The Sharks will soon face an incoming roster crunch, with defenseman Sharkir Mukhamadullin, forward Phillip Kurashev, and recently acquired forward Kiefer Sherwood all expected to play on the upcoming road trip prior to the Olympic break.
The Sharks will head on a 5-game road trip after Friday’s game against the Rangers, prior to the 3-week break for the Olympics. If they activate all 3 players during the road trip, they will have to make 3 corresponding roster moves. They already waived Nick Leddy last week to make room for Vincent Desharnais.
This is how the current Sharks 23 man roster looks.
Forwards: 14
Macklin Celebrini
Igor Chernyshov
WIlliam Eklund
Adam Gaudette
Barclay Goodrow
Collin Graf
Michael Misa
Zack Ostapchuk
Ryan Reaves
Pavol Regenda
Jeff Skinner
Will Smith
Tyler Toffoli
Alex Wennberg
Defenseman - 7
Vincent Desharnais
Sam Dickinson
Mario Ferraro
Vincent Iorio
John Klingberg
Timothy Liljegren
Dimitri Orlov
Goaltenders - 2
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
How the Sharks handle this roster crunch will certainly be interesting. Call-ups Igor Chernyshov and Pavol Regenda have played really strong hockey since being recalled from the Cuda, and very likely have pushed out a veteran like Jeff Skinner, who has been scratched the past 4 games. I think the Sharks are very likely to waive Skinner, who has not performed to a level to justify playing him over other options in the system to this point. That would still leave them needing to make two more transactions to be roster compliant. And would require them to waive two more players, if they don’t want to send down both Ostapchuk and Chernyshov, who have been regular contributors for the Sharks the past two months.
Perhaps that could be a player like Pavol Regenda, Barclay Goodrow, or Adam Gaudette. All 3 players fill a similar role in the lineup to the recently acquired Kiefer Sherwood. While Regenda has been hot the past month since being called up, perhaps the Sharks aren’t fully convinced he can keep it up over a larger sample size. Goodrow has been a fixture in the lineup and is a key leader in the dressing room, so it's hard to see him being waived. Adam Gaudette has been in and out of the lineup lately, but he also has an extra year on his deal after this one, and hasn't been horrible as a depth scorer.
On defense, the Sharks could look to put Vinny Iorio back on waivers. While the defenseman has been ok for the Sharks, he is unlikely to play in a 8 defensman mix, and it’s very possible they don’t see him as a long-term bottom-pairing option. They have also reportedly been looking to trade from their pending UFAs on defense. Moving a defender like Liljegren or Ferraro could open up more playing time for Mukhamadullin and ease the roster crunch; both are pending UFAs.
It will be a very interesting week for the Sharks, as there are many different routes they can take to trim the roster. It’s a good conversation to be having; however, as it's been a while since the Sharks have had tough roster decisions to make, it shows just how much stronger the team depth has gotten with the emergence of their younger players.