NHL Trade Deadline: San Jose Sharks Could Be Looking For Offensive Production

The San Jose Sharks are hitting a very tough spot in their season, with a lot of road games and a lot of back-to-backs in their near future. They played the fewest amount of games of any team in the NHL before the All-Star Game, and now they're making way for the SAP Open at the HP Pavilion while on a nine-game road trip. By the time they wrap it up, there will be one more day until the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 27.

While San Jose hasn't looked like the dominating team they usually are at this point in the season, they're fielding a more balanced team this time out and have found a way to win enough games to stay ahead in the Pacific Division. Now, the question is whether or not the Sharks are going to be making some kind of move before the deadline.

Over the last several seasons, the question around this time has always been whether or not the Sharks were going to make a move for some defenseman. They've been that high-octane offense that could score at will, but lacking defense shut them down in the playoffs. This offseason, they traded Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi (and others), while adding Martin Havlat and Brent Burns.

Now, the big question is whether or not they'll get somebody who can immediately put points up on the board. San Jose is now at a point where they're a more complete team, but they've had periods of time in which they can't put up goals on the second line and beyond. It's not necessarily that the Sharks need to make a move, it's just that now is the time to speculate, and for the first time in a long time, the potential move is a different one.

You won't hear anything about it from the Sharks though, as Doug Wilson is notoriously tight-lipped in these situations (or most, rather). At any rate, it will be interesting to see if the somewhat-new-look Sharks make a move before the deadline.