Healthy Hertl able stand up to Ducks
SAN JOSE >> Just the mention of Tomas Hertl’s name calls to mind three things: hockey’s best smile, his four-goal game as a rookie in 2013-14 and the question of whether he’ll ever be truly healthy after suffering a series of knee injuries early in his career.
After putting together a career year this winter,
Hertl is finally gaining notoriety for something else: a physical game that helped the Sharks absorb Patrick Marleau’s loss.
As the Sharks prepare to attempt to close out their firstround Stanley Cup playoff series in Game 4 at SAP Center on Wednesday, Hertl is getting attention for the role he’s playing in helping the Sharks stand up to
the Anaheim Ducks rugged style of play. He’s recorded three points in three games and ranks second on the team in shots (12), tied with Brent Burns.
“He’s been one of our best guys here in the playoffs in a big, physical series,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We needed our big guys to play big in this series, and he’s been right at the front of the line for that. He’s been great.”
Heading into the season, the Sharks knew they were going to need a breakthrough year from Hertl to help replace the offensive production of Marleau, who left the team to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. After battling major knee injuries over the first four years of his NHL career, Hertl needed to prove he was healthy and capable of fulfilling the potential he showed as a rookie by collecting 25 points in his first 35 NHL games.
The trouble started on Dec. 19, 2013, a day that will live in infamy for Sharks fans. Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown caught Hertl with a knee-to-knee hit, forcing him to undergo surgery to repair damage to the medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee. Hertl returned for the playoffs that spring, but he wasn’t really healthy until the start of his third season in 2015-16.
After putting together a quality season that year, Hertl re-injured his right knee after he collided with Patric Hornqvist of the Pittsburgh Penguins
in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, sidelining him for the rest of the series.
Then, Hertl went under the knife again last winter after he suffered a rightknee sprain on Nov. 17. The injury kept Hertl out of the lineup for 33 games, raising concerns that the 24year old would be plagued by recurring knee issues throughout his career.
But the affable Czech forward is optimistic that he finally put those questions to bed this winter, suiting up for 79 games, setting a career-high with 22 goals and matching a career-best with 46 points.
“I hope so. You never know what can happen,” Hertl said. “But I feel strong and my knee is feeling great — no issue about it.
“Next summer, I’ll have to work (on my knee) again, make it stronger and stronger, and hopefully all that stuff will be behind me.”
Hertl put the knee problems in the rearview mirror when he stepped into some big skates just three games into the season. After the Sharks suffered back-toback losses in their first two games, DeBoer moved Hertl up from third-line center into a top-six role on Logan Couture’s left wing, a spot in the lineup occupied by Marleau throughout most of the previous five years.
Hertl and Couture developed instant chemistry. Couture scored seven goals in the first nine games that Hertl skated on his line. The duo carried the Sharks offensive charge as the team struggled to generate offense without Marleau early in the season.
With his 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame, Hertl is proving to be the perfect compliment for Couture’s defensive-minded style of play. He digs pucks off the wall, maintains possession with a strong forecheck and takes faceoffs, winning 50.8 percent of his draws, compensating for the weakest part of Couture’s game.
And the skill that he flashed with his in-between-the-legs goal during his rookie season is still there. He showed it off in Game 2 as he used a dipsydoodle move to split Brandon Montour and Francois Beauchemin before roofing a backhander into the top shelf.
“That size and that skill — you really can’t teach that,” Couture said. “When he’s playing well, he’s holding onto pucks. He’s strong, and he’s tough to play against.
“He’s easy to play with because he works so hard.”
After putting together the most complete season of his career, Hertl could be in for a significant pay raise with restricted free agency looming this summer. In 2016, Hertl gave the Sharks a hometown discount by signing a twoyear, $6 million contract, a seemingly risky move at the time considering his history of knee injuries.
”I was just thinking, I’ve got two years, be healthy and just play my best hockey,” Hertl said.
Hertl did just that, which is why he’s no longer one of the youngsters that veterans, such as Couture, Burns and Joe Pavelski, are dragging along. Hertl is becoming a key part of the team’s core with room for continued growth as he moves into his prime years.
“Getting through a full year healthy is huge for him and he’s getting better and better,” DeBoer said. “I still think there’s more.”