SAN JOSE — Give Doug Wilson and the Sharks some credit. They literally came within a pen stroke of achieving what only the Detroit Red Wings have managed to do over the last 30 years: undergo a heart transplant while remaining perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup.
If John Tavares had chosen the Sharks over his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs in unrestricted free agency Sunday, the Sharks would have reset their clock by a decade, passing the torch from Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau to a new wave of high-impact players. They also would have been instant favorites to win the Stanley Cup next season.