The 2018 summer seemed dry in the early stages for the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators.
While the Senators selected Brady Tkachuk, a young phenom from Boston University, with the 4th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, the Sharks set their eyes on a high-risk, high-reward defenseman with Ryan Merkley as the 21st overall pick.
After that, the Sharks missed out on adding star players to the forward depth with John Tavares and Ilya Kovalchuk finding homes in Toronto and Los Angeles, respectively. The Senators sought a major bounce back with the league’s second worst record (28-43-11) behind the Buffalo Sabres a season ago.