Preview/Lines #8: Warsofsky Looking for More From Grundstrom, Wennberg

LOS ANGELES — Carl Grundstrom would love to snap his slump against his former team tonight.

The San Jose Sharks acquired Grundstrom from the Los Angeles Kings for Kyle Burroughs in the off-season, counting on him to add physicality and secondary scoring. The 6-foot-0 winger, over an 82-game pace, has averaged about 15 goals a season in the last three years.

But instead, Grundstrom, like most of the rest of the San Jose Sharks, has slumped to start the season. The Swedish winger has just one assist through five games and just four shots.

“I think he’s taken steps in the right direction. He’s a competitive guy. He can skate. He’s physical. For me and for us, it’s his details. It’s his play away from the puck,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Is he a smart F3, is he diving down [at the right time]? Does he have a good stick on the forecheck? Those are the things that we need to see progression.”

Grundstrom, 26, agreed that his defensive details need improvement.

“At the end of the day, that’s really what it comes down to, who can be the most consistent guy for us in that role?” Warsofsky said. “He’s good kid. He wants it so bad, it’s just letting the game come to him sometimes.”

Warsofsky has also maintained consistently throughout the off-season that he thinks Grundstrom has a bit more offense to his game than he’s showed.

Grundstrom would be happy to show it against his former team.

“We gotta try to have some longer shifts in the in the O-zone and I got to be stronger on pucks,” he said. “I think I’ve let it go a couple times too fast, so I’m going to try to hold on to it more and be strong on pucks down low and create offense that way.”

San Jose Sharks (0-5-2)

Mackenzie Blackwood will start, which Ryan Warsofsky says is a nod to his sterling 37-of-39 shots performance on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Will Smith will not play, development day.

Grundstrom will draw back in, while Givani Smith and Matt Benning are also scratched.

Based on yesterday’s practice, the Sharks might trot out these lines, though Warsofsky suggested there could be a little shake-up in the bottom-six too:

Eklund-Granlund-Toffoli
Gushchin-Wennberg-Zetterlund
Goodrow-Dellandrea-Grundstrom
Kostin-Sturm-Kunin

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Thompson

For Wennberg, just a couple inches, and he would’ve snapped his pointless slump to start this season in style, with a goal and an assist against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

He was briefly credited with the power play goal that eventually went to Mikael Granlund and his perfect 2-on-1 pass to Danil Gushchin met a crossbar.

Warsofsky is looking for a little more “dig” from the Sharks’ big free agent signing. San Jose inked him to a two-year, $10 million contract over the summer.

“He’s obviously a smart player. We need a little bit more jam to him. I’m not saying he’s gotta put guys into section 220 with his physicality, but he’s gonna be harder on his stick. He’s gonna dig in a little bit more,” Warsofsky said. “I think there’s more to his game for us. And I think when he does that, he’ll get more offensive ability and his skill will come out.”

Wennberg didn’t disagree, adding: “Everyone wants to do good, especially me coming into a new team, you want to show your [game]. But every time you go through it, I’ve been through this [scoreless] patch before, I feel like there’s no cheat to it. You just got to go back and work on your mental game, work on things that help you improve.”

That said, the veteran is more worried about ending the team’s winless streak than his scoreless spell: “I’m focused more on winning games than getting my point.”

Jack Thompson says he did get his 1st NHL point puck.

Puck will go home, parents collect his milestone memorabilia.

Says his parents stay up to watch his games, his mom sends him a text after every game. So they saw his 1st point!

His grandparents might've fallen asleep 😀

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 24, 2024

Los Angeles Kings (3-2-2)

David Rittich should start.

Kings line rushes at morning skate:

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Moore
Foegele – Turcotte – Laferriere
Lee – Lewis – Jeannot
Thomas

Anderson – Spence
Gavrikov – Burroughs
Edmundson – Clarke
Englund – Jones

— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) October 24, 2024

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings is 7:30 PM PT at Crypto.com Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.