NHL: San Jose Sharks Second Half to-Do List

The San Jose Sharks put themselves in a much better position during the first half this season than they did last year.

After their first 50 games during the 2010-11 season, San Jose sat with a .500 record (25-19-6). Luckily for them, the Western Conference was incredibly tight that year, so a 23-6-3 finish propelled them straight up the standings, eventually netting them a second seed. But if they had finished with merely nine less points, they wouldn't have even made the playoffs.

This season, the gap is much wider. Although no playoff spots are secure, the top five teams are all on pace to finish at least 17 points ahead of ninth place.

That's the positive; the Sharks are comfortably in a playoff spot and will make it barring a collapse.

The negative, of course, is that it's much tougher at the top. Another 105-point finish would leave San Jose in fifth this season.

Through 50 games this season, the Sharks are on pace for exactly 105 points (29-15-6). Given that, this team needs an entirely different type of second half as last year. They don't need to play better than their current clip in order to make the playoffs. They don't need to be the best team in the NHL in order to lock up a division title.

This team as it stands now is not the team that it hopes to be heading into the playoffs. They are also not as far from that team as some may think.

With that, lets take a look at this team's goals for their final 32 games. All will take effort and commitment, but all are well within reach.

Keep Special Teams Trending Upwards

The Sharks special teams has been one of the NHL's premier units for years. A power play led by Dan Boyle, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton is accustomed to finishing in the top five league-wide.

A penalty kill led by Douglas Murray, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Pavelski has been equally lethal (although they struggled last season).

This season, both units have found themselves in unfamiliar territory. The power play has spent most of the season in the middle of or even in the bottom half of the league, whereas the penalty kill has traveled as low as 30th in the NHL.

Part of the reason for these declines is a simple change of personnel. The power play has lost Dany Heatley, one of the top-unit leaders, along with key second-unit asset Devin Setoguchi. The penalty kill has suffered its losses over the last couple years (Rob Blake, Mike Grier, Niclas Wallin), which partially explains their drop-off last season.

But the players currently in teal are still good enough to be elite units. Any power play with Boyle, Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe should have no trouble scoring goals.

Likewise, a penalty kill featuring Vlasic, Murray, Burns, Pavelski, Boyle, Thornton and Michal Handzus should be a strong unit.

And believe it or not, despite their cold starts, both units are improving. The power play has been very hot since a 2-for-29 drought earlier this season. They have climbed over three percentage points and 10 spots and currently sit seventh in the NHL with an 18.9 percent efficiency.

The penalty kill is still 26th in the league at 78.6 percent, but even that's only due to an 88 percent clip over the last 55 kills.

If these two units continue to grow, they will not only help carry the Sharks to a good number of victories, but will be ready to preform in the playoffs, when special teams is just about the most important element of a team.

An 81 percent kill that's been at 86 percent for three months is much scarier than an 86 percent kill that's been operating at 81 percent efficiency come playoff time.

Keep Team Intact

This may not go over well with most Sharks fans.

Considering San Jose came up short last year (not that they haven't every year) and that they aren't taking the league by storm this season, many fans believe that this team must make a big move in order to be in Cup-winning position come April.

Of course, these people have a point. The Sharks have shown the ability to beat just about everyone but the Vancouver Canucks over the last couple seasons, but that's exactly what they need to do this season. If Vancouver is still faster and still has better scoring depth, how will the Sharks overcome them with this roster?

In terms of team speed, the Sharks have been down one of their fastest skaters (Martin Havlat) for most of the season. His return would greatly enhance the speed of the second line, which would allow Patrick Marleau to bring his speed back to the top line. The third line already has excellent speed with Torrey Mitchell and Jamie McGInn.

While one can look at the fourth line and say it's too slow, it certainly wasn't last year. Yet, it was a major part of San Jose's downfall in the postseason. This year's fourth line may be slightly slower, but it's much more physical and smart with the puck.

The other major complaint is that the Sharks lack third-line scoring. Even though Jamie McGinn has 11 goals and Martin Havlat's return will force down Benn Ferriero, many think that Torrey Mitchell's five goals is not sufficient for a third line winger.

But bringing in an upgrade may require an ill-advisable downgrade somewhere else. If the Sharks want to add a scorer to the third line, they will likely have to trade Mitchell, which will make the team much slower. If San Jose wants to add speed, it will likely harm the blue-line depth (Demers, Braun), which will then become the Sharks' "weak spot."

