Suomela, Middleton latest cuts as roster takes shape
SAN JOSE >> The look of the Sharks’ roster for opening night came into greater focus Saturday after the team announced two more cuts, assigning center Antti Suomela and defenseman Jake Middleton to the Barracuda of the AHL.
The moves leave the Sharks with 15 forwards, nine defensemen and two goalies in camp, although forward Manuel Wiederer (upper body) and defensemen Radim Simek (knee) and Artemi Kniazev (upper body) are all recovering from injuries.
Simek, who had reconstructive knee surgery in March, practiced with the Sharks again Saturday but is considered doubtful for the season-opener Wednesday in Las Vegas. Kniazev, one of the Sharks’ second round draft picks in June, remains on the training camp roster but will be reassigned to Chicoutimi of the QMJHL when he is healthy. It is unknown when Wiederer might be able to return.
The Sharks’ final preseason game is today against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas.
If the Sharks do keep 23 players for the start of the season and reassign Wiederer back to the AHL once he is healthy, that would mean that forwards Dylan Gambrell, Danil Yurtaykin, Jonny Brodzinski and Lean Bergmann, and defensemen Mario Ferraro and Dalton Prout, would all be on the NHL roster to start the year.
Yurtaykin, Bergmann, Brodzinski and Prout were all signed by the Sharks as free agents earlier this year, and Ferraro turned pro in April after two seasons at Umass-amherst. Gambrell, the Sharks’ second round draft pick in 2016, started last season with the Barracuda but later played 10 NHL games, including two in the playoffs.
Teams have to submit their opening day rosters to the NHL no later than 2 p.m. (PDT) Tuesday.
In Saturday’s practice, Yurtaykin was on a line with Joe Thornton and Marcus Sorensen, Bergmann was with Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson and Brodzinski was with Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane. Gambrell skated with Suomela and Lukas Radil.
Brodzinski spent the last four seasons in the Los Angeles Kings organization.
“It’s a new opportunity, and they’ve given me a good one here,” Brodzinski said. “I just need to take it.”
Suomela, who made the Sharks’ roster out of training camp last season before he was sent to the minors in December, had one goal in three preseason games. Middleton, 23, did not have a point in three preseason games. Neither player was in the lineup Thursday when the Sharks dressed most of their NHL regulars in a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
Suomela, 25, is in his second season in the Sharks organization. He was signed to a one-year contract extension in July and was in competition for a fourth line center role. But Suomela was unable to carry much momentum from one game to the next, and the Sharks will likely start the season with Goodrow as their fourth line center, with Bergmann and Karlsson on the wings.
With Simek injured, Middleton, in the final season of the three-year entry level contract he signed in Sept. 2017, was in competition with Ferraro to be the Sharks’ third left shot defenseman behind Marc-edouard Vlasic and Brenden Dillon.
But Middleton did not have as many standout moments as Ferraro, a second round draft pick by the Sharks in 2017. Ferraro dressed for Thursday’s game when he was paired with Tim Heed, and finished with close to 15 minutes of ice time. Ferraro and Heed were again paired together for Saturday’s practice.
”I’m proud of where I’m at, and I’m proud of what I’ve done, but I’m not really satisfied,” Ferraro said earlier Saturday before the cuts were announced. “I’ve got to bring it every day.”
Middleton played in three games with the Sharks last season, collecting one assist. He was arguably the Barracuda’s best all-around defenseman in 2018-19 when he finished with 19 points and was a plus-16 in 57 games.