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By Jason Jackson

Nothing soothes the burn of a playoff loss quite like the off-season. It's a time to identify what went wrong during the year. It's a time to improve the team through free agency and trades. It's a time to draft an unknown teenager who might become your team's new superstar five years down the road.

Like most teams that don't play their home games in Denver or in East Rutherford, N.J., the Sharks had a number of glaring weaknesses last season. Have they addressed those weaknesses so far this off-season?

Well, not exactly.

If the Sharks plan to advance past the first round of the playoffs in 2001-02, they'll need to pay more attention to these key areas:

The power play

Statistically, the Sharks certainly could have been worse on the power play last season, although that would be hard to imagine after watching them go 0-for-23 in the playoff series against St. Louis. For the season, only six teams were less effective than the Sharks on the power play -- and none of those six teams made it to the playoffs.

The Sharks converted only 14 percent of their power-play opportunities last year, but the team appears to have helped its top unit with last season's late arrival of Teemu Selanne and with top off-season acquisition Adam Graves. Graves, who scored only one power-play goal last season, averaged nearly 12 power-play goals per year from 1992-93, his second full season in the league, to 1999-2000. Selanne has also been an effective power-play contributor during his career -- he tallied 12 power-play goals last season, including two with the Sharks, and he racked up 25 goals and 29 assists on Anaheim's power-play unit in 1998-99, his last 40-goal season.

But while the Sharks may have improved themselves up front, they have not done so on the blue line. Gary Suter, who floated through a below-average season quarterbacking the top power-play unit last year, remains unsigned, as does sparsely used press-box regular Shawn Heins. Jeff Norton, who was a non-factor on the power play (and in most other situations) after the Sharks reacquired him at last season's trade deadline, signed Tuesday with the Florida Panthers.

With Ragnarsson, Mike Rathje, and Bryan Marchment all being career offensive liabilities, that leaves the inexperienced Brad Stuart (one goal and six assists on the power play last season), Scott Hannan (no power-play goals and two power-play assists in 2000-01), and Jeff Jillson -- who played college hockey last year -- as the best power-play defensemen currently on the roster.

If Suter signs elsewhere, the Sharks had better hope that Stuart and Hannan both have breakthrough years and that Jillson is ready to compete for the Calder Trophy. Either that, or they should pray for a veteran defenseman with offensive skills to fall out of the sky and land at the Compaq Center.

Depth at center

In the 43 games leading up to Jan. 15, 2001, the Sharks enjoyed a record of 26-11-6-0, scored an average of 2.9 goals per game, and were shut out only once. After that date, the Sharks averaged less than 2.4 goals per game and were blanked five times, slumping to 14-16-6-3 the rest of the season.

Not coincidentally, Vincent Damphousse separated his shoulder that day and missed all but one game the rest of the regular season. At the time of his injury, Damphousse had nine goals and 37 assists and was arguably San Jose's top offensive player. Once he went down, the Sharks were left with Mike Ricci and Patrick Marleau as their primary playmakers. Both enjoyed moderate success -- Marleau scored eight goals and 19 assists in his final 38 games, while Ricci scored 13 goals and 10 assists in his last 39 contests -- but neither provided the spark Damphousse brought to the lineup earlier in the season.

So how does the team look at center this season? Pretty much the same as it did last season. Damphousse remains the top center, with Ricci, Marleau, Mark Smith, and minor-leaguer Ryan Kraft on the depth chart behind him. In other words, another Damphousse injury could destroy the Sharks again in 2001-02.

There are a handful of worthy candidates on the trade market who could provide the Sharks with much-needed depth at center. One candidate is Washington captain Adam Oates, the Lady Byng finalist who demanded to be traded last week. Oates, who turns 39 next month, scored 13 goals and a league-leading 69 assists (including 37 on the power play) last season and remains one of the game's top playmakers. Additionally, his salary ($3 million) wouldn't necessarily break San Jose's bank.

