Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Perhaps the San Jose Barracuda actually are for actual.
Coming into this season, the Barracuda had purpose to have larger hopes following a last-place end within the Pacific Division in 2023-24. They added two-time Calder Cup champion Andrew Poturalski and defenseman Jimmy Schuldt from Coachella Valley. One other former Calder Cup winner, Joey Keane, joined the group after two seasons in Russia. NHL veteran Colin White inked an AHL take care of the Barracuda. And a summer season blockbuster commerce with Nashville introduced two-time AHL All-Star Yaroslav Askarov to San Jose.
Throw in a deep pool of younger Sharks prospects, and on paper at the very least, the Barracuda appeared strong. Perhaps much more than that.
Head coach John McCarthy’s membership got here out and took six of its first seven video games. They closed out November by profitable six of their final eight. At 12-6-0-0, they sit second within the Pacific 1 / 4 of the best way by their 72-game schedule.
Askarov, who served up shutouts in every of his first two begins, has a .937 save proportion in 10 appearances. And 4 of the Barracuda’s high 5 scorers are rookies, led by ahead Collin Graf with 22 factors. Defenseman Luca Cagnoni has 18 factors in his first 18 video games out of the Western Hockey League. Filip Bystedt, a first-round draft decide in 2022, has began his first full professional season in North America with 11 factors in 15 outings.
In early November, the Barracuda confronted a little bit of turbulence for a group nonetheless working to agency up a basis. They headed to Iowa on Nov. 2-3 and took a thumping from the Wild, outscored by the hosts 9-3 in a pair of losses. One other defeat adopted on Nov. 9, a 3-2 house loss to Colorado. After their sturdy begin, the Barracuda discovered themselves with a three-game shedding streak and dealing with a rematch in opposition to a robust Eagles group.
However San Jose got here out on Nov. 10 and grabbed a lead six minutes into the sport on a aim from rookie Donavan Houle. The opposite half of the Barracuda goaltending tandem, Georgi Romanov, made 31 saves and Tristen Robins picked up a pair of objectives in a 5-3 victory.
Two weeks in the past, San Jose confirmed resolve in a two-game set in opposition to first-place Calgary. The Wranglers dealt the Barracuda a 6-2 loss within the opener after which took a 2-0 first-period lead within the rematch. However this can be a sturdy San Jose group, and so they tied the sport at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 earlier than Cagnoni gave them the win in time beyond regulation.
The Barracuda misplaced Askarov to recall forward of a visit east to Toronto, and have been shut out by the Marlies on Nov. 23. Gabriel Carriere, simply up from the group’s ECHL affiliate in Wichita, stepped into the San Jose crease for the second sport and earned first-star honors with 31 saves in a 2-1 shootout victory.
So sure, this group seems to be actual. The Barracuda have three extra house video games within the coming week, then it’s eight of the following 9 on the highway. If October served as San Jose’s discover to the remainder of the AHL that they have been not a last-place group, then November confirmed that the Barracuda even have some fight-back in them. The success of the Sharks’ rebuilding plan relies upon closely on what the Barracuda can accomplish, by way of each growing the group’s rising base of younger expertise and profitable hockey video games.
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