Many have even gone as far to say that the Sharks need to move a Dan Boyle or Joe Pavelski-type player to bring in a top-line scorer. But these moves would take away so much grit and clutchness that the Sharks would regress to the soft chokers they used to be known as.

The grass is always greener on the other side. While Tuomo Ruutu or Jeff Carter would help the Sharks, they are no more perfect players then the one's that would be traded for them, and they could become goats just as easily as saviors.

Get Healthy, Stay Healthy

The last slide relies heavily on this one.

If Martin Havlat doesn't return, the Sharks certainly will need to make a major move. His speed, top-six scoring punch and playoff prowess will be vital to the success of this team come April. Havlat should not be rushed back, but he and the Sharks medical staff must do everything they can to get him back on the ice.

And although I just said he shouldn't be rushed back, a prompt return would certainly help. Not only would the Sharks record likely improve, but Havlat would be able to get his game going before the postseason roles around.

On a lesser scale in terms of importance, James Sheppard's return could be key. The young forward has yet to play for San Jose, but his speed would be a welcome addition in the bottom six, and adding another capable player always means adding another potential hero.

Besides the absence of these two former Minnesota WIld wingers, the Sharks are relatively healthy. Antero Niittymaki, Douglas Murray, Ryane Clowe, Dan Boyle and Colin White were all injured during the first half, but all of these players are either back in action or no longer on the team.

Of course, every team wants to stay healthy. How can the Sharks best go about doing it?

Find Rest

I could have titled this slide "get rest," but that's easier said than done.

The Sharks will play their final 32 games over 58 days. Which means that rest will be hard to come by, to say the least.

So, how does a team go about "finding" rest? For starters, the Sharks ice-time leader is Antti Niemi. Of course, all starting goalies are going to lead their teams in TOI, but not all starting goalies have a backup as good as Thomas Greiss.

After missing the first three games this season, Niemi has played in 39 of San Jose's 48 games. At that rate, Niemi will play in 64 of 79 games this season. While that isn't a crazy number—six playoff goalies did it last year—only one of those goalies made it to the second round.

Because of the Sharks' grueling schedule to finish the season, rest is even more imperative for Niemi. His 39 starts have come over the course of 126 days, but the 25 more he's on pace for will come in less than half that time. That's why that pace needs to change.

Other players can find rest in a variety of ways, although not by getting benched. One way the Sharks have stayed fresh this season is by staying out of the penalty box—four guys against five have to skate like five guys against five if they want to stop goals.

Another way to gain rest is to limit turnovers and to get the puck deep. Chasing the other team down the ice and fending off their attack is infinitely more tiring than cycling the puck deep and going off for a change.

One final way to rest up is for select players to do just the opposite. If the third and fourth lines continue to play well and can make an offensive impact, Todd McLellan will be less inclined to shorten their minutes late in games and more inclined to reward the individuals with special teams ice time. This will in turn give the top-line guys that much more rest.

Win the Pacific Division

If the Sharks continue to improve on special teams, don't break up their core, get healthy and find rest, they should win the Pacific Division for a fifth consecutive season.

But even if all of these things don't happen, San Jose still needs to find a way to bring home a division title.

Of the last 10 teams to win the Stanley Cup, only one didn't win their division—and they had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury. While not winning a division crown doesn't literally eliminate a team, there are many reasons why it just about does.

For one, a non-division winner likely doesn't have home ice in a single playoff series. Finishing fourth or getting lucky in re-seeding can lead to one round of home ice, but those are the exceptions. And even if a four-through-eight seed wins a series, their reward is almost always a road date with the best remaining team in every remaining round.

Another reason is that being a division winner means not having to play another division winner until the second or third round.

If the Sharks finish second and the six seed beats the three seed, six will play the one seed and San Jose gets to play the four or five seed in round two, essentially making them as well accommodated as a typical No. 1 seed.

In other words, the gap between winning your division and not winning it is much larger than the gap between finishing first or second, or between sixth and seventh.

So the Sharks need to bear down and win the Pacific. If that means dominating five-on-five because the special teams are struggling, so be it. If that means making a big move at the deadline because the injuries are mounting and players are underperforming, then a move must be made. If that means playing Antti Niemi for 20 straight games because Greiss isn't cutting it, then play Niemi.

The Sharks have a better chance than ever to win the Stanley Cup this season, and they cannot let the L.A. Kings, Phoenix Coyotes or Dallas Stars get in their way.