A plethora of injured San Jose Sharks players did not join the team for their final road trip of the year, ending their respective seasons and for a few of them, likely their tenures with the organization.
Forwards Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Filip Zadina, and Alexander Barabanov, forward/defenseman Jacob MacDonald, defenseman Jan Rutta, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood are all injured and did not travel with the team. San Jose faces the Edmonton Oilers tonight and the Calgary Flames on Thursday to close the regular season.
The injuries prompted the Sharks to recall forward Danil Gushchin, defenseman Jack Thompson, and goalie Georgi Romanov from the Barracuda on an emergency loan basis. Gushchin and Thompson will play against the Oilers tonight and Romanov is an option to make his NHL debut on Thursday in Calgary.
Goalie Devin Cooley, a Los Gatos native, will look for his third straight win with the Sharks tonight against the Oilers, who will have three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid back in the lineup after he missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. McDavid is third in the NHL with 130 points, including a league-high 99 assists.
Labanc, Rutta, and Blackwood all played in the Sharks’ last game on Saturday at home against the Minnesota Wild, a 6-2 loss that ensured San Jose (19-52-9) would finish in last place in the NHL’s overall standings.
The Sharks have a 3-4-1 record since March 30.
“For the most part, we’ve been able to move forward when things don’t go well. Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of practice with it,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “But I give these guys a ton of credit because it has not been easy.”
It wasn’t immediately clear as to when Labanc, 28, and Rutta, 33, were hurt. Rutta spoke with reporters after Saturday’s game.
Blackwood started Saturday and stopped 32 of 38 shots in San Jose’s 6-2 loss to Minnesota. Sharks coach David Quinn said Monday that Blackwood “is battling something. He has for a while, actually,” leading the team to recall Romanov.
Hoffman, 34, had played in just one of the Sharks’ last five games before Monday. He returned from a concussion on March 28 after missing eight games. He played in four ensuing games for the Sharks before he again came out of the lineup.
The 29-year-old Barabanov (lower body) hasn’t played since March 26 and MacDonald was injured in the Sharks’ game against the Kraken last Thursday and did not play Saturday.
Labanc, Hoffman, Barabanov, and MacDonald are all pending unrestricted free agents, and Zadina is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. Both Rutta and Blackwood, 27, are signed for one more season.
It seems unlikely the rebuilding Sharks would re-sign the underperforming Labanc, Hoffman, or Barabanov, as they continue to turn over their roster, looking to get younger and in many respects, bigger. From a statistical standpoint, all three had disappointing years, combining for just 45 points in 158 games.
Labanc is in his eighth year with the Sharks, Barabanov is in his fourth and Hoffman was acquired last summer in the three-team trade that saw Erik Karlsson go to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Sharks will have to decide on the 24-year-old Zadina, who was hurt before the team’s game against Calgary last Tuesday and sat out ensuing games against the Seattle Kraken and Wild.
Zadina, drafted sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2018, set a new career-high with 13 goals this season while mainly being used as a depth forward. He signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Sharks last July as a free agent after he parted ways with the Detroit Red Wings, and his goal total is the third highest among players still on the team.
“There is a learning curve for all these guys, especially guys who have been drafted where he was and the expectations are so high. It’s a tough thing when you come to the National Hockey League, and you have to develop. So much is expected of young players this day and age and it’s really unfair.”
Zadina also finished with 23 points, one point shy of a career-high, and averaged 13:20 in ice time per game as he saw plenty of time on San Jose’s fourth line. Before his injury, he had just one goal in his last 13 games.
“I think he’s still trying to figure out what he is going to be at the National Hockey League level,” Quinn said. “I think it’s a process for every player and I think he’s still trying to figure it out. I thought he made progress this year. He and I have had many conversations about what he’s got to be able to do to be successful and be an everyday player in this league.”
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Thompson will play in his first game with the Sharks since he was acquired from Tampa Bay for winger Anthony Duclair on March 7. He will be paired with Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Gushchin and Givani Smith will also dress for Monday’s game. Half of the players the Sharks are dressing against the Oilers are 24 or younger, as the youth movement is in full effect.
Thompson made his NHL debut on Jan. 6 with Tampa Bay and had 11:39 of ice time against the Boston Bruins. He’ll probably see more action against the Oilers.
“Just go out there and try my best and learn from these coaches,” Thompson said of his approach to tonight’s game. “Just listen to what they have to tell me and go out there, work as hard as I can, and do the right things.”
