1. Hertl's future, Kane status
The Sharks have two big question marks among their top six forward group: the long-term future of Tomas Hertl and the immediate future of Evander Kane.
Hertl can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, and the Sharks, who have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons after qualifying in 14 of the previous 15, may look to deal him ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline if they are out of contention.
He said on Sept. 24 he is open to taking less money to stay with the Sharks if they're in position to win. He's scored 323 points (151 goals, 172 assists) in 505 regular-season games, 42 points (24 goals, 18 assists) in 62 playoff games and helped San Jose reach the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kane is not participating in training camp and it's unclear when he will return. The forward was alleged to have bet on NHL games, including those involving the Sharks. The NHL announced Sept. 23 there was
no evidence to support those claims
following an investigation, but that it was looking into two other additional allegations against Kane.
Kane led the Sharks with 22 goals and 49 points in 56 games last season.
2. Goaltending
The Sharks are deciding between Adin Hill and James Reimer, if not a timeshare, and hope the goaltending will be better than the past three seasons when they finished either 30th or 31st in team save percentage. Hill was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on July 17. The 25-year-old signed a two-year contract Aug. 4 to avoid an NHL salary arbitration hearing after going 9-9-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and two shutouts in an NHL career-high 19 games (17 starts) last season. Reimer is an 11-season NHL veteran signed to one-year contract July 28. He was 15-5-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .906 save percentage in 22 games (21 starts) for the Carolina Hurricanes last season.
"They're both aggressive goalies and they're both fighters in the net," Boughner said. "I'm not saying we didn't have that before, but I think that energy and that presence of battling and fighting for every puck, fighting through traffic and things like that… I think that's going to help us."
3. Identity
Forwards Nick Bonino and Andrew Cogliano were signed to bring a work ethic Boughner said he hopes spreads to the rest of the Sharks. Bonino has clout as a 12-season NHL veteran and two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins (2016, 2017). Cogliano has played 100 postseason games and was with the Dallas Stars for a six-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
