SAN JOSE – Forward William Eklund will return to the lineup Saturday when the San Jose Sharks play the New Jersey Devils, in search of their second straight win.

Eklund, who missed 4 games, is tied for second on the Sharks with 27 points in 36 games. San Jose went 1-3-0 in his absence and finished in eighth and final place within the Pacific Division with 30 points entering Saturday.

Eklund will play on a line with center Mikael Granlund and fellow wing Fabian Zetterlund. Granlund, the oldest of the trio at 32, leads the Sharks with 35 points in 39 games.

“Grandpa (Granlund) there can help them a little bit,” Warsofsky said on the road with Eklund, 22, and Zetterlund, 25. “He takes him under their wing. He's helping these two young players who are still trying to figure out how to play consistently in this league, and I think Granlund has done a great job of helping them individually.

“But of course the chemistry between them was good this year. I’ve said it the last few games: We need to get some lines in place here as far as chemistry goes.”

Granlund's production has slowed recently, with three assists in eight games, but Warsofsky said his play has been higher overall.

“Last game he was skating, he was busy playing hockey,” Warsofsky said of Granlund. “He had a difficult task. We want to compete against really good centers and collect points. … He's had a tough job here lately just trying to get his offense going because I think he's so on the defensive side.

“But we have to make it work.”

To create a roster spot for Eklund, the Sharks placed defenseman Jake Walman (lower body injury) on injured reserve.

Walman, who hasn't played since being injured within the Sharks' game against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 21, skated for the third consecutive day Saturday morning, nevertheless it stays unclear when he’ll give you the option to return. Warsofsky said Walman must complete a full practice before he can play in a game.

Sharks center Nico Sturm, whose appearance against the Devils is taken into account questionable, can be axed. Luke Kunin will take Sturm's place as center on the Sharks' fourth line. Sturm blocked a shot by defenseman Darren Raddysh in the primary period of Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and didn’t play on Friday.

Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov will start again for the Sharks after making 24 saves in San Jose's 2-1 win over the Lightning. Since returning to the Sharks on December 18, Askarov is 1-2-1 with a .919 save percentage in 4 games.

Askarov was recalled from the AHL's Barracuda after goalie Vitek Vanecek suffered a fractured cheek on Dec. 17 when he was hit within the face by a puck that flew into the dugout.

The Sharks haven’t won consecutive games since defeating the Seattle Kraken on November thirtieth and the Washington Capitals on December third. Since then, San Jose has a record of 2-10-1, with 4 of those losses coming by one goal in regulation time.

With Walman missing the last five games, Henry Thrun has stepped in with Cody Ceci for the Sharks' top defensive pairing.

During that point, Thrun averaged 19:53 of ice time, playing greater than 21 minutes in three of the last 4 games. Thrun played 21:16 and had 4 shots on goal and two blocked shots in Thursday's win.

“I enjoyed Henry's game against a really talented team, and he'll have another tough task tonight,” Warsofsky said of the talented Devils, led by center Jack Hughes. “But I think his game is since he got out of the lineup there (for three games in mid-December), he's put some games together. He's had some good play and at the NHL level that's what it's all about. You stack your games, and then you might have one where it's your “C” game and you still find a way to be effective.

“So I gave him a lot of credit. Again, a guy who has struggled at times, but as a young defender he's learning. He's doing better. He takes part in the coaching and then you see the results.”

Originally published: January 4, 2025 at 10:46 am PST

San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund will likely be amongst 13 forwards chosen for Sweden's participation within the four-nation clash. based on a printed report Monday on this country.

Eklund was asked to hitch the Swedish national team and accepted the offer, based on Expressen. a Swedish national newspaper.

The official 23-player rosters for Sweden and Finland will likely be unveiled Wednesday at 11 a.m. (PST) on ESPN and the NHL Network. The American and Canadian team rosters will likely be announced Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (PST) on TNT.

Each country's squad – which incorporates three goalkeepers, seven defensemen and 13 forwards – needed to be submitted by Monday. It could be the primary time for Eklund to play for the Swedish men's national team.

Eklund, a 22-year-old Stockholm native, recently confirmed to the Bay Area News Group that he has had discussions with Team Sweden coach Sam Hallam, who was on the bench for Tre Kronor on the last two World Cups.

After Sunday's NHL games, Eklund was fourth amongst all Swedish-born forwards with 22 points, behind only New Jersey's Jesper Bratt (31), Los Angeles' Adrian Kempe (25) and Detroit's Lucas Raymond (24).

Before the Sharks' game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Eklund had 13 points in his last 11 games. Eklund has also improved his 200-foot game and develop into one in all the Sharks' most reliable penalty strikers.

Eklund, who was drafted seventh overall by the Sharks in 2021, plays alongside Macklin Celebrini and Fabian Zetterlund at San Jose's helm. But his ability to kill penalties and prevail against experienced teams was seen as Eklund's best hope of being one in all Sweden's 13 forwards on the event, with games played in Boston and Montreal.

