Sharks Recall Collin Graf, Shakir Mukhamadullin
The San Jose Sharks have recalled a pair of top prospects in forward Collin Graf and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin. Graf could have a clear path to minutes with Alexander Wennberg designated as out, and both Ty Dellandrea and Tyler Toffoli designated as game-time decisions, when San Jose hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Defenseman Jan Rutta is also out with injury, and isn’t expected to return until after the 4-Nations break. That could open the door for Mukhamadullin to return to the lineup as well, though he’ll face competition for a role from Henry Thrun and Marc-Eduouard Vlasic.
Graf was with the NHL roster through much of January. He played in 10 games and recorded two assists, no penalties, and a minus-four – perfectly matching his stat-line through seven NHL games last season. He was reassigned on January 22nd, but has quickly taken to proving the Sharks wrong with four points and 12 shots on net in four AHL games over the last two weekends. A wave of nagging injuries in the Sharks lineup could provide Graf a chance to bring that hot streak back to the NHL, and hopefully find his first NHL goal along the way.
Mukhamadullin has also played in 10 NHL games this season, but has just one assist to show for it. He’s performed a bit better in the minor leagues, with nine assists in 21 games this season – but his scoring has been inconsistent all year long. Mukhamadullin is still finding his way through North American pros, and a shot at the lineup in San Jose’s final games before break could be a great chance to find his footing.
Sharks Recall Vitek Vanecek, Reassign Yaroslav Askarov
The San Jose Sharks have recalled goaltender Vitek Vanecek from a conditioning stint in the AHL. Vanecek fractured his right cheek into “a couple of pieces” and required surgery on December 17th, when an errant puck hit him while he was sitting on the bench, shares Felicia Keller of San Jose Hockey Now. He worked his way back to full health throughout January and was assigned to the minors on January 29th and played his first game since injury two days later. He allowed two goals on 24 shots and won the game – his only appearance of the minor league assignment. In a corresponding move, San Jose has also reassigned Yaroslav Askarov to the AHL.
Vanecek had another spot start in the minors in 2021-22, but hasn’t played multiple AHL games since the 2019-20 season. He was a heavily-used goaltender for the Hershey Bears from 2016 to 2020 – routinely sharing the net with many emerging netminders, including Pheonix Copley and Ilya Samsonov. Vanecek often posted better stat lines than his company, recording a save percentage north of .905 in the 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2019-20 seasons. The lattermost year still stands as his career-best – headlined by a 19-10-1 record and .917 save percentage. That performance earned Vanecek a call-up to the Washington Capitals in the following season, and he’d make the call-up last by again posting save percentages north of .905 in each of his first three NHL seasons.
Vanecek eventually worked his way into the New Jersey Devils’ starting role for 2022-23, and posted a dazzling 33-11-4 record and .911 save percentage in 52 games. It was heavy utilization in the midst of his prime, but he’s struggled to maintain full health or strong performances in the years since. He recorded a measly .890 Sv% in 32 games with New Jersey last year, and has an even lesser .885 in 14 games with San Jose this season.
Where Vanecek will slot in upon returning from injury isn’t as clear. He has played in one more game than his lineup competition – Askarov and Alexandar Georgiev – and his measly save percentage doesn’t look terrible next to Askarov’s .895 and Georgiev’s .879. That could be enough to push Vanecek back into the starting role, though it might not last for long. Askarov has been a force all season long, alternating between dazzling performances only allowing one or two goals; and horrific outings where he’s lit up to the extent of four, five, or even six goals allowed. His year-long save percentage is confused by that inconsistency, but it’s hard to say that the young Russian isn’t still San Jose’s best option in net. He’s recorded a fantastic .938 Sv% in 14 AHL games this season. That’s far-and-away the highest save percentage in San Jose Barracuda history, 12 percent higher than Troy Grosenick‘s .926 through 49 games in 2016-17. This assignment suggests that Askarov will be tasked with maintaining that record through the foreseeable future, though he could quickly jump back to the pros should San Jose’s other netminders continue to falter.