Face-off percentage

If you can't control the puck in your own zone, you're likely to give up a quality scoring chance. If you can't control the puck on the power play, you're likely to lose a quality scoring chance. It's as simple as that.

San Jose had the sixth-lowest face-off percentage in the league last season, winning only 48.3 percent of their draws. Of the five teams below them, only one -- Pittsburgh -- made the playoffs.

Last season, Damphousse (52.67 percent on 1,027 chances), Ricci (51.44 on 1,631 chances), and Smith (52.92 on 308 chances) fared well on their face-offs, but Marleau (44.76 on 1,088 chances) and Marco Sturm (40.23 on 517 chances) were abysmal. Marleau's ineffectiveness was particularly evident -- among all players taking 1,000 or more draws, only five had lower face-off percentages. Should Marleau and Sturm -- who spent most of his time at left wing when Damphousse was healthy -- continue to log heavy minutes at center, they must improve their face-off skills. Immediately.

What have the Sharks done to improve their chances on face-offs next season? Not a thing. Consider this: Among all players who took 1,000 or more face-offs last season, two of the top three -- Yanic Perreault (62.65 on 1,055 chances with Toronto) and Mike Sillinger (60.33 on 1,243 chances with Ottawa), both centers, were unrestricted free agents. Perreault signed with Montreal, and Sillinger inked a deal with St. Louis. Despite San Jose's lack of depth at center, the team courted neither player.

The Sharks would also improve their face-off chances by adding the aforementioned Oates to their roster. The veteran center finished fifth in the league in face-off percentage last season, winning 58.87 percent of his 1,836 draws.

News and Notes

In addition to Norton's departure via free agency, center Jim Montgomery has also skipped town to join the Dallas Stars. As TheFeeder.com reported Tuesday, Montgomery signed a one-year deal with the defending Pacific Division champions. Terms were not disclosed. The 32-year-old center, who needed a pair of binoculars and a Sherpa to find the top of the Sharks' depth chart, scored one goal and six assists in 28 games with San Jose last season. ...

Sharks fans who will miss Norton -- all three of them -- should not worry. There's always a chance that GM Dean Lombardi will trade Miikka Kiprusoff to Florida next season to bring the defenseman to Silicon Valley for a fourth time. And while we're on the topic of Norton and questionable trades, Pittsburgh has made an initial qualifying offer to goalie Johan Hedberg, meaning he'll be back with the Penguins next season. ...

Rich Pilon, we hardly knew ye. The St. Louis Blues on Thursday signed the free-agent defenseman to a one-year contract. The Sharks obtained the 33-year-old Pilon, a 13-year veteran who scored two goals and nine assists for the New York Rangers last season, in the June 24 deal that brought Adam Graves to San Jose. However, the team had no intention of signing Pilon -- the Sharks acquired him to get their fins on the compensatory draft pick awarded to the team that lost him via free agency. "Rich Pilon will provide us a physical and aggressive presence in front of the net," said Blues general manager Larry Pleau. ...

According to a report that appeared recently in the Regina Leader-Post, Darryl Sutter has talked to former Chicago Blackhawks coach Lorne Molleken about joining the Sharks as an assistant. The 45-year-old Molleken, who compiled an 18-21-8 record while coaching the 'Hawks during parts of the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, is currently the head coach of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The Sharks have a slot open behind the bench now that Cap Raeder has returned to his former position as a scout. ...

The Sharks have gone from two Friesens to zero in just a few short months, according to a published report. The team has reportedly decided not to make a qualifying offer to minor-league goalie Terry Friesen, meaning he is free to find a new place to call his hockey home. The netminder, no relation to former Shark Jeff Friesen, slipped further down the organization's depth chart with the club's recent signing of Seamus Kotyk, a former unsigned Boston Bruins draft pick, and the continued development of Nolan Schaefer, who was drafted in the 5th round out of Providence College last year. The Sharks selected Friesen in the 3rd round in 1996 -- the highest selection the club has ever used on a goalie.

Originally published on TheFeeder.com.

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