Trio of rookies on travel roster
SAN JOSE >> The Sharks trimmed their roster to 27 players Saturday prior to their flight to Europe, a group that didn't include forward Alexander Barabanov and defenseman Markus Nutivaara.
Barabanov and Nutivaara are both injured and were questionable to join the Sharks on the trip, which concludes with two regular-season games next week against the Nashville Predators in Czechia.
The Sharks rookies that survived the deep round of roster cuts were forwards Thomas Bordeleau and William Eklund and defenseman Nick Cicek.
Danil Gushchin, who had a hat trick Friday in San Jose's 7-3 preseason win over the Vegas Golden Knights, is not on the trip as he was assigned to the AHL. Gushchin, the Sharks' thirdround pick in 2020, had four goals and an assist in two NHL preseason games.
Barabanov and Nutivaara were day-to-day with their injuries for much of the past week, and Sharks coach David Quinn said the team would not know until Saturday whether either player would travel to Europe.
With both players out, Luke Kunin has taken Barabanov's spot on the Sharks' top line with Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl, and Scott Harrington played alongside Erik Karlsson on Friday in Las Vegas. Nutivaara started camp as Karlsson's defense partner.
Two other veteran forwards with injury questions made the Sharks trip.
Oskar Lindblom, who had been dealing with an upper-body injury for much of the last week, skated again Saturday after he was a full participant in Friday's morning skate. Also, center Nico Sturm, who was hurt in Friday's game in Las Vegas, flew to his home country of Germany.
The Sharks left Saturday afternoon and will play an exhibition game against Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Tuesday. San Jose begins the regular season next Friday and Saturday against the Predators at O2 Arena in Prague and will have to get its roster down to 23 players before the opener.
The Sharks could take a maximum of 27 players overseas and Bordeleau and Eklund were considered the most likely players on entrylevel contracts to make the trip.
Both players impressed at times last season when they got a taste of the NHL and also received kudos from Quinn in recent days for the adjustments they've made in training camp.
Bordeleau had a goal and an assist in three preseason games. Eklund did not have a point in three games, but showed Quinn an ability to play away from the puck.
Also on the Sharks' travel list besides Eklund, Bordeleau, Kunin, Lindblom, and Sturm are forwards Nick Bonino, Logan Couture, Jonah Gadjovich, Noah Gregor, Hertl, Kevin Labanc, Steven Lorentz, Meier, Matt Nieto, Evgeny Svechnikov and Jeff Viel.
The undrafted Cicek joins seven other defensemen on the trip in Matt Benning, Mario Ferraro, Harrington, Karlsson, Jaycob Megna, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. It is notable that Cicek beat out 2019 second-round draft pick Artemi Kniazev and 2018 first-round pick Ryan Merkley for what could have been the Sharks' last travel spot for a defenseman.
The goalies on the trip are Aaron Dell, Kaapo Kahkonen and James Reimer.