Durability, 87 Speed, 87 Agility
Marcus Sorensen	79	27	Left Wing	Sniper	Left	89 Durability, 87 Speed, 87 Acceleration
Timo Meier	85	22	Right Wing	Power Forward	Left	89 Offensive Awareness, 88 Body Checking, 88 Passing
Stefan Noesen	78	26	Right Wing	Two-Way	Right	86 Slap Shot Power, 86 Wrist Shot Power, 85 Stick Checking
Erik Karlsson	90	29	Defenseman	Offensive	Right	95 Passing, 95 Deking, 95 Puck Control
Brent Burns	89	34	Defenseman	Offensive	Right	93 Endurance, 92 Offensive Awareness, 92 Wrist Shot Power
Marc-Édouard Vlasic	85	32	Defenseman	Defensive	Left	92 Stick Checking, 91 Endurance, 90 Shot Blocking
Tim Heed	78	28	Defenseman	Offensive	Right	90 Discipline, 87 Acceleration, 87 Wrist Shot Power
Mario Ferraro	78	20	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	86 Slap Shot Power, 86 Agility, 86 Speed
Radim Simek	77	26	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	87 Endurance, 85 Wrist Shot Power, 85 Slap Shot Power
Dalton Prout	74	29	Defenseman	Defensive	Right	89 Body Checking, 89 Aggressiveness, 88 Strength
Martin Jones	82	29	Goaltender	Hybrid	Left	90 Speed, 88 Agility, 86 Five Hole
Aaron Dell	82	30	Goaltender	Hybrid	Left	88 Recover, 87 Rebound Control, 87 Speed

The San Jose Sharks are weak in defensive depth, on both wings, and particularly in net, all while having very little cap space.

Perhaps the best way to start is to trade away Jones’ hefty contract for a loss – in terms of trade value – and then try to either bring in a decent starting goaltender or one of the best young goaltenders so that there’s at least some payoff for playing a low-rated netminder.

You’ll either have to choose to push for the Stanley Cup straight away, improving where possible with the resources at hand. Or, tear it up and shed some of the larger contracts in exchange for high picks over the next couple of years and good-value depth skaters.

Ryan Merkley, Defenseman, 66 OVR

Age: 19
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Offensive Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Potential: Elite med

Ryan Merkley is, by far, the best player coming through the system in San Jose and isn’t too many years away from breaking into the NHL lines.

The right-shot offensive defenseman is still only rated 66 OVR at the start of the season in NHL 20. Still, given Merkley’s Elite med potential and the overall ratings of San Jose’s current top-six defensemen and seventh defenseman, the teenage Canadian could be in the NHL lines for the start of the 2020/21 campaign.

NHL 20 San Jose Sharks Top Prospects

The San Jose Sharks do have some talented prospects coming through, with the likes of Ivan Chekhovic, Sasha Chmelevski, Artemi Knyazev, and Jérémy Roy potentially featuring on the lower lines in the future.

However, only Ryan Merkley presents himself as a potentially important piece to the franchise.

Name	Overall	Potential	Age	Position	Role	Best Stats
Ryan Merkley	66	Elite med	19	Defenseman	Offensive	87 Agility, 87 Acceleration, 87 Speed
Ivan Chekhovic	67	Top 6 med	20	Center	Sniper	85 Durability, 84 Agility, 84 Speed
Sasha Chmelevski	67	Top 6 med	20	Center	Two-Way	85 Durability, 85 Slap Shot Power, 85 Wrist Shot Power
Artemi Knyazev	61	Top 4 med	18	Defenseman	Two-Way	85 Durability, 83 Wrist Shot Power, 83 Slap Shot Power
Jérémy Roy	73	Top 4 med	22	Defenseman	Offensive	85 Discipline, 85 Slap Shot Power, 85 Speed
Jonathan Dahlén	65	Top 6 low	21	Center	Sniper	85 Durability, 84 Slap Shot Power, 83 Speed
Zach Gallant	66	Top 9 med	20	Center	Two-Way	85 Durability, 84 Wrist Shot Power, 84 Slap Shot Power
Vladislav Kotkov	67	Top 9 med	19	Left Wing	Two-Way	85 Discipline, 85 Durability, 84 Slap Shot Power
Danil Yurtaikin	76	Top 9 med	22	Right Wing	Sniper	88 Speed, 88 Agility, 88 Acceleration
Zachary Émond	63	Fringe Starter low	19	Goaltender	Hybrid	85 Durability, 82 Agility, 82 Speed

San Jose Sharks’ upcoming draft picks:

2020 Draft Picks: 1^st (TBL), 2^nd (COL), 2^nd (SJS), 5^th (OTT), 7^th (PIT), 7^th (WSH)
2021 Draft Picks: 1^st (SJS), 3^rd (SJS), 3^rd (PIT), 3^rd (WSH), 4^th (SJS), 5^th (SJS), 6^th (SJS), 7^th (SJS)
2022 Draft Picks: 1^st (SJS), 2^nd (SJS), 3^rd (SJS), 4^th (SJS), 5^th (SJS), 6^th (SJS), 7^th (SJS)

Having traded away their now very valuable 2020 first-round pick, the Sharks have what are basically three second-round picks – due to the strength of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

For this team, bringing in some talent on the wings is a necessity. The team’s in need of some hope in net in the future, but you can often find strong goaltending prospects in the later rounds.

If you’re going down the rebuild route, the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft is a great year to target. The 2021 NHL Draft is also quite strong, but there are franchise-altering talents throughout the top-ten of the 2020 selection.

In NHL 20, a few tweaks and better use of the cap can give the Sharks a very strong shot at the Stanley Cup in the first season. To pull this off, though, you may have to sell several early picks and effectively commit to going all-in on getting the franchise its first Cup.

However, there’s equal reasoning to tear up much of the team, keep core players like Meier, Hertl, Kane, Couture, Vlasic, or Burns, play the next couple of free agencies, and work some trades to bring in decent depth and a wild card or two.

Of course, a getting in a starter-worthy goaltender – for now, or the near future – is the first job for either course of action.

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