Deep Blue Sea: Sorensen and Heed sent down

Poor Tim Heed.

After starting the season looking like a solid future for the San Jose blue line, Heed has spent the last month being swapped in and out with Dylan DeMelo, sitting in the press box more often than not. Heed hasn’t played in nearly a month, last appearing against the Arizona Coyotes on January 13.

With 11 points in 27 games, it’s unclear why the organization has suddenly soured on Heed. He was injured back in November resulting in missing a few games and has been in and out of the line up since. He’s now missed twelve straight games.

The demotion could simply be to get him ice time. If the organization is pleased with DeMelo’s play, then sending Heed down will keep him ready to go when they need him to slot back into the line up in the future. It will also benefit a struggling Barracuda squad.

Or it could be part of something larger. Tim Heed and Joakim Ryan are the only blueliners that are still waivers-exempt. With Martin in the AHL, it’s clear that Ryan is the new Wookie Whisperer, tasked with cleaning up Brent Burns’ messes. That leaves Heed as someone to be sent down. His cap hit is small at $650,000, but the Sharks could be making room, with the trade deadline just three weeks away. It also saves the team some money, as this is the last year where Heed makes less money ($300,000) playing in the minors. From an organizational standpoint, there’s a clear benefit.

But for a team whose defense was the only consistent factor for so much of the season, seeing them struggle without Heed makes this move confusing.

Marcus Sorensen was also sent down over Danny O’Regan. First in, first out it seems.

Read the official press release below, with additional Sharks news and notes:

• SHARKS REASSIGN MARCUS SORENSEN & TIM HEED | San Jose Barracuda
  San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Doug Wilson announced today that the club has reassigned Forward Marcus Sorensen (@sorensenmarcus) and Defenseman Tim Heed to the San Jose Barracuda (@sjbarracuda), the team’s top development affiliate in the American Hockey League (@TheAHL).
• Rumored Rick Nash Interest Risky for Sharks – NBC Bay Area
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• Japan’s Women’s hockey team eye next step | NBC Olympics
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• Documentary Tells The Story Of North Korean Men’s Hockey Team : NPR
  The team may not be playing in this year’s Olympics, but it does play on the international stage against countries like Mexico, Turkey and New Zealand. Rachel Martin talks to filmmaker Matt Reichel.
• What is blind hockey? – The Washington Post
  ‘Hockey sonore’ is a growing sport in the D.C. region and across the nation.
• U.S. women’s hockey team — ‘This fight is your fight’
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• Olympic hockey: NHL players left behind say they’ll still watch – The Buffalo News
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• Striking Gold: How Vegas became NHL’s best expansion team – ProHockeyTalk
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• 3 Things We Learned in the NHL: Showcases galore – Sportsnet.ca
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• Canadians less interested in Olympic hockey without NHL players: Angus Reid – Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca
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• Alex Burrows of Ottawa Senators suspended 10 games for kneeing incident against Devils’ Taylor Hall
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• Bruce Cassidy’s first year as Bruins head coach has gone just right – Stanley Cup of Chowder
  Cassidy has helped the Bruins re-emerge as one of the dominant forces in hockey, and find their team identity in a changing sport./