Sharks Systems: How Is San Jose Supposed To Defend, Forecheck? (+)

NEW YORK — How are the San Jose Sharks supposed to play without the puck at 5-on-5?

Ex-AHL assistant coach Jack Han — subscribe to his Hockey Tactics Newsletter! — broke down the Sharks’ systems in three parts for San Jose Hockey Now, play without the puck, play with the puck, and special teams.

This is the first in a three-part series.

Since there was a ton of discussion on Tuesday night about the San Jose Sharks’ play without the puck in a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, let’s start there.

Han made diagrams of what he believes that head coach Ryan Warsofsky wants from his team, in 5-on-5 defensive zone coverage, neutral zone forecheck, and offensive zone forecheck.