San Jose Sharks start the post deadline stretch at home to the Ottawa Senators
Many beloved players have found new homes in the last 48 hours. Anthony Duclair, Kaapo Kahkonen, Radim Simek have all moved on, as well as franchise icon Tomas Hertl. It means that the Sharks are embracing the need for a rebuild, and Mike Grier even accepted that. Their first game with the new-look roster will be at home to the Ottawa Senators. Neither team has been good, so you can make the arguement it starts with a tankbowl.
For the Sharks, both Klim Kostin and Devin Cooley will be available. With Cooley still yet to make his NHL debut, it's pretty safe to assume that it means Magnus Chrona is going to get the nod between the pipes. Mackenzie Blackwood is still out with his lower-body injury and Vitek Vanacek is out for the remainder of the season after he was acquired in the Kaapo Kahkonen trade with the New Jersey Devils.
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Kostin is going to be a more interesting story. Where does he slot into the lineup? There's now a hole on the top line next to Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund because Anthony Duclair is in a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. So, does Kostin fill that spot? How do the musical chairs adjust to allow the Sharks to ice the roster. Does William Eklund move to the top line? That would help a lot of fans adjust.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
Thomas Bordeleau - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Filip Zadina - William Eklund - Luke Kunin
Justin Bailey - Nico Sturm - Kevin Labanc
Givani Smith - Ryan Carpenter - Mike Hoffman
Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Henry Thrun - Jan rutta
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Calen Addison
Magnus Chrona
Devin Cooley
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk - Shane Pinto - Drake Batherson
Mathieu Joseph - Tim Stutzle - Claude Giroux
Ridley Greig - Rouke Chartier - Dominik Kubalik
Jiri Smejkal - Mark Kastelic - Boris Katchouk
Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Max Guenette - Jakob Chychrun
Erik Brannstrom - Jacob Bernard-Docker
Joonas Korpisalo
Anton Forsberg
Puck Drop
It's a 4 p.m. puck drop from the SAP Center in the Bay. We know these two teams are going to be drafting in the top ten, so if the Sharks want to cement their claim to Macklin Celebrini, they can afford to drop this one to the Senators. For those that want to see the Sharks winning, we all do. But they need to get some help for the future of the organization. The best way to do that is through the draft.