Stars Acquire Mikael Granlund And Cody Ceci From Sharks
Earlier today, the Stars made a series of roster moves geared toward setting up and optimizing their LTIR pool. They wasted little time using it as they acquired center Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from San Jose in exchange for Dallas’ 2025 first-round pick and Winnipeg’s 2025 fourth-round selection. That pick can elevate to a third rounder if Dallas reaches the Stanley Cup Final. Both teams have announced the swap. Stars GM Jim Nill released the following statement:
We are excited to welcome both Mikael and Cody to Dallas. We see both players as addressing immediate needs for our team — Mikael is a proven scorer who will bolster our forward group at both even strength and on the power play, and Cody will add a stabilizing and physical presence to our blueline. Both players will bring valuable postseason experience to our group, and we are looking forward to seeing their contributions to the Stars as the season continues.
The Stars have been missing a key middleman for the last two months when Tyler Seguin underwent hip surgery which is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the regular season. They’ve been trying to fill that spot internally with Jamie Benn spending some time down the middle while Sam Steel has been elevated to the third line at times as well but there has been a general expectation that Dallas would need to look outside the organization to fill that spot at some point.
Granlund certainly helps fill the void. The 32-year-old had a resurgence last season in his first year with San Jose, recording 12 goals and 48 assists in just 69 games. Granlund has shown that the improvement wasn’t a fluke as he has 15 goals and 30 helpers through 52 games this season, putting him on pace for 69 points which would tie his career-high set back in 2016-17.
That said, Granlund shouldn’t be counted on to produce at a similar rate with the Stars. With San Jose, Granlund has been an all-situations number one center, logging nearly 21 minutes a night for the second straight year. That won’t be the case with Dallas with them still having Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Matt Duchene, and Benn all in the mix in the top-six. More likely is that Granlund would be counted on to anchor the third line with some secondary minutes on both the power play and penalty kill.
Granlund is in the final season of a two-year, $10MM contract. It’s worth noting that the Sharks have already used all three of their available salary retention slots (on Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, and Tomas Hertl) so they will not be able to retain any money to help facilitate a deal. Accordingly, either Dallas absorbs the full $5MM into their LTIR pool (one that’s around $12MM per PuckPedia at the moment) or they will need to get a third team involved to pay down some of the contract.
As for Ceci, he’s in his first season with San Jose after being acquired over the summer from Edmonton in what amounted to a cap-clearing move from the Oilers. The 31-year-old is playing a bigger role than he has been accustomed to in recent years but is holding his own with 15 points, 100 blocked shots, and 52 hits in 54 games while logging over 21 minutes a night.
Ceci has over 800 games of NHL experience over his 12-year career, largely spent ranging from being a second to a fourth defender. He may get the opportunity to remain in that role with his new club for the time being with Miro Heiskanen out on a longer-term basis while Nils Lundkvist‘s season has come to an end after undergoing shoulder surgery. Additionally, offseason signing Mathew Dumba hasn’t quite panned out as planned so there should be an opportunity for Ceci to play an impactful role in Dallas.
Ceci is also in the final season of his contract, one that carries a $3.25MM cap charge. If Dallas isn’t getting any third-party retention in this move, then they’ll be using about two-thirds of their LTIR pool in one move (barring any roster players going the other way) although they’ll also be filling a pair of important needs in one swap.
Dallas didn’t necessarily have to trigger using LTIR today as they still had enough regular cap space to operate outside of it. The fact they committed to using it now suggested they had a move in the works. This certainly qualifies as they give themselves a big boost in the highly competitive Central Division.
For the Sharks, while they’re losing arguably their two most prominent pending UFAs, they’re also adding a legitimate future asset with the first-round selection. Being able to add one of those in spite of not being able to hold back money is a solid piece of business for GM Mike Grier. He’ll now likely turn his focus toward trying to find new homes for his other expiring deals including forwards Luke Kunin and Nico Sturm along with defenseman Jan Rutta.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes first reported the two sides were discussing a Granlund trade. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first with Ceci’s inclusion. TSN’s Darren Dreger first had the return for San Jose while Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported the conditions on the Winnipeg selection.
Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.
Kovalenko Out Until After 4 Nations Face-Off
- The Sharks aren’t expected to have winger Nikolai Kovalenko back until after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has been productive since being acquired from Colorado, notching eight points in 17 games (after putting up eight in 28 games with the Avs) but suffered an undisclosed injury on Thursday versus Seattle; head coach Ryan Warsofsky indicated that he’s unsure how Kovalenko was injured.
