- The Sharks are hoping to have defenseman Erik Karlsson back in the lineup on Thursday, relays Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. He has been out for the last six weeks with a shoulder injury that has been giving him trouble since the start of the season although it hasn’t held him back offensively as the 31-year-old has 26 points in 31 games. Pashelka adds that blueliner Jaycob Megna could also return on Thursday. The 29-year-old underwent surgery last month to repair a foot fracture, one that carried a recovery timeline of four-to-six weeks. It appears he’ll be on the short end of that range.
Sharks Rumors
James Reimer Out Week-To-Week
- James Reimer is considered out week-to-week according to head coach Bob Boughner, who spoke with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Reimer’s injury further explains why the San Jose Sharks traded for–and subsequently recalled from the AHL–Alex Stalock. Adin Hill is still out with an injury, though Boughner explained that the goaltender “felt good” this morning. Losing Reimer is a pretty hefty blow to the Sharks’ fortunes, as the veteran netminder was having a nice bounce-back season and has a .916 save percentage in 34 appearances.
San Jose Sharks Acquire Alex Stalock
Another goaltender was dealt for future considerations last night, as Alex Stalock is now on his way to the San Jose Sharks from the Edmonton Oilers. The veteran netminder was originally not expected to play at all this season after being diagnosed with myocarditis but has now appeared in five games for the Bakersfield Condors.
Stalock, 34, actually has a long history with the Sharks. Drafted 112th overall by the team in 2005, he suited up 62 times for San Jose over parts of five seasons. That included an incredible rookie run in 2013-14 when he posted a .932 save percentage in 24 appearances, even getting into three postseason games when Antti Niemi struggled in the playoffs. It’s been years since he was part of the Sharks organization though, leaving them in 2016 when he was part of the deal that brought James Reimer over from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After a few seasons in Minnesota, Stalock was actually claimed off waivers by the Oilers in the 2020-21 season, but never appeared for the club at the NHL level. His future is relatively unclear at this point, though it has been good to see him back on the ice after many ruled him out completely. In five appearances with the Condors, he has a 3-1 record and a .862 save percentage.
For the Oilers, there were already enough goaltenders in the system to fill out the minor league spots, with Stuart Skinner obviously needing the most playing time whenever he’s in the AHL. In San Jose meanwhile, the Sharks are dealing with an emergency recall of Zachary Sawchenko while Adin Hill deals with injury, meaning Stalock may actually get a look in the NHL if healthy enough to do so.
Santeri Hatakka Returned To AHL
- With the San Jose Sharks now off until Saturday, they’ve returned Santeri Hatakka to the minor leagues for the time being. The 21-year-old defenseman hasn’t played in the NHL since November, but could end up seeing some time as the Sharks deal with several injuries in the coming weeks.
Ferraro Moved To IR; Hatakka Recalled From AHL
- The San Jose Sharks have recalled Santeri Hatakka from the AHL, after Mario Ferraro went on injured reserve. Ferraro is expected to miss six to eight weeks, meaning there could be an extended look for some of the team’s even younger defenders.
Sharks’ Mario Ferraro Out Six To Eight Weeks
The San Jose Sharks have been dealt a major blow to their already dwindling playoff hopes. Promising young defenseman Mario Ferraro underwent surgery on Sunday to repair a fractured left fibula, the team announced. The timeline for recovery is six-to-eight weeks; with less than nine weeks remaining in the season and the Sharks outside the postseason picture, Ferraro will have limited if any impact over the remainder of the year.
The injury occurred on Saturday night as the Sharks faced off with the Boston Bruins. During a battle for the puck in his own end, Ferraro was the recipient of a somewhat questionable check from opposing forward Taylor Hall. Hall shoved Ferraro from behind and he slid into the end wall, with the impact causing immediate and apparent pain. Ferraro was helped off the ice – clearly injured – but a broken leg is one of the worst case scenarios for the team.
Ferraro, 23, has impressed since day one of his young NHL career, but was on pace for his best season to date. The UMass standout has been seeing increased ice time and was on pace for a career high in goals, points, hits, and takeaways, having already set a career mark in blocked shots. A budding top-pair defenseman, if not already there, Ferraro has been a critical part of San Jose’s success this season.
Even with Ferraro’s contributions thus far, the Sharks are just a .500 team. While they have remained at or above that mark all season, doing so moving forward will be a difficult task. Ferraro will join Erik Karlsson, Nikolai Knyzhov, and Jaycob Megna on the injured reserve while Nicolas Meloche also remains sidelined, leaving San Jose with a severely depleted blue line. Nine points behind the Dallas Stars for the final playoff spot in the West and with four other teams between them in the wild card race, the Sharks’ postseason hopes now look like a long shot, especially if Ferraro misses the maximum eight weeks.
Erik Karlsson's Shoulder Injury Actually Occurred In September
Although Erik Karlsson got off to a very strong start to his season, the defenseman told reporters, including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, that he actually suffered the forearm injury that has him out of the lineup now back in September. The veteran had 26 points in 33 games for the Sharks before the pain became too much to overcome. Karlsson has since undergone surgery and is believed to be roughly two weeks away from returning to the lineup and will certainly be a welcome addition to a San Jose squad that is trying to climb their way back into the postseason picture.
