Nikolay Goldobin, the Sharks’ 2014 first round pick who was dealt to Vancouver as part of the Jannik Hansen trade, will play his first game against the team that drafted him when the Sharks host the Canucks tonight at 7:30 PM.

The Vancouver Sun’s Ben Kuzma wrote an interesting piece on Goldobin, who will return to the lineup after Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins scratched him against the Sharks on Sunday. Within the piece, Kuzma included a great anecdote about goaltender Ryan Miller pulling Goldobin aside at practice yesterday:

At the end of a short practice, Ryan Miller and Nikolay Goldobin took a knee at centre ice Monday and had a long discussion. Some sage advice for the impressionable kid from the wily veteran?

“I just thought he looked good today and he looked like he needed somebody to tell him he was good,” said the Vancouver Canucks goalie. “He’s got a lot of good things going. Like a lot of guys, he’s young. He’ll get it figured out.

The rest of the piece is worth a read, as it highlights what the Canucks are looking for Goldobin to do as the season winds down. He’ll have an immediate chance to impress the Vancouver coaching staff tonight, and will play on a line alongside Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Where to watch / listen in San Jose

NBC Sports California (formerly CSN California) / 98.5 KFOX

Lines

The Sharks did not hold a morning skate, so the lines are unclear. Micheal Haley is not expected to play, according to Friend of the Blog Kevin Kurz. Martin Jones is the confirmed starter. I will update this post with tonight’s lines once they are confirmed. In the meantime, here’s what Kurz projects:

Melker Karlsson-Joe Pavelski-Joel Ward

Mikkel Boedker-Tomas Hertl-Jannik Hansen

Joonas Donskoi-Patrick Marleau-Timo Meier

Kevin Labanc-Chris Tierney-Marcus Sorensen

UPDATE (7:15 PM): Here are the forward lines from warmups, according to the Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, and I...don’t hate them?

Paul Martin-Brent Burns

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Justin Braun

Brenden Dillon-David Schlemko

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

The Canucks also held an optional morning skate, but confirmed that Richard Bachman will start in net in addition to the aforementioned Goldobin news. Here are the Canucks’ lines, courtesy of Left Wing Lock.

Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Nikolay Goldobin

Sven Baertschi-Bo Horvat-Brock Boeser

Reid Boucher-Brandon Sutter-Michael Chaput

Griffen Molino-Drew Shore-Jayson Megna

Alexander Edler-Troy Stecher

Luca Sbisa-Chris Tanev

Ben Hutton-Nikita Tryamkin

Richard Bachman

Ryan Miller