The Sharks and Wild used to battle for bragging rights over the outcome of a series of trades between the two Western Conference franchises. The trades that saw Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, Brent Burns and others swap jerseys seem long ago and at this point the only significant pieces left over are Burns and Coyle.
Both teams boast new coaches in Pete DeBoer for the Sharks and Bruce Boudreau for the Wild. Minnesota sits in second in the Central, just a point behind Chicago, while San Jose is tied for first in the Pacific with Anaheim.