Whether Michael Misa or San Dickinson actually play for the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 9 when the puck drops against the Vegas Golden Knights is yet to be seen, but so far, the two rookies have made the team, as the rebuild in San Jose continues to roll along. The Sharks appear to have been the last team in the NHL to officially release its roster. While the official release was not made yesterday as expected, most people knew that Luca Cagnoni, Ethan Cardwell, Pavol Regenda and Zack Ostapchuk were the last ones sent back to the AHL, with Regenda, luckily, clearing waivers.
So, with all of that in mind, here’s what the 23-man roster looks like:
Forwards
Macklin Celebrini
Ty Dellandrea
William Eklund
Adam Gaudette
Barclay Goodrow
Collin Graf
Philipp Kurashev
Michael Misa
Ryan Reaves
Jeff Skinner
Will Smith
Tyler Toffoli
Alex Wennberg
Defense
Vincent Desharnais
Sam Dickinson
Mario Ferraro
John Klingberg
Nick Leddy
Timothy Liljegren
Shakir Mukhamadullin
Dmitry Orlov
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Injured
Logan Couture
Ryan Ellis
Injured Non-Roster
Egor Afanasyev
Lucas Carlsson
Carey Price
Jack Thompson
With 13 forwards, you can pick who sits against Vegas. The coaching staff might want to ice a “tougher” lineup against the Golden Knights, so Reaves might find himself dressed for the night. If he does, I’m not sure who sits in his place.
Who plays on defense for the Sharks?
As for the defense, that’s a tougher one to figure out. You have to think that there are some locks.
Ferraro, Klingberg and Orlov are locks. Based on how he has played during the preseason and how he closed out last season, Mukhamadullin also looks like he should be an every night piece of the defense. That’s four.
Desharnais will not play every night and he will not be on the opening night roster.
The final three spots will be decided between Leddy, Liljegren and Dickinson. The Sharks have kept Dickinson, so they’ll want to play him. I would pencil him for one of the six defenseman spots.
As for the final spot on opening night, I would guess it’s going to Leddy. While no one is talking about it and I have no inside information, it seems pretty clear that Leddy would not waive his no-trade clause this summer to be traded to San Jose. The St. Louis Blues put him on waivers and the Sharks picked him up anyway.
This is the same way the team acquired Barclay Goodrow a few years ago. This is the fault of the system, not the team or the player. Credit to Leddy for coming into San Jose with a good, positive attitude and ready to play. The team is going to do right by the veteran defenseman and respect him enough to start him on opening night. What happens later in the season, we’ll see. But opening night goes to Leddy.
Who starts in net for the Sharks against Vegas?
Every team wants to win. It seems like this season it’s about turning this thing around and not finishing last in the league. Management has brought in skilled veterans and while they’re not on long-term contracts, they’re going to help in the short run. So, it feels like opening night is about putting the netminder in with the best chance to help the Sharks win and it feels like that guy, at least to start the season, is Nedeljkovic. It might not be the case as the season wears on, but let Askarov get his skates under him to start things out.
Nedeljkovic looked good to start camp, and he did well against the mostly starting lineup of Vegas last week. There’s no reason to rush Askarov. It’s a long season, and easing him into it isn’t a bad thing.
