The San Jose Sharks recall a handful of players from the their AHL affiliate after they got eliminated in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Team Teals depth got a boost on Thursday afternoon with the announcement of a few call ups from the San Jose Sharks minor league affiliate.
The San Jose Barracuda’s season ended on April 24th at the hands of the Duck’s AHL affiliate the San Diego Gulls in 4 games. After a strong regular season where they finished 2nd in the Pacific Division with a 0.625 winning percentage, getting bounced out of the first round wasn’t exactly what the Barracuda anticipated for this season. However the overall growth of the young squad is something this coaching staff should take pride in.
The San Jose Sharks depended heavily on the Barracuda this season with call-ups like Radim Simek, Rourke Chartier, and Dylan Gambrell contributing at pivotal moments. Team Teal’s organizational depth is an advantage that most franchises envy and it continues to grow with the Sharks underrated scouting department.
With the Barracuda’s season coming to disappointing end members of the Sharks front office chose specific members of that team to come join the big club on a full-time basis. AHL Call-ups for a teams playoff are traditionally dubbed “the black aces”. and this crop of players features some familiar and new faces.
Mercury New’s Curtis Pashelka was kind enough to put out the announcement on Thursday regarding the call ups to the main roster.
Maybe this is already out there, but #SJSharks recall Nick DeSimone, Josef Korenar, Jacob Middleton, Antti Suomela and Alexander True from Barracuda.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) April 25, 2019
All five of these players are extremely deserving of the opportunity. Each of them made huge strides in their development over the course of the season. Alexander True led all Barracuda in points (55) and goals (24). That’s a huge leap from his 28 points in the same amount of points last season.
In his first season in North America, the netminder Josef Korenar made a name for himself. He started 34 games and ended the season with a .911 save percentage. By the end of the year he was awarded starting goaltender duties over the older Antoine Bibeau.
With both members of the Barracuda only being 21-years-old it’s not hard to imagine them earning a spot on the big club. They both have shown that they have the size and skill to play in today’s NHL.
Overall this is a great opportunity for these members of the Barracuda, even if they don’t see any actual Stanley Cup Playoff ice-time. Being in the locker room during this time of year is an awesome learning experience. They get to see how a bunch of veterans prepare for playoff hockey night in and night out.
If the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue to play out like they have been don’t surprised if the Sharks have to turn to one of these members of their AHL affiliate. Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen, but if it does what a great luxury to have as an organization to have this much depth.