Unsung Heroes of the Regular Season for the San Jose Sharks

Marcus Sorensen

Marcus Sorensen has the grit, the energy and the smooth style to support a versatile role on the wing

When you look at it, San Jose’s third line suits like the perfect sandwich.

The ageless wonder Joe Thornton serves as the bread, complimenting and putting all the ingredients together with eyes in the back of his head to locate open skaters for great-A scoring chances.

Kevin Labanc represents the cheese, knifing his way through the offensive zone with smooth stickhandling. Like a slice of swiss cheese, Labanc can also find the holes to the back of the net with enjoyable creativity.

Last, but not least, Marcus Sorensen stands as the most important part to any sandwich – the meat. Sorensen is the toughest ingredient to this line, using his entire frame to block out defenders in shooting lanes and is not afraid to lay down a heavy hit to make a play in the offensive zone.

Like Labanc, Sorensen put up impressive career totals, notching 17 goals and 30 points in his first full season at the NHL level (80 games).

After signing a two-year contract extension through the 2020-2021 season with a team-friendly annual average value of $1.5 million on January 14th, Sorensen tallied 9 goals and 15 points in the final 32 regular season games.

Sorensen most likely will never be a true top-six contributor, but the 27-year-old Swedish winger is a sure-lock as a top-nine forward who should never put too much of a dent on the Sharks’ salary structure.

Nevertheless, Sorensen is a vital part to the third line that makes San Jose’s depth much scarier with his breakaway speed and unrelenting upper-body strength ready to knife through the Knights’ defense.