San Jose Sharks Send Annti Suomela to Barracuda
The San Jose Sharks have sent the first year Finnish Forward Annti Suomela to their AHL affiliate.
The San Jose Sharks have finally made a decision on Suomela, at least for the time being. It was announced yesterday that the Sharks have sent Annti Suomela down to the AHL for further training and ice time.
He was the victim of a couple of healthy scratches recently, and his play has slowed down of late. Suomela had seen a demotion to the fourth line, and diminishing numbers as it looks like the NHL game had caught up to him a bit.
Since the return of Joe Thornton the vaunted “Scandinavian Design” (sorry), of Suomela-Sorensen-Donskoi had been broken up, and Suomela pushed down to the fourth line where he’s seen light production. He’s been scratched lately for fellow international rookie Lukas Radil.
Joakim Ryan has been the one to join Suomela in the press box lately, often getting scratched for Czech international Radim Simek, who’s brought a sense of grit and physical play to this team which has been in dire need of players like that.
This has been a controversial play for the San Jose Sharks. A lot of fans would rather see someone like Melker Karlsson be the one scratched, or in his case waived, as I do not believe he has any options left. And in the fanbase’s defense, they’re right. Suomela has been playing better than Karlsson, but since Karlsson is a vet and Suomela is a relatively young player, its Melker who gets the nod, as Peter DeBoer trusts veterans who’ve been with the team for multiple years over rookies. Even if it is unwarranted, as it is in this case.
I think overall, this isn’t the worst move ever made. The San Jose Sharks have actually been playing well with the additions of Radil and Simek, and getting Suomela more ice time never hurts.
Next. Reassessing The Karlsson Trade. dark
I will never understand Peter DeBoer’s insistence on playing Karlsson over a player like Suomela who’s proven he can do more while on the ice. But at the same time, Suomela is more expendable due to his AHL options.