San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #55: Poturalski Getting His Shot

Andrew Poturalski is going to get a real shot tonight.
The decorated AHL veteran, 31, fresh off his third appearance at an AHL All-Star Classic, is going to be given first crack at replacing just-traded San Jose Sharks’ leading scorer Mikael Granlund at center.
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky, who coached Poturalski on the Calder Cup-winning Chicago Wolves in 2021-22, believes this opportunity has been a long time coming.
“Usually, when he goes up, he’s playing that fourth-line center role, and that’s not really the role for him where he can succeed in,” Warsofsky said.
The top NHL betting sites aren’t bullish on either team but gave the Montreal Canadiens a slight edge. The upstart Montreal squad is a couple of years ahead of the Sharks’ rebuild and is in the Eastern Conference playoff fight, but it has recently slumped as the games get tougher and the schedule gets shorter.
For the last seven seasons, the 5-foot-10 Poturalski has been a Point Per Game player in the AHL, but he’s only received six NHL games over parts of three years with the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken, netting a pair of assists. And in Seattle last season, he only got 6:53 a night in two games.
But Warsofsky is tapping the AHL’s scoring champion in 2022 and leading scorer this season to be his second-line center tonight.
“We got to put him in a position to succeed, give an opportunity, and see what we can do with it,” Warsofsky said. “He’s a guy that can play in that role, because he can play with the puck. He can make plays.”
“Just got to go out and execute,” Poturalski said, “and prove that I can play here.”
“I don’t know if he’s ever gotten this type of opportunity,” Warsofsky said. “I think he’s deserved this opportunity.”
San Jose Sharks (15-33-6)
Warsofsky says that Alexandar Georgiev will start, Poturalski will play second-line center, and Henry Thrun will play with Jake Walman.
Based on yesterday’s practice lines, this is a guess at tonight’s lines:
Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli
Zetterlund-Poturalski-Smith
Graf-Kunin-Goodrow
Grundstrom-White-Duehr
Walman-Thrun
Ferraro-Thompson
Mukhamadullin-Liljegren
Georgiev
Tyler Toffoli, officially, is a game-time decision, but he seems likely to play.
Montreal Canadiens (24-23-5)
Go to Montreal Hockey Now for all your Montreal Canadiens lines and updates.
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens is 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
Hope he does well. The Cuda only have two games before the four nations break so they won’t miss Poturalski for long, and he deserves a few games of NHL pay.
Sheng, in an upcoming podcast or mailbag, can you explain how the sharks keep choosing other players as call ups over Bordeleau? I know he was injured earlier in the season, but being the same size as Poturalski and 7 years younger, on his last year of his contract, seems like some kind of dog house designation for Bordeleau.
Bordeleau should be dominating in the AHL at this point. Reason he isn’t with the sharks is he’s not strong enough on the wall, he’s not crafty or quick enough to avoid one on one play, he still hasn’t committed to playing any real defense, he should also be a leader on this Cuda team and he hasn’t risen to that occasion. He’s been leapfrogged on the depth chart by Bystedt, Cardwell, Graf. Another thing working against him is he’s a remnant of the Wilson regime. Judging by the forwards Grier has chosen in the draft, Bordeleau doesn’t fit GMMG’s… Read more »
Who’s Bordeleau?
Yeah, curious why Bords isn’t getting a look. The organization should give him another look before his ELC expires.
Why does Warsofsky keep putting the worst forward in the NHL on the 3rd line?
https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1886946140760772932
Worst player in the NHL takes dumb penalty that gives Montreal momentum when Sharks were playing really well.
its going to be a bleak final 1/3 of the season. But that’s the way rebuilds often go. Said it before, there’s real upside to being really bad. Still, looked at thruthe proper lens, its time for players in lesser roles to show they have something more to offer and for the younger ones to get serious development minutes. Good to see Poturalski getting skill line minutes … putting skill guys and the 4th line is usually a misuse of their skills. One thing I wonder if GMMG is going to consider, seeing which of his left-shot d-men are capable… Read more »
You can add another 82 to that one bud. Nobody seems to remember the ether from this fall when we brought in a bunch of vets through fee agency and trades. This season definitely put an inverted V in our trajectory. Please send all hate mail to Ricky@sunnyvalemobilehomepark.org