SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks are driving a uncommon three-game profitable streak, however that doesn’t imply that coach Ryan Warsofsky stays content material along with his lineup.
The Sharks, it seems, will make at the very least a pair of modifications for Saturday’s dwelling sport in opposition to the Vancouver Canucks, with newly acquired defenseman Timothy Liljegren coming in for Jack Thompson and Ethan Cardwell changing Danil Gushchin on San Jose’s second line.
Inserting Liljegren isn’t a shock, contemplating the Sharks needed to get him into the lineup after he was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. However Cardwell’s attainable promotion from the fourth line to a top-six function was barely much less anticipated contemplating he’s solely two video games into his NHL profession.
Nonetheless, Warsofsky stated he’s been impressed with Cardwell’s work away from the puck and feels the 22-year-old is accountable sufficient to play greater within the lineup. Cardwell additionally has some offensive contact, as evidenced by the team-high 23 objectives he scored final season with the Barracuda.
“He’s come in, and he hasn’t looked out of place whatsoever,” Warsofsky stated of Cardwell. “He’s responsible. He’s underneath (the puck). We’ve got to put the guys on the ice that we trust the most in important situations. I’ll continue to say that. And when the guys are out there in those important situations, that’s usually the reason.
“We trust Cards on the ice without the puck, and that’s where we’re at.”
Cardwell skated alongside fellow winger Fabian Zetterlund and heart Alexander Wennberg on Friday, as Danil Gushchin was right down to the ‘fifth line’ with heart Macklin Celebrini, who’s on injured reserve, and Klim Kostin, a scratch for the final two video games.
Nothing is ready in stone, as Warsofsky cautioned the strains may look totally different on Saturday. Nonetheless, it seems to be a promotion of types for Cardwell, who was recalled from the San Jose Barracuda earlier this week after Ty Dellandrea was positioned on injured reserve with an upper-body ailment.
“It’s nice to get out there and skate with them today in practice,” Cardwell stated. “I don’t know if that’ll be the line for (Saturday’s game), but if it is, I’ll be ready for that. And if it isn’t, I’ll be ready for that as well.
“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity to play with two great players like that. A lot of ice starts to open up, and they start to find you in different areas. So just got to be ready to shoot the puck and be ready to make plays and play fast.”
“(Cardwell) gives us some really fresh legs,” Warsofsky stated. “In the first game he played, and then (Thursday) night, he had some good energy. He can skate, get on pucks, and hunt pucks. So I think he’d help that line a little bit.”
Cardwell doesn’t have an NHL level but, however he has created some probabilities. He’s averaged just below 11 minutes of ice time, with a while on the penalty kill combined in.
“I feel like I’m always pretty relaxed,” stated Cardwell, who had about 14 family and friends members in attendance Thursday for the Sharks’ 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. “Even in (my NHL) debut, I felt pretty comfortable out there. But it’s just nice to settle in.
“Obviously, I knew a lot of the guys quite well from training camp, so that made it a lot more comfortable coming in and pretty seamless. It’s been a fun couple of days, a bit of a wild ride. I got family coming im so I’ve been hosting them and showing them around at the same time as trying to juggle hockey.”
Gushchin, who earned a spot on the Sharks’ season-opening roster after he had 9 factors in 4 exhibition video games, has been held to 1 help in 9 regular-season video games up to now. He averaged 11:34 in ice time through the first two video games of the homestand with three photographs on purpose.
With only one level up to now, Gushchin may be missing some confidence.
“Just a little inconsistent at times,” Warsofsky stated. “He does some good things, and his puck play on the walls has been good, but we just need a little bit more out of him.”
The Sharks haven’t had a four-game streak since they went 4-0-0 to start out the 2021-2022 common season. That was two coaches and two common managers in the past.
MORE ON LILJEGREN: Liljegren was paired with Henry Thrun for components of Friday’s observe and likewise performed up high on the Sharks’ first energy play unit with Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg and William Eklund.
The sport shall be simply Liljegren’s second of the season after he was a wholesome scratch 9 occasions in 10 video games with the Leafs. Liljegren’s one sport this season got here on Oct. 16, when he had just below 14 minutes of ice time in a 6-2 Leafs win over the Los Angeles Kings.
Does Liljegren really feel he has one thing to show?
“I think so, especially (with) how things have gone this year,” he stated. “It’s a new chapter for me here, and I’m just going to go out and have fun and play my game.”
Liljegren stated he hasn’t performed on a high energy unit since February of final season when he changed Morgan Rielly in that function. At the moment, Rielly was serving a five-game suspension for cross-checking Ottawa Senators ahead Ridly Greig.
The Sharks energy play earlier than Friday’s video games was ranked twelfth within the NHL at 21.6%.
“He can work the blue line really well on the power play, makes good choices with the puck up top,” Warsofsky stated. “There’s been some rust areas. He hasn’t played a lot of hockey, just a little bit there in Toronto. So we’ll ease him in and then at some point, let him go.”
CELEBRINI UPDATE: Macklin Celebrini skated with the Sharks once more Friday morning however won’t play in opposition to his hometown Canucks, Warsofsky stated.
Celebrini, who’s out with a hip harm, had been skating for over every week earlier than formally rejoining group actions on Thursday.
“That’s kind of what the plan is, and we’ll continue to move forward as each day goes,” Warsofsky stated, “but it’s good that he’s out there.”
Warsofsky wouldn’t say whether or not Celebrini, whose first and solely NHL sport was on Oct. 10, could possibly be accessible someday subsequent week.
“He’s had one practice. So there’s still a little ways to go,” Warsofsky stated.
The Sharks host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday and end their homestand Thursday in opposition to the Minnesota Wild. They then have a four-game East Coast street journey from Nov. 10 to 16.
OTHER INJURIES: Dellandrea, who’s eligible to come back off IR on Sunday, stays day-to-day, Warsofsky stated. He skated on the Sharks’ fourth line Friday with Nico Sturm and Carl Grundstrom. … Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has resumed skating on his personal, Warsofsky stated. There stays no timeline for a return to observe.
Initially Revealed: November 1, 2024 at 4:35 PM PDT
