Summer Skate: San Jose Sharks

Although the weather doesn't necessarily make us think of winter pursuits, it's a good time to take the temperature of every NHL team. Hockey Prospectus will guide us through the leaguewide tour and spotlight one player trending up and one player trending down for each club, as well as a key statistic as we look ahead to the 2014-15 season. References will be made to goals versus threshold (GVT), a Hockey Prospectus proprietary statistic; for more on GVT, click here. All other advanced stats are courtesy of Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.

It was Groundhog Day for the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 postseason, as they were eliminated in the first round following an outstanding regular season. Of all the playoff disappointments since coach Todd McClellan took over, which include falling twice in disappointing fashion in the Western Conference finals, the Sharks' first-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings might be the most frustrating. San Jose led 3-0, and then melted down to fall in seven games.

Their offseason has been puzzling, to say the least. McClellan stripped star center Joe Thornton of the captaincy and the team inexplicably signed slow-moving lugs John Scott, Scott Hannan and Mike Brown. The Sharks' top-end talent is among the best in the NHL and will still carry them toward the top of the Pacific, but they are not entering this season as a better team than 2013-14.

Trending Up: Tomas Hertl, F

Last season: 7.0 GVT
VUKOTA Projection: 7.7 GVT