Sharks forward William Eklund has had discussions about playing for Sweden in the upcoming World Championship in his native Sweden, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 22-year-old is having the best season of his young career with 15 goals and 35 assists through 64 games, good for a share for first in team scoring with Macklin Celebrini. That should have him in line to play a prominent role for his country with several of Sweden’s top players expected to be unavailable due to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Elsewhere in San Jose:
- Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is expected to get more imaging done soon on the upper-body injury that is plaguing him once again, Pashelka relays in the same column. The veteran is dealing with a recurrence of the injury that kept him out in the first half of the campaign. Vlasic has played in just 17 games this season where he has two assists and 29 blocks in 15:28 of ice time per game, which is the second-lowest average of his career. Head coach David Warsofsky indicated that it’s too early to know if this injury will be a season-ender for the 37-year-old.
- Pashelka also mentions that blueliner Henry Thrun is expected to return to practice on Monday. He was initially listed as week-to-week after suffering an upper-body injury on March 8th. Through 52 games this season, the 24-year-old has a goal and nine assists in just under 17 minutes of playing time.
- While recently signed forward Cameron Lund is burning the first year of his entry-level contract this season, he’s not expected to report to the team for a few more days, Pashelka reports (Twitter link). Lund had 40 points in 37 games at Northeastern this season and should get into at least a few games down the stretch.
- Center Alexander Wennberg should suit up tonight against Boston, reports Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link). He has been dealing with a lingering lower-body issue lately although it hasn’t caused him to miss any time recently. Wennberg has eight goals and 23 assists through 64 appearances in his first season with the Sharks while logging over 18 minutes a night of action.