Sharks’ Kane suspended for 3 games.
LAS VEGAS >> Danil Yurtaykin will start on the Sharks’ top line with Logan Couture and Timo Meier. Lean Bergmann will skate on the second line with Tomas Hertl and Lukas Radil.
It may not be ideal for the Sharks to start the regular season tonight with two rookies, Yurtaykin and Bergmann, in their top six forward group. But that’s the situation they’re in going into the opener against the Vegas Golden Knights after winger Evander Kane was suspended by the NHL for three games without pay Tuesday morning for physical abuse of officials.
“Some of our young guys have had really good camps. Whether they’re good enough to be playing in those roles right now, that’s to be determined,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “But they’re getting that opportunity because of the situation we’re in and they’ve got to make the most of it.
“The guys dressing are the guys that deserve to be in the lineup.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Kane, per DeBoer, was still deciding whether to appeal the suspension, which came two days after he was ejected from a preseason game with the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
Kane, a 30-goal scorer last season, took part in Tuesday’s practice but indicated through a team spokesman he did not wish to comment. As part of the suspension, Kane will also forfeit $112,903.23 of his average annual salary of $7 million.
If Kane does not appeal, the earliest he could return to the Sharks’ lineup would be Oct. 8 on the road against the Nashville Predators. The Sharks’ homeand-home series with the
Golden Knights continues Friday in San Jose, then the team plays in Anaheim on Saturday to begin a threegame trip.
Even if Kane does appeal, he would remain suspended until the issue is resolved. Any appeal would be heard by league commissioner Gary Bettman.
For now, Bergmann, Yurtaykin, not to mention fellow rookie Mario Ferraro and Dylan Gambrell, entering his second full season of professional hockey, are all getting a chance to not only start the season in the NHL, but play a significant role right away.
The Sharks knew some younger players will have to contribute this season after forwards Joe Pavelski, Joonas Donskoi and Gus Nyquist all departed via free agency, and defenseman Justin Braun was traded to Philadelphia.
Still, this figures to be a huge task, particularly for the season opener against the Sharks’ fiercest rival.
“We need them,” Couture said when asked about Bergmann and Yurtaykin. “Really, when we didn’t resign a bunch of guys, we figured that we needed some guys to step up and play a role for us this year. Don’t know if this was envisioned from the start, but this is what we got. Big opportunity for those guys.”
Yurtaykin, a free agent out of Russia in April, spent a small part of camp on a line with Joe Thornton and Marcus Sorensen. He scored the Sharks’ only goal Sunday, his first point of the preseason, in a penalty-filled 5-1 loss to the Golden Knights, and finished with 13 minutes and 43 seconds of ice time.
Bergmann, who signed in May out of Germany’s elite league (DEL), has been noticeable every time he’s been on the ice for the Sharks, going all the way back to June when he fought fellow prospect Zach Gallant in a development camp scrimmage. Bergmann had one goal in four preseason games, but impressed DeBoer and Sharks management with his relentless work ethic and compete level.
Bergmann, who had 14:29 of ice time Sunday with two shots on goal, was still kind of in shock Tuesday that he made the Sharks’ 23-man roster to start the year. But he thinks he’s not going to be intimidated by his surroundings today when he takes the ice for the first time in an NHL regular-season game. After all, the atmosphere inside the Golden Knights’ home rink reminded him of the arenas back in Germany.
“I don’t think there’s really an easy way,” to make a debut, Bergmann said. “Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of pressure and responsibility. Not too much, but probably a little bit. Just try and do my best playing with the veterans up there, get a win here and make a statement against Vegas.”
Ferraro will be with Dalton Prout, a July 1 free-agent signing, on the Sharks’ third defense pair. Defenseman Tim Heed and forward Jonny Brodzinski will be the healthy scratches.
Injured Sharks defenseman Radim Simek participated in Tuesday’s practice. DeBoer estimated that Simek is probably “1014 days away from being a real option for us,” which figures to give Ferraro an extended look in the NHL.
“And he earned it,” DeBoer said of Ferraro. “We’re sitting out a veteran guy in (Heed) and like I said, the guys that are playing tomorrow night earned it through the work in training camp.”