Sharks coach: 'We're a middle-of-the-pack team right now'

Todd McLellan is being honest about the state of his team as the San Jose Sharks get set to recommence play after the All-Star break.

Perennial yet underachieving Stanley Cup contenders for the better part of the last decade, the Sharks find themselves on the cusp of a dogfight for a Western Conference playoff spot heading down the stretch.

The Sharks sit second in the Pacific Division, but have only a four-point cushion on the Los Angeles Kings, who sit outside the postseason picture.

And the numbers don't lie, according to McLellan.

"We can't go on the past reputation of our organization, the past where we are out in front," coach Todd McLellan told David Pollak of the Mercury News on Tuesday. "We're a middle-of-the-pack team right now. Until we declare ourselves any different - and that's through play and wins - that's what we are.

"We're in a dogfight. That's the best way of putting it," he continued. "My time here with the group, we've been comfortably in the playoff picture. There have been a couple other years where we had to battle and we're in the middle of one of those battles."

The Sharks finished fifth in the overall standings last season before infamously coughing up a 3-0 series lead to the Kings in the first round of the playoffs, so perhaps a measure of in-season adversity could go a long way toward helping them finally come out on top.

San Jose's next game is Thursday against the league-leading Anaheim Ducks.