Sharks Notes: Rentals, Sturm, Kostin, Rutta, Dellandrea, Granlund
The Sharks are expected to once again be sellers in advance of March 7th’s trade deadline with the team well out of the playoff picture. This is around the time of year where teams will often start talking about extensions with players they want to keep. That doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment for San Jose as GM Mike Grier told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that while he has a sense of what his pending free agents are looking for, there haven’t been any negotiations with them and is unsure if there will be any before the deadline.
Their UFA crop includes veteran centers Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm, winger Luke Kunin, plus defensemen Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta. If they are going to try to move them, they won’t be able to retain any salary, however, as their three retention slots have already been used. However, Grier indicated that he’s not too worried about that as he feels interested teams will either have or be able to open up the cap room to add any of those players to the point where retention wouldn’t necessarily have been needed.
More from San Jose:
- It looks as if there won’t be much help on the horizon on the injury front. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now notes (Twitter link) that Sturm, winger Klim Kostin, and Rutta are all unlikely to play until after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Speculatively, getting those players into some game action will be needed if they have any hopes of moving them before the deadline. They should, however, get center Ty Dellandrea back sooner. Peng mentions that Dellandrea skated today as he works his way back from an upper-body injury that landed him on IR last week.
- Granlund missed practice today due to illness, relays Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link). He’ll accompany the team on their trip to Seattle but isn’t a lock to suit up. After putting up 60 points in 69 games last season, Granlund is scoring at a similar clip this year with 44 points in 51 games, leading the team in assists and points.
Sharks Reassign Scott Sabourin, Vítek Vaněček
The Sharks reassigned winger Scott Sabourin to AHL San Jose on Wednesday, per a team announcement. They also sent goaltender Vítek Vaněček, who hasn’t played since mid-December due to a cheekbone fracture, to the minors on a conditioning loan, signaling he’s close to a return. Only Sabourin comes off the active roster with those moves – Vaněček remains on injured reserve – so San Jose is left with one open spot.
Sabourin received his first recall of the season last Friday when the Sharks made a flurry of roster moves, including promoting Colin White from his AHL deal. The 32-year-old enforcer got into game action the following day but struggled with a minus-two rating against the Panthers in 10:27 of ice time. Comprising a fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and recent waiver pickup Walker Duehr, the Sharks were out-attempted 14-3 with Sabourin on the ice.
It marked Sabourin’s fourth NHL game for the Sharks since signing a two-year, two-way deal in San Jose as a free agent in 2023. The veteran of 13 professional seasons posted career-highs with 18 goals and 192 PIMs in 59 AHL games last year, but he’s been limited to five goals and 14 points with 48 PIMs in 35 appearances in 2024-25.
The 6’4″, 207-lb cruiserweight made previous NHL stops with the Maple Leafs and Senators before arriving in the Bay Area. He’d also inked NHL contracts with the Ducks and Kings in the past but never got into NHL games for them.
Sabourin does not need waivers for today’s reassignment because he cleared them preseason and was only on the Sharks’ active roster for five days. His demotion could signal that one of the Sharks’ many other IR-bound players other than Vaněček could be close to returning, or it could indicate they plan on keeping three goalies on the active roster once Vaněček returns instead of sending top prospect Yaroslav Askarov back to the minors.
Sharks Recall Jack Thompson, Place Jan Rutta On IR
The San Jose Sharks have recalled defenseman Jack Thompson and placed Jan Rutta on injured reserve. Rutta missed the team’s Saturday loss to the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury. Head coach Ryan Wardofsky told Max Miller of Yahoo Sports that Rutta had been dealing with the injury for the last few games.
Rutta has seen his ice time dip from upwards of 19 minutes down to 13 minutes in the wake of this injury. He’s been a utility defender all season long, averaging 17 minutes of ice time and recording eight points through 51 games this season. Rutta also ranks second on the team with 76 blocked shots.
The Sharks turned towards left-shot defender Henry Thrun to fill Rutta’s right-side role on Saturday. But after a big loss, the Sharks are opting to bringing a true right-shot up in Thompson. Thompson has split time between the NHL and AHL lineup all year long, with similar results. He has five points in 14 NHL games and nine points in 17 AHL games on the year. After totaling just three NHL games over the last two seasons, Thompson is finally receiving a chance to carve out his role at the top-flight. With Rutta set to miss at least one week and two games, Thompson could have a perfect opportunity to plant his feet even further.
