If a team makes a splash at the trade deadline, it’s often a sign something big is missing and the problem cannot be cured from within.
The Sharks did not make a splash at Wednesday’s deadline, and fans should view that as a good thing. San Jose, which is starting to run away with the Pacific Division, can focus on getting key players rest and not rush those back with bumps and bruises before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next month.
When the Sharks acquired Jannik Hansen from Vancouver in exchange for first-round disappointment Nikolay Goldobin, it was a move to add a prime-age, playoff-savvy forward who fits the team’s style of play and continues the Sharks’ theme as a group that is a sum of its parts.