Sweden plays Canada on February twelfth and Finland on February fifteenth on the Bell Center in Montreal. They will face the United States on the TD Garden in Boston on February 17 to conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament. The top two teams will play one another in the ultimate on February twentieth in Boston.

Expressen's report didn’t reveal which other players are within the Swedish squad. Zetterlund was also considered a candidate for a squad spot with nine goals and 19 points in 27 games this season.

Players already added to Sweden's roster include defensemen Gustav Forsling of Florida, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay and former Shark Erik Karlsson of Pittsburgh. The aforementioned forwards were Filip Forsberg of Nashville, William Nylander of Toronto and Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers.

Sharks center Mikael Granlund is anticipated to be one in all the 13 Finnish forwards. He is a veteran of international hockey tournaments and has previously spoken about how much it means to him to represent his country.

Originally published: December 2, 2024 at 5:35 pm PST

William Eklund and Will Smith won’t play Friday night when the San Jose Sharks face the Winnipeg Jets to finish a three-game road trip. However, each strikers will likely be out for various reasons.

Eklund is battling an upper-body injury suffered within the Sharks' 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. Eklund had two assists in 19 minutes of ice time against the Hawks and stated after the sport that he was removed from 100% healthy.

However, Smith will likely be a healthy scratch, but not due to his poor play. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Friday morning that Smith's appearance against the Jets is a component of the team's development plan for the 19-year-old center, who’s entering his first skilled season.

“It has nothing to do with performance, it's just part of the plan and he will be out tonight,” Warsofsky said of Smith, who could return to the lineup as early as Sunday when the Sharks host the Colorado Avalanche.

Smith had his best night in a Sharks jersey on Thursday, Warsofsky said.

Playing in front of about 50 friends and relations in Chicago, Smith logged a career-high 19 minutes of ice time while centering a line with Luke Kunin and Barclay Goodrow. According to Natural Stat Trick, this line had a Corsi-for percentage of 80, with the trio combining for five shots on goal.

“Best game he ever played,” Warsofsky said of Smith, who has gone pointless in 4 NHL games. “Looked more comfortable, was more engaged, ran more, played with the puck more. I think it was definitely a step in the right direction.”

Danil Gushchin and Givani Smith will replace Will Smith and Eklund within the lineup, even though it was not yet clear which line they may play on. Gushchin, who has had a healthy gap within the last three games, skated with Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund on the Sharks' top line in Chicago on Wednesday when the ailing Eklund didn’t practice.

The strategy the Sharks are using with Will Smith will not be unusual for young players.

Last season, the Anaheim Ducks used a load management strategy with center Leo Carlsson, whom they chose second overall within the 2023 NHL Draft. Instead of bringing the then 18-year-old back to Sweden or sending him to the AHL to achieve more skilled experience on North American ice, the Ducks kept Carlsson on their roster with built-in breaks.

Carlsson played 55 of 82 games for the Ducks, a complete not much different than the 44 games he played in his final yr with Orebro HK within the Swedish Hockey League within the 2022–23 season. With Anaheim, the 1.90 meter tall Carlsson had 29 points and averaged just over 18 minutes of ice time per game.

When asked if the Ducks' plan for Carlsson and the Sharks' plan for Will Smith were similar, Warsofsky didn’t provide any information. Smith played 41 games for Boston College last yr and led all NCAA Division I players with 71 points.

“I can’t speak for the Ducks’ plan with Leo,” Warsofsky said. “That’s our plan with Will, and we’re going with him.”

It's unclear how rather more time Eklund has to miss. After Sunday's game, the Sharks begin a four-game road trip Oct. 22-28 with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Utah. Eklund has three assists in 4 games and leads all Sharks forwards with a mean of 21:36 of ice time per game.

Without Smith, Macklin Celebrini (lower-body injury) and Eklund, Friday's game is a possibility for Gushchin to get back within the lineup and prove he deserves to remain there.

Gushchin had a superb training camp with nine points in 4 preseason games, but hasn't played in a game for the reason that Sharks' season opener against St. Louis on Oct. 10, when he had 10:20 of ice time. Warsofsky wouldn't say where Gushchin might place against a Jets team that’s outscoring opponents 10-2 while off to a 3-0-0 start.

“He’ll get a good opportunity,” Warsofsky said of Gushchin. “He has to do what he did in training camp. He needs to understand that this is a really good opportunity for him to play important minutes and help our hockey team and establish himself.”

CELEBRINI UPDATE: Warsosky said Celebrini continues to undergo weekly rehabilitation, but added that the 18-year-old centerman is getting closer to getting back on the ice.

“I'm focused on the guys here today because there's a big game coming up tonight,” Warsofsky said. “I would say still week by week, but I think he’s getting closer.”

The Sharks' offense has struggled without Celebrini, scoring just 4 goals within the last three games, all at even strength. The power play was 0:9 during this time.

Warsofsky said he wanted the facility play to have “more of an attack mentality.”

“Obviously this has changed the personnel in almost every single game,” he said, “so we have to build chemistry and work on developing the guys’ skills individually on the power play.”

Originally published: October 18, 2024 at 10:09 am