KEY ADDITIONS				KEY LOSSES
Name Niklas Sundstrom Eric Landry	Pos. F F	From Rangers via Lightning Flames		Name Andrei Zyuzin Bill Houlder Shawn Burr Steve Guolla Fredrik Oduya	Pos. D D F F F	To Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning Flames

Outlook
Despite being one of only seven teams that scored fewer than 200 goals last season, the San Jose Sharks still made it to the postseason.

		Keys for the Sharks will be scoring and confidence. Signing Vincent Damphousse was good because they have struggled at center. They have some prospects, but they need someone who is an anchor at center. Damphousse needs a strong season. He gives them an experienced, talented player at center. Hopefully, the young players like Jeff Friesen, Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm will continue to progress. Again, they are relying on relatively young inexperienced players to really carry a load. Gary Suter's return is a huge lift for them. He missed all of last season and will anchor their defense. The Sharks may improve more than any team in the NHL. Again, it comes down to scoring confidence. Can someone get hot and carry them? Can Damphousse be the workhorse they need him to be?

The reason? Defense.

The Sharks finished fifth in team goals-against average last season, their best showing since entering the NHL in 1991-92.

The organization feels it made the moves necessary during the summer to compete with the big boys of the West. Unlike last year, they'll have Vincent Damphousse (trade) and defenseman Gary Suter (injury) for a full season. The club has more depth at forward with the acquisition of Niklas Sundstrom and the maturation of key players including Jeff Friesen, Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm.

Coach Darryl Sutter's first two forward line combinations of Damphouse/ Sundstrom/Friesen and Owen Nolan/Marleau/Sturm mean opposing teams can't focus on one line.

On defense, Suter missed almost all of last season because of a shoulder injury. Suter, along with Jeff Norton will boost San Jose's sagging power play, which finished No. 23 in the league last season. The rest of the defense corps is established with the exception of rookies Scott Hannan, Andy Sutton and 19-year-old Brad Stuart. Two of those three will see their fair share of ice time this season.

Mike Vernon and Steve Shields fight for the top spot in net, and Sutter likely will go with the hot hand.

If the Sharks can stay healthy, especially on defense, the club should score more goals this season. If that happens, look for San Jose to battle for second place in the Pacific Division, behind the Cup-champion Dallas Stars.

'98-99 PACIFIC STANDINGS
TEAM	W	L	T	Pts.
Dallas	51	19	12	114
Phoenix	39	31	12	90
Anaheim	35	34	13	83
San Jose	31	33	18	80
Los Angeles	32	45	5	69

The bottom line
Better or not: Better
By how much: 5-7 more wins
Most improved: Patrick Marleau
Most valuable: Jeff Friesen
Biggest disappointment: Owen Nolan

Charles Avellino is a lead NHL researcher for ESPN.