Who is trending and who is fading at training camp
San Jose Sharks coach Bob Boughner likes where things are headed with his team’s training camp.
With the Jan. 14 season opener with the Arizona Coyotes coming up quickly, he better.
“Today was our best day of camp,” Boughner said Tuesday after the Sharks held an intrasquad scrimmage. “The pace was better. It was more physical. You could see the guys were thinking and executing within the system a heck of a lot better.”
The Sharks, who were off Wednesday, will have more formal scrimmages on Friday and Sunday night. They’ll go through a typical game- day routine: A morning skate, followed by lunch and a pregame nap at the team hotel, with an intrasquad game that evening.
Here’s a look at where things stand at the moment.
Forwards (24)
LOCKS >> Logan Couture, Ryan Donato, Dylan Gambrell, Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, Joel Kellman, Kevin Labanc, Patrick Marleau, Timo Meier, Matt Nieto, Stefan Noesen, Marcus Sorensen.
TRENDING UP >> Noah Gregor, John Leonard.
STATUS UNCERTAIN >> Fredrik Handemark, Antti Suomela
TAXI SQUAD/BARRACUDA CANDIDATES>> Lean Bergmann, Joachim Blichfeld, Sasha Chmelevski, Kurtis Gabriel, Jayden Halbgewachs, Maxim Letunov (unfit to play), Alexander True (injured), Jeffrey Viel.
ANALYSIS >> Boughner has had positive things to say about Gregor, Leonard and Handemark. Tuesday, he mentioned that the line of Chmelevski, Halbgewachs and Blichfeld also played well in the scrimmage. Generally speaking, it appears the Sharks are happy with how the younger players have performed in camp. Leonard is up in the Sharks’ top six forward group at the moment, and Gambrell and Gregor are both getting looks at the third line center role. Will they be there long term? Who knows.
Where do Handemark and Suomela fit in right now? Kellman would require waivers, and we’re guessing the Sharks do want to risk losing him for nothing. Maybe from that standpoint, Kellman stays and Handemark, who is waivers- exempt, is assigned to the taxi squad. Suomela would require waivers to be sent down. But if he’s being outperformed in by Gregor and Leonard in camp, it would be tough for the Sharks to keep him on the active roster.
Defensemen (12)
LOCKS >> Brent Burns, Mario Ferraro, Erik Karlsson, Radim Simek, Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
STATUS UNCERTAIN >> Ryan Merkley. Jake Middleton
TAXI SQUAD/ BARRACUDA CANDIDATES >> Trevor Carrick, Nick DeSimone, Nikolai Knyzhov, Nicolas Meloche, Brinson Pasichnuk.
ANALYSIS >> Until we hear otherwise, it appears Middleton has the inside track to become the Sharks’ sixth defenseman this season. The Sharks have liked what they have seen at times with Merkley and Pasichnuk, but are they ready for the big stage? The Sharks have to look at what is in their best interests long-term. Those decisions on who to keep as their sixth and seventh defensemen will presumably become clearer after the two upcoming scrimmages.