Lane Pederson Clears Waivers
Feb 22: Not only did the Sharks grab Dzingel, but Pederson has also cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of TSN, meaning they’ll keep him in the organization. Pederson can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
Feb 21: Toronto is apparently on the way to San Jose. The San Jose Sharks have claimed Ryan Dzingel off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, just days after the team acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes. To open a roster spot, the Sharks have waived Lane Pederson according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
When the Maple Leafs acquired Dzingel, they quickly explained that the plan was to put him on waivers and try to keep him in the organization as a depth option. His entire $1.1MM cap hit could be buried in the minor leagues, giving them an experienced NHL option to replace the outgoing Nick Ritchie. Instead, he’ll get a chance to jump into the lineup with the Sharks, where he’ll have to be kept on the active roster.
It’s certainly not like Dzingel deserves to be in the minor leagues. Though his offensive production has dropped off in recent years, he still is an excellent skater with strong defensive capabilities. In 26 games for the Coyotes this year he scored four goals and seven points, but perhaps could get a bigger opportunity with the reeling Sharks. The team has won one game over the last month, often scoring two or fewer goals in the process.
The last time an underused forward came to San Jose from Toronto, it certainly worked out for the new club. Alexander Barabanov ended up with the Sharks after 22 largely underwhelming games with the Maple Leafs and now is a regular in the team’s top-six. While Dzingel may not be able to recreate the 26 points in 41 games Barabanov has this season, he has performed to that level in the past and potentially could still be a nice addition.
The player he’s replacing in Pederson, meanwhile, has just not been able to create any offense at all this year. In 26 games, Pederson is still without a single goal and has recorded just two assists. The fact that he’s in the first season of a two-year deal that will be one-way in 2022-23, likely keeps him from being claimed on waivers.
For Toronto, the overall effect of the trade is Ritchie (and a draft pick) out, Ilya Lybushkin in, for roughly the same cap hit. The difference is that the defenseman will actually stay on the Maple Leafs roster, meaning as a net transaction, they’ve actually created a bit of cap space.
Snapshots: Hertl, MacKinnon, Devils
One of the biggest question marks at this year’s Trade Deadline will undoubtedly be the availability of star San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl, who will be a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason. Despite an early-season surge, the Sharks aren’t likely to be in the playoff picture and although Hertl’s voiced his desire to stay in San Jose if the team doesn’t feel an extension is reachable, he could be on his way out for a nice return. However, while those contract talks have started, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the team hasn’t made an official extension offer to Hertl as the deadline is now just one month away. Pagnotta speculates that the Sharks should extend an official offer to Hertl within the next week or two, giving them an abbreviated timeframe to decide on whether or not to trade him.
Some more notes on this Monday night:
- Eyebrows rose across the internet when a video of Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon seemingly slashing a linesman on the legs after the opening faceoff of their game today against Boston went viral. However, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet 590 says that he was told NHL hockey operations and officials investigated the incident, and no further discipline will be handed to MacKinnon for the play. That’s great for the Avs, who have already been without MacKinnon for chunks of time this season as injuries have limited him to 35 games.
- Also according to Pagnotta, the New Jersey Devils could be active at the Trade Deadline, but not necessarily as a stereotypical seller. General manager Tom Fitzgerald could look to make a traditional asset-for-asset type of deal, and that’s not entirely surprising. The team’s been linked, by multiple reports, in recent days to the Vancouver Canucks, and could look to acquire either one of Conor Garland or Brock Boeser to improve the team’s waning depth on the wings.
Adin Hill Placed On Injured Reserve
Two of the four new names on Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff’s trade targets ranking are goaltenders, namely Braden Holtby of the Dallas Stars and Anton Forsberg of the Ottawa Senators. Holtby has had a nice bounce-back campaign in Dallas after being bought out by the Canucks last summer. In his 21 starts this season Holtby has a .912 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against average, strong improvement from his .889/3.67 marks in Vancouver. But his future in Dallas is clouded by the emergence of 23-year-old first-round-pick Jake Oettinger. (As well as the looming presence of Anton Khudobin, the goalie who led the Stars to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, in the AHL.) In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic, Stars General Manager Jim Nill noted that Oettinger has “settled in” with the Stars, and LeBrun also ponders the possibility of Dallas dealing a goaltender.
The Senators’ Forsberg joins Holtby on the list, in large part thanks to the resurgence of Matt Murray. As Murray has shined, Forsberg and his .916 save percentage in 21 starts for the club have become more expendable. Given the Senators’ status as a likely seller come the trade deadline, Seravalli calls Forsberg “perfect trade fodder” for GM Pierre Dorion. Like Holtby, Forsberg is also a pending unrestricted free agent.
- Adin Hill has not played since a late January tilt versus the Lightning, and his absence looks set to continue. The San Jose Sharks announced that Hill has been placed on injured reserve as he continues his recovery from a lower body injury. As the Sharks sit second-to-last in the Pacific Division standings, Hill’s lack of recovery and placement on IR have to be seen as an unfortunate setback to add to his underwhelming first season in San Jose.
- As the Sharks battle Hill’s continued absence, the Islanders get one of their absent netminders back into the fold. The team announced that Semyon Varlamov has been activated from the COVID-19 non-roster list. Varlamov has a .916 save percentage in his 13 starts this season and figures to give the Islanders a boost as they attempt to build momentum in their long-shot chase for a playoff spot.