Well, the musical chairs for the San Jose Sharks on the blue line continued on Wednesday, as the organization announced that 20-year-old defenseman Mirco Mueller was reassigned back to the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League (AHL).
This is already the third time that Mueller has been called up and sent back down as the Sharks continue to play around with the sixth and seventh positions on their blue line. According to Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News, Peter DeBoer will likely call up a defenseman before San Jose’s next game against the Anaheim Ducks.
#SJSharks will call up another defenseman for Friday's game vs. #Ducks. DeBoer not revealing who just yet.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 3, 2015
Mueller has appeared in seven games this season with the Sharks, failing to register a point with a minus-two rating in 10:49 of ice time. That’s probably the biggest reason Mueller is heading back to the Barracuda as he just needs to play more minutes to help his development along. He can play regular minutes in the AHL rather than seeing very few as it’s very apparent that DeBoer has faith in five defensemen at this point, but he has very little faith in his sixth and seventh options.
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While Mueller did win over some of his teammates with his recent fight against Calgary’s Joe Colborne, it’s clear Mueller still needs to build more strength into his game. Spending time in the AHL to build up his skill set playing meaningful minutes is the best thing for Mueller as this season progresses.
With the Barracuda, Mueller has appeared in six games and netted one goal and one assist with a plus-one rating. He should be able to add a defensive presence for the Barracuda and help them try and find some consistency with their game.
Also, if the organization was smart, they would keep Mueller with the Barracuda for an extended period of time. Similar to fellow first round pick Nikolay Goldobin, Mueller has spent too much time shuttling back and forth between the AHL and NHL levels. Both of them need to work on the details of the game and learn how to handle the constant grind of professional hockey.
Let them experience some success and learn how to deal with their failures in a less stressful environment than the NHL. Obviously, injuries play a critical factor, but with the Sharks getting healthier, both of these guys need more time in the AHL.
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Mueller will likely make his next appearance with the Barracuda when they host the Stockton Heat, top affiliate of the Calgary Flames, at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night.