San Jose Sharks Sign Colin White
Jan. 25: According to a team announcement, the Sharks have officially signed White to a one-year, two-way contract.
Jan. 24: The Sharks are signing unrestricted free agent center Colin White to a contract for the remainder of the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports Friday. He’s been in the organization since August when he signed a one-year deal with AHL San Jose.
It’s unclear if the deal will be registered before tomorrow’s game against the Panthers, but Pashelka said White was on the ice at practice with his new NHL teammates today. His signing is part of a larger group of roster moves the Sharks made Friday, which also included reassigning rookie forward Collin Graf to the AHL, recalling veteran enforcer Scott Sabourin, and moving forward Ty Dellandrea to injured reserve. The Sharks will have a full active roster when all the moves are executed.
White, 27, has battled injuries with the Barracuda this season but has managed five goals and 10 points with a minus-three rating in 20 games when healthy. The 2015 first-rounder had to settle for a minor-league contract last summer after going pointless in 28 games, split between the Penguins and Canadiens.
The Boston native once looked to be a promising top-nine piece with the Senators. He posted 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points in 74 games in his first entire NHL season back in 2018-19, but he never topped those numbers. Injuries began to pile up over the next few seasons before a dislocated shoulder cost him over half of the 2021-22 campaign. He was limited to 10 points in 24 games when healthy that year, leading the Sens to buy him out halfway through the six-year, $28.5MM deal they gave him as an RFA following his breakout year.
White landed with the Panthers after the buyout, posting 15 points in 68 games in a fourth-line role and playing in all 21 playoff games as they lost to the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. It wasn’t enough to convince Florida to retain him, though, and they did not tender him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He needed to wait until September until the Penguins extended him a tryout offer, which yielded a two-way deal and his first extended AHL action in six years.
The 6’1″ pivot will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and he’ll need to clear waivers if the Sharks attempt to send him back to the AHL.
Returning to the minors to make room for the veteran recalls is Graf. San Jose signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent out of Quinnipiac last summer after he was named the ECAC’s Player of the Year and a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award thanks to his 22 goals and 49 points in 34 games.
Graf got off on the right foot in the pros, posting 26 points through 29 AHL games to start 2024-25 before earning an NHL recall on New Year’s Eve. He’s remained on the Sharks’ roster since then but was a healthy scratch in last night’s loss to the Predators after posting two assists with a minus-four rating in 10 appearances.
Graf averaged 14:17 per game during his recall, recording seven blocks and 10 hits. The 6’1″ winger looked overmatched at times, posting a team-worst 38.6 CF% at even strength among skaters with at least 10 games played.
Sabourin, 32, is in his second season with the Sharks organization. The 6’4″ heavyweight winger has 46 NHL games to his name, three of which came with San Jose last season during a January call-up.
Since signing a two-year, two-way deal with the Sharks as a free agent in 2023, Sabourin has 23 goals and 17 assists for 40 points with 240 PIMs in 94 AHL appearances. He hasn’t logged significant NHL ice time since appearing in a career-high 35 games as a 27-year-old rookie with the Senators in 2019-20.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Dellandrea left last night’s loss to the Preds with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. It’s unclear if this injury is related to the UBI that held him out for four games in October and November, but regardless, he’s now been ruled out of the team’s next three games. The 2018 first-rounder hasn’t been a good fit in the Bay Area after they acquired his signing rights from the Stars over the offseason, limited to one goal and four assists with a -15 rating in 41 appearances.
Sharks Claim Walker Duehr Off Waivers From Flames
Jan. 22: The Sharks plucked Duehr off the wire from the Flames on Wednesday, Friedman reports. He’ll provide a likely temporary bottom-six presence for San Jose with Tyler Toffoli, Nico Sturm and Klim Kostin currently sidelined with injuries. The Sharks don’t have an open roster spot, however, and will need to make a corresponding transaction. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that move will be placing Sturm, who missed Tuesday’s loss to the Predators with a lower-body injury, on IR.
Jan. 21: The Flames placed winger Walker Duehr on waivers Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll presumably head to AHL Calgary if he clears.
