The San Jose Sharks had a relatively quiet offseason by most standards. Instead of pursuing top-level free agents, the Sharks primary focus was on retaining their own.
And outside of the massive extension given to Erik Karlsson, the Sharks didn’t do too much to rock the NHL world. But they didn’t need to. That wasn’t supposed to be the plan, nor was it executed as such.
General manager Doug Wilson was focused on maintaining the team’s current core as opposed to adding to it via outside sources.
Cap restrictions absolutely played a factor in this, but it was nonetheless the goal and it was completed to perfection — outside of the expected loss of captain Joe Pavelski.