Devin Cooley’s feel-good journey to the San Jose Sharks is well documented. When it happened, it seemed the trade deadline deal was simply a move to bring a hometown player into the mix to close out the season. However, he’s had a couple of very strong performances since he arrived which may have pushed him into the Sharks’ plans, but a lack of consistency over the six games he took the ice for the Sharks and a few very bad performances to end the season make the decision much more difficult.
Cooley: The Bad
Let’s start with the negative because Cooley’s last two games were by far his worst. Against the Edmonton Oilers, he allowed eight goals on 30 shots. Of course, not all of them were his fault, an argument that can be made anytime a goaltender has a terrible performance. There’s also a considerable skill gap between the Oilers and Sharks. The Oilers’ offense was going to be impossible for the Sharks to contain, but at a certain point, some of the blame must fall on the goaltender. He didn’t have the same excuse for his final game of the season against the Calgary Flames either. The Flames are a much better team than the Sharks, that’s not a question at this point, but they’re not a playoff team either. Cooley being pulled in the second period of the final game of the season after giving up five early goals isn’t a great sign of things to come.
Cooley’s first two games with the Sharks were against the Chicago Blackhawks, and considering he was making both his NHL and SAP Center debuts, nerves were a factor, and he didn’t play well against a team that’s not much better than the Sharks.
Even at the American Hockey League level, Cooley has struggled to consistently perform well. He had a strong 2022-23 season with the Milwaukee Admirals, but in every other AHL season, he’s had a sub-.900 save percentage. He has always lacked consistency – he can be solid one night, or even one season, but it hasn’t been sustainable, and that’s been the case in his limited opportunities in the NHL as well.
There’s also the fact that the Sharks don’t have much room for Cooley. The NHL tandem next season is likely to be Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek, while the AHL team will run with some combination of Magnus Chrona, Eetu Makaniemi, and Georgi Romanov. That means there’s no place within the organization for him to see regular playing time.
Cooley: The…
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