SAN JOSE – Nearly instantly after the Sharks bolstered their protection corps by signing free agent Dmitry Orlov and claiming Nick Leddy off waivers – two days after bringing John Klingberg aboard – questions started about how the entrance workplace would clear up a sudden glut on the again finish.
The Sharks now have eight defensemen on one-way contracts, and none are waivers-exempt. Might one or two from the excess be utilized in a commerce to attempt to tackle one other space of want?
That’s definitely potential, even perhaps possible, in some unspecified time in the future this summer season. However quickly after the Sharks signed Orlov to a two-year, $13 million deal and claimed Leddy from the St. Louis Blues, basic supervisor Mike Grier stated he’s not against having eight defensemen on the roster to start out the season.
“We’ll figure it out,” Grier stated final week. “If we get to that point and however the competition shakes out, and whoever plays well, I think we’re prepared to kind of just figure it out from there. Whether that’s keeping eight or seven (defensemen), we’ll keep the best players that give us the best chance to win.”
It’s a sensible strategy after back-to-back last-place finishes within the NHL standings. Nevertheless, the Sharks additionally have to maintain the large image in thoughts, which incorporates guaranteeing that Shakir Mukhamadullin continues to play vital minutes and develop.
Klingberg may solely be a Shark for a couple of months after he was signed to a one-year contract, as he, Leddy, Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Desharnais can all change into unrestricted free brokers in 2026. Some will undoubtedly be on completely different groups, both earlier than this season’s commerce deadline or subsequent summer season.
In the meantime, Mukhamadullin, 23, is simply beginning his NHL profession and figures to be an enormous a part of the Sharks’ blue line for years to come back.
After the Sharks traded Cody Ceci and Jake Walman final season, Mukhamadullin turned a mainstay within the lineup and, simply earlier than he suffered a season-ending shoulder damage in April, was the group’s greatest defenseman.
Per week after the 4 Nations break ended, from March 1 to April 1, when he sustained his damage in a recreation towards the Anaheim Geese, Mukhamadullin averaged over 21 minutes in ice time and was the Sharks’ main scorer on protection with six factors in 14 video games.
To make sure, Mukhamadullin was trying just like the first-round draft decide he was in 2020 and the centerpiece of the return the Sharks obtained in February 2023 once they traded Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils.
“I think he’s made huge strides, one of our most improved players this year, from that 4 Nations break, especially,” coach Ryan Warsofsky stated of Mukhamadullin after the Sharks’ season resulted in April. “He’s long, he can skate, he can make plays.”
Now it’s a matter of the place Mukhamadullin suits in on the revamped protection corps.
The left facet proper now has Mukhamadullin, Ferraro, Orlov, Leddy, and Henry Thrun. Orlov and Leddy even have expertise enjoying on the precise facet, the place Klingberg, Liljegren, and Desharnais reside.
If all eight defensemen are nonetheless with the Sharks in mid-September, it ought to, on the very least, make for a extra aggressive coaching camp, with Warsofsky tasked with making the items match whereas giving every defenseman the absolute best probability at success.
It’ll even be good for Warsofsky, when his group is attempting to guard a late one-goal lead this season, to look down the bench and have some extra veteran choices. With that in thoughts, if the roster stays the identical, it might be a shock to not see Ferraro, Orlov, Leddy, and Klingberg within the opening evening lineup, leaving Mukhamadullin, Liljegren, Thrun, and Desharnais competing to be the fifth and sixth defensemen.
And sure, Mukhamadullin, who is about to change into a restricted free agent once more subsequent summer season, must compete for ice time. That’s a superb factor.
However what the Sharks have to keep away from is sitting Mukhamadullin, or the 24-year-old Thrun, for that matter, for a number of video games in a row. Benching them throughout a recreation, and even scratching them now and again, is completely affordable and a necessary software for Warsofsky to have.
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Letting the 6-foot-4 Mukhamadullin play by means of some errors isn’t a foul factor, both. Assuming the Sharks need to be playoff contenders in a single or two extra years, growing Mukhamadullin’s recreation might be important, simply as it will likely be with Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Collin Graf, and Yaroslav Askarov.
Ideally, the Sharks will know by the tip of this season whether or not Mukhamadullin is usually a top-four NHL defenseman.
To do this, he must play video games and have a big function, not simply apply. Mukamadullin is now not waivers-exempt, so the AHL isn’t an choice.
As a lot because the Sharks need to win extra video games, serving to their younger core develop on the NHL degree must be their prime precedence. These are the gamers who might be in San Jose long run, whereas the vast majority of the group’s pending UFAs could possibly be elsewhere this time subsequent yr.