Duehr, 27, hits the wire for the second time this season. After making the opening night roster last season, he failed to do so in 2024-25 and cleared without incident near the end of training camp.
The 6’3″, 205-lb righty responded by notching 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points through 20 AHL games. That earned him a recall back to the Flames in early December as they needed a replacement for Justin Kirkland, who underwent season-ending ACL surgery.
Duehr appeared in 10 consecutive games for the Flames to begin his call-up, which was interrupted on a few occasions by paper transactions to extend his temporary waiver exemption. The number of days he’d spent on the roster no longer mattered once he played his 10th game, though.
Since that run of 10 straight, he’s been scratched four times in the Flames’ last 10. On the whole, the South Dakota native only contributed one assist with a minus-six rating.
Given Duehr’s underwhelming offensive performance, limited ice time and his team-worst -12.2 relative CF% at even strength, today’s demotion is unsurprising. The South Dakota native has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 84 games with Calgary since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2021.
A pending unrestricted free agent, the Flames may have an interest in keeping Duehr around on a two-way extension, considering his strong AHL production. However, given his poor NHL showing over the past few weeks, the chances of him replicating a one-way deal like he’s had for the past two seasons are slim.
Duehr’s bottom-six spot looks to go to recent call-up Rory Kerins, who’s earned his keep with four assists through his first four NHL games. Kerins, 22, was added back to the roster today after being sent down over the weekend to bank cap space, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.
Ducks, Sharks Swap Justin Bailey, Pavol Regenda
The Ducks and Sharks exchanged minor-league forwards in a trade Wednesday, per announcements from both clubs. Pavol Regenda is heading north from Anaheim to San Jose, while veteran journeyman winger Justin Bailey is heading from the Bay Area to SoCal.
Bailey, 29, is in his 10th season of professional hockey. A second-round pick by the Sabres in 2013, the hulking 6’4″, 212-lb winger primarily suited up for their AHL affiliate in Rochester but did manage 52 NHL appearances for the club before they traded him to the Flyers in 2019 for winger Taylor Leier.
His tenure in the Philadelphia organization was short-lived, spending the back half of the 2018-19 campaign bouncing between the NHL and AHL before they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. An unrestricted free agent for the first time, Bailey latched on with the Canucks on a two-way deal, where he’d spend three seasons as a call-up option and taxi squad mainstay during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After making a one-year stop in the Oilers organization in 2022-23 that didn’t result in any NHL time, Bailey landed with the Sharks for 2023-24 – first on an AHL contract, but that was torn up and replaced with a two-way deal a few weeks into the season. He quickly established a spot on a thin San Jose offense, turning himself into a full-time NHLer for the first time, even if just for a few months.
Bailey appeared in a career-high 59 games for the Sharks last year, recording five goals and nine assists for 14 points and a -15 rating. He averaged 11:17 per game and ranked eighth on the team with 76 hits.
Understandably, Bailey opted to ink a two-way extension to keep him in the San Jose organization for 2024-25. Also understandably, after the Sharks added multiple veterans in free agency and saw prospects Macklin Celebrini and William Smith make the jump to the NHL, there was no longer a spot for Bailey on the NHL roster.
The Buffalo native landed on waivers and cleared them in the middle of training camp. But after a lengthy history of top-six production in the minors, Bailey has struggled to the tune of seven goals and seven assists for 14 points through 33 AHL games with a minus-six rating. He’s tracking for his worst season in terms of AHL points per game in his career while playing on a San Jose squad having its best season in six years.
The Sharks evidently wanted a bit of an offensive jumpstart for their farm club, while the Ducks wanted a more veteran presence. They certainly land that for San Diego in Bailey but part ways with Regenda, a similarly-sized power forward who Anaheim signed as an undrafted free agent out of Slovakia in 2022.
The 25-year-old Regenda has a goal and two assists for three points in 19 NHL games with the Ducks, none of which have come in 2024-25. He’s been limited to four goals and 16 points in 36 games with AHL San Diego this season, down from his career-best 34 points in 54 games last season.
Both players will report directly to their new farm clubs without incident. Bailey will be a UFA at the end of the season, while Regenda will be a Group VI UFA since he’s logged three professional seasons without recording 80 NHL games.