- Editor's note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California's Sharks coverage for the 2021-22 season. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at Sheng_Peng.
If you’re the San Jose Sharks, it’s easy to look ahead to next season.
There are 18 games left, and the playoffs are a distant dream at this point.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
One area that’s important for the Sharks next season: What’s the proper workload for 37-year-old Brent Burns and 31-year-old Erik Karlsson?
San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner has addressed that over the last two weeks.
Burns is averaging 26:19 a night, but when Karlsson has been out this year, he’s averaged over 28 minutes a game. That’s far from ideal, according to Boughner.
“You’d love to keep him around 24-25 minutes — which is still extremely high,” he said. “You add on five more minutes, it’s a major difference in anybody’s game. Where he’s at his best, yeah, somewhere around that 24-25 minutes.”
San Jose Sharks
Find the latest San Jose Sharks news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
How about Karlsson? Karlsson averages 23:19 a night.
“Karly, from what I’ve seen over the last few years, I think he tops out at about 22, 23 minutes,” Boughner shared. “That’s a real good spot for him.”
So what happens if Burns and Karlsson go beyond Boughner’s limits? Burns has surpassed 25 minutes in 35 of his 64 appearances, while Karlsson has played more than 23 minutes in 25 of his 41 contests. What suffers with those extra two, three, or four minutes?