The Sharks are in the midst of one of the longer runs as one of the league’s upper-echelon teams not to win a Stanley Cup. Emile’s Rangers had about seven years, the French Connection Sabres had about the same number of kicks at the can, the Predators of recent vintage less than a half-decade, but the Sharks, well, they have come up empty every time since Joe Thornton became their centerpiece during the 2005-06 season.

And following their conference finals elimination by the Blues in six games, the Sharks are going all-in again as evidenced by Monday’s re-signing of pending free agent Erik Karlsson to a stunning eight-year, $88 million contract. Damn the long-term consequences, San Jose is going Bay Area Big Three on the back end with Karlsson, Norris finalist Brent Burns and Marc-Eduard Vlasic.

Loaded on the back, talented enough up front even as it appears there isn’t going to be enough room under the cap to re-up pending free-agent center (and captain) Joe Pavelski, the Sharks would seem to have one problem area. That’s in net, where the club received substandard work from Martin Jones most of the season and intermittently in the tournament.

And so, with San Jose GM Doug Wilson doing whatever he can to keep the window open a year after trading for Karlsson, I wonder if he might take the next logical step and attempt to shore up his goaltending.

I wonder, in fact, whether Wilson might make the call to the Rangers to inquire about Henrik Lundqvist.

Understand: The Rangers are not attempting to nudge Lundqvist aside. This is not a message being sent from Manhattan to Gothenburg, Sweden, by way of The Post. Management is not about to ask the face of the franchise to waive his no-move clause. Lundqvist has made it clear that he wants to lead the Blueshirts back to the playoffs. There is no wobbling on those fronts from either the front office or the goaltender.

But what if a serious Cup contender were to come after him? What if Wilson were permitted to make a pitch? Lundqvist’s sister lives in the Bay Area. And, of course, his good friend Karlsson would be on hand to help with the transition. And he’d be playing behind a defense that, for the first time since 2011-12, would help shield him.



The best-case scenario, Kaapo Kakko is ready and contributes on Broadway, the same for Vitali Kravtsov and for Adam Fox. Filip Chytil takes a substantial leap forward, the same for Lias Andersson, and Libor Hajek carves out a spot on the blue line. Lundqvist, teaming with Alexandar Georgiev and/or Igor Shesterkin, plays as well all season as he did the first three-plus months of 2018-19. And the Rangers hang in the playoff race into at least March.

But there is a flip side. Kakko isn’t quite ready and spends some time serving an apprenticeship in Hartford, and the same for Kravtsov and Fox. Chtyil and Andersson don’t make quantum leaps. Hajek needs more work in the AHL. (Wonder why it is so critical for the Rangers to hire the right coach for the Wolf Pack?) The Rangers are buried by January and there is less and less reason to give Lundqvist games instead of turning it over almost entirely to the two kids.

Deadline trades of big-time goaltenders don’t work. There is not enough time to adjust. It is difficult enough for a star forward to make a trade-deadline transition after spending a lifetime with one team. It would be essentially impossible for a goaltender; essentially impossible for the 37-year-old Lundqvist.

As such, if the Sharks want to make a run at Lundqvist, the time would be now. San Jose has already traded its first-rounders for 2019 (Evander Kane) and 2020 (Karlsson), so Wilson would likely be shy about sacrificing his first in 2021. But with the Rangers retaining half the salary and cap hit ($4.25 million per), perhaps San Jose could be persuaded to part with Ryan Merkley, the Peterborough righty defenseman whom Wilson selected 21st overall last June.

Ideally, the Sharks would have Jones in support of Lundqvist, who probably would get somewhere around 50 starts, and wheel current backup Aaron Dell. But Wilson could explore moving Jones and his $5.75 million cap hit that runs through 2023-24 to free space.

Again, this is an exercise in hypotheticals. The Rangers are not pushing this. So far, neither are the Sharks. Even if Wilson inquires, Lundqvist might very well decline.

Still, I wonder.