San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #77: Kovalenko Gets His Shot, Toffoli Injured
Nikolai Kovalenko will get the chance that he was looking for.
Kovalenko, who’s been healthy scratched for the last six games, will come into the San Jose Sharks’ line-up for Tyler Toffoli on Monday night against the Calgary Flames.
Kovalenko projects to take Toffoli’s place next to Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
Toffoli, the team’s leading goal-scorer, has a day-to-day lower-body injury that he’s been dealing with since the 4 Nations break, but should travel on the team’s upcoming four-game road trip through Canada and Minnesota.
Kovalenko, acquired by the Sharks as part of December’s Mackenzie Blackwood trade with the Colorado Avalanche, started his career in teal with a bang, notching five assists in just four games. But the 25-year-old winger has struggled with injuries and consistency since then, with just two goals and six points in his last 19 games.
Nikolai Kovalenko expressed his frustration with getting sat to San Jose Hockey Now last week in Anaheim: “I’m just waiting.”
“I’m looking for him to compete, makes smart decisions with the puck, and know what he’s doing without it,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said on Monday.
Kovalenko is an RFA, can he finish his season strong?
San Jose Sharks (20-46-10)
Georgi Romanov will start.
#SJSharks lines at morning skate, Toffoli is not here:
Eklund-Wennberg-Graf
Kovalenko-Celebrini-Smith
Gregor-Dellandrea-Lund
Grundstrom-Ostapchuk-GoodrowFerraro-Liljegren
Carlsson-Thompson
Vlasic-Thrun— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 7, 2025
Defensemen Jan Rutta, Vincent Desharnais, and Jimmy Schuldt also skated.
Rutta and Desharnais will travel on the upcoming road trip and should be options to return to the line-up, while San Jose Barracuda captain Schuldt was sent down after morning skate.
Schuldt should travel with the Barracuda for their Wednesday game at the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Calgary Flames (36-27-13)
#Flames lines, pairings and goaltenders vs. #TheFutureIsTeal:
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Sharangovich-Frost-Farabee
Lomberg-Rooney-KlapkaHanley-Weegar
Bahl-Miromanov*
Bean-PachalWolf (Starter)
Vladar*Placeholder for Andersson pic.twitter.com/Dm3cHngt7J
— Derek Wills (@Fan960Wills) April 7, 2025
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames at 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports Bay Area. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
Won’t get a better opportunity than that on this team. I hope he kills it.
Memo to Kovo..
Your ” ticket to ride” is IF you can bring a tough, hitting, hard forechecking, and adding some consistent scoring to the Sharks.
Drop gloves when required, esp when Another Sharks player, goalie gets cheap a shot.
This is what’s needed
Someone should hold a sign down at the glass during warmups that say this. Or write it on a paper airplane and throw it to him 😂
He’s a puck hound and physical when he wants to be. Just needs to prove he can be consistent and play a role.
It’s hilarious that Dellandrea and Grundstrom were minus 4 in the last game, and the Sharks are scoring 2 goals or less in 70% of their last 10, but Coach Dub keeps rolling out there Gregor, Dellandrea, and Grundstrom, burying Ostapchuk on the 4th line, and keep scratching Kovi and Kostin. Brilliant!
Sharks instant playoff team offseason — and iffy Cup contender: Trade Sam Dickinson and Sharks 2025 1st + 2nd + Liljegren for Tage Thompson ($7+mil and Rasmus Dahlin. Add in three more 2nds to get $14mil of cap relief over the 7 season of Dahlin’s contract (making him $9mil per vs $11mil). Cap of Tage + Dahlin = $16+mil Trade Mario for something. Trade Vlasic + 2 3rds for a team that will buy him out (-$7mil). Liljegren is -3mil in the Sabres deal, Mario is -$3mil. So -13mil of cap Do a sign and trade with Toronto and get… Read more »
What are we giving up for marner?
Since Marner is a UFA to be, it probably won’t be too much. It assumes that the Leafs don’t think they get a deal done with Marner and he becomes a FA without a sign and trade. A few 4ths? After all, if he waits a bit longer and the Leafs get nothing.
Probably needs to start with Eklund?
I’m having a visceral negative reaction to almost every part of this.
Why?
Tage Thompson is 6’6″ is a point per game (70 pts in 70 games) and is 27. And Dahlin (turns 25 next week) is probably around the