It's no secret the Sharks have suffered from below-average goaltending over the last two seasons. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning scored more goals than San Jose last year, and yet they were one of seven teams with a better goal differential than the Sharks, who finished with the worst cumulative save percentage in the NHL (.889). It's barely been any better this season, as the tandem of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell has posted a .894 cumulative save percentage thus far, ranking 29th out of 31 teams.
Making matters worse, there's no obvious solution on the horizon. Jones, 30, has another four years remaining on his contract at $5.7 million per after this season, and he actually has performed worse in 2019-20 than he did in 2018-19. His save percentage and goals-against average both have continued to move in the wrong direction, and the fact that Dell appears to have taken over the No. 1 job doesn't exactly bode well for his ability to turn things around.
Dell, on the other hand, arguably has been San Jose's biggest bright spot in what has been a thoroughly disappointing season. His save percentage (.909) and GAA (.289) nearly are identical to the league averages. The problem is, he turns 31 in May and will be an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this season. Chances are, Dell will get a more lucrative offer on the open market than San Jose will be able to afford.
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Making the situation even direr, the Sharks currently don't have any other goalies in their system with NHL experience beyond Jones and Dell.
Of course, this all assumes San Jose maintains the status quo. But we're only a few days away from the trade deadline, which has the potential to shake up the established order. There are numerous potential trade possibilities through which the Sharks could upgrade the goalie position, whether in the immediate or with eyes toward the future.
Robin Lehner
Lehner had a tremendous season (25-13-5) for the New York Islanders last year, but for whatever reason, he didn't receive the long-term offers he was looking for in free agency, so he ended up signing a one-year, $5 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 28-year-old has outperformed that contract this season, and has played better than his 35-year-old counterpart Corey Crawford, who, like Lehner, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. One naturally would assume Chicago would prefer to keep the better, younger goalie if forced to choose between the two, but Crawford has a modified no-trade clause and a no-movement clause in his contract, which basically rules out that possibility.
San Jose Sharks
The Blackhawks would have to be highly motivated to part with Lehner, but due to his age and track record, San Jose would have every reason to be very interested in him. The Sharks would have to give up something they would prefer to keep -- maybe a package centered around Kevin Labanc? -- but as they've been constantly reminded over the last few seasons, good goalies are worth the price.
Casey DeSmith, Daniel Vladar
In an effort to find Jones' replacement, perhaps San Jose should use the same strategy it took in acquiring him. Jones had been trapped behind Jonathan Quick throughout his time with the Los Angeles Kings, but revealed himself to be a quality starting goaltender -- temporarily, at least -- once he got an opportunity with the Sharks.
Like Jones when he was with the Kings, Casey DeSmith, 28, has played well over a brief cup of coffee in the NHL. But with the Pittsburgh Penguins having one of the top young goaltending tandems in the league this season in Tristan Jarry (24) and Matt Murray (25), his path to the No. 1 spot is extremely obstructed. DeSmith has posted a 2.77 GAA and .908 save percentage over 36 AHL games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season, and carries a $1.25 million cap hit for the next two seasons after this one. He would cost significantly less to acquire than Lehner.
If the Sharks want to look further down the line and go even younger with their goaltending trade target, Daniel Vladar seems like a good prospect to focus on. The 22-year-old has posted a 1.79 GAA and .936 save percentage over 19 AHL games with the Providence Bruins this season, and with Tuukka Rask one of the leading candidates to win the Vezina Trophy, Vladar won't be taking over the top job with the Boston Bruins anytime soon.
Vladar is on the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season -- the exact scenario Jones was in when the Sharks acquired him. With Jaroslav Halak proving to be a more-than-adequate backup to Rask, San Jose might be able to acquire Vladar on the cheap depending on Boston's plans for him.
[RELATED: Why Sharks probably could have done better in Dillon trade]
Henrik Lundqvist
On the polar opposite end of the spectrum of Vladar is soon-to-be 38-year-old Henrik Lundqvist. The legendary goalie appears to be at the tail end of his impressive tenure with the New York Rangers, as he now is both considerably older and arguably worse than Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin, who both appear to have passed him on the depth chart.
The Rangers only have been slightly better than the Sharks this season, so they, too, have every reason to look towards the future -- which Lundqvist doesn't figure into. The problem is, King Henrik is on the books for $8.5 million this season and the next before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
His peripheral stats this season are very similar to Jones, but he also has a much lengthier track record of success. Lundqvist is the NHL's current active leader with 184.1 goals saved above average throughout his career, according to Hockey Reference, which ranks as the 14th-most all-time. Jones, on the other hand, is at -21.7 over his seven-year career and has never ranked in the top-20 in that category in any single season during his tenure with the Sharks.
Might the two sides consider swapping their expensive, yet underperforming netminders? From the Sharks' perspective, they would get out of the remaining four years on Jones' contract and only take back salary for next season. Lundqvist also would potentially upgrade the position for San Jose, and would fit right into the franchise's hopes to get back into contention next year. For New York, the appeal would be in getting younger and cheaper in the immediate, and adding whatever else the Sharks likely would need to involve in the trade to get a deal done.
While it's uncertain how the Sharks plan to address their goaltending situation moving forward, there is no question that they must do so. The status quo clearly isn't working, and the trade deadline offers an opportunity for San Jose to go in a new direction.
Programming Note: The "2020 NHL Trade Deadline Show" is coming your way this Monday, Feb. 24 at 11:30 am on the MyTeams app and on NBCSportsBayArea.com! How will the Sharks be impacted heading into the Noon deadline? Don’t miss it!