Inside look at San Jose Sharks

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the San Jose Sharks.

The San Jose Sharks are moving ahead with their rebuild after trading the best defenseman in the NHL.

Erik Karlsson was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three-way deal involving the Montreal Canadiens on Aug. 6. The reigning Norris Trophy winner is 33 years old with four seasons left on an eight-year contract and wanted a trade to a contender for what could be his final opportunity at the Stanley Cup.

"Erik's unreplaceable," Sharks captain Logan Couture told NHL.com a few days after the trade. "He's a one-of-a-kind player. He had an incredible season last year, so we're going to miss the magic he can make on the ice. It's going to take some time to adjust to life without him but it's going to give other guys some opportunities."

Even with Karlsson's statistical dominance (101 points; 25 goals, 76 assists), the Sharks had their lowest points percentage (.366, 22-44-16) since 1995-96 (.287; 20-55, seven ties), and were 25th in scoring (2.84 goals per game) and on the power play (18.4 percent). Couture is back with Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the four holdovers from the last team to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs (six-game loss to St. Louis Blues in 2019 Western Conference Final). Forwards Mike Hoffman and Mikael Granlund, and defenseman Jan Rutta were acquired in the Karlsson trade, and forwards Anthony Duclair and Filip Zadina, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood are also new additions to the roster.

"The expectation is that these guys come in, they compete hard and play hard every day and try to win hockey games," general manager Mike Grier said. "It will definitely be, I would say, more of a committee thing than relying so much on one guy to drive the offense. At times, that was the case last year."

The delicate balance this season is player development and the requisite expectation of winning games. Top forward prospects William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau are at or near NHL ready and will eventually integrate with Couture, 34, Hertl, who turns 30 on Nov. 12, and Vlasic, 36.

"I think every team faces that, whether you're in our situation or a team vying for the Stanley Cup," Sharks coach David Quinn said July 26. "A lot of teams are trying to inject more young players into their lineup and part of it is growing in the National Hockey League, which is hard to do. Mike and I know the challenges that we had when we got to San Jose, and it certainly wasn't the record we wanted last year, but I think as an organization we feel like we're in a lot better position today than we were a year ago."

Duclair, an unrestricted free agent after this season, was acquired from the Florida Panthers on July 1. The Sharks signed Zadina to a one-year contract July 10 after the Detroit Red Wings placed their first pick (No. 6) in the 2018 NHL Draft on waivers July 3 and terminated the final two seasons of his three-year contract. San Jose traded for Blackwood on June 27 and signed him to a two-year contract July 1; the goalie has worked with a nutritionist while taking yoga and Pilates hoping to quell persistent injuries that cost him the starter's role with the New Jersey Devils.

An NHL-high seven Sharks prospects took part in the 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase, pillars of a system led by Eklund (No. 7, 2021 NHL Draft) and forward Will Smith (No. 4. 2023 NHL Draft).

The foundation is in place. The hope is winning follows sooner than projected.

"It's a down cycle right now and we're going to claw our way back inch by inch," Sharks director of player personnel Scott Fitzgerald said. "That's how I'm looking at it and Mike and the whole organization looks at it. One player at a time, and we'll just start to add some pieces here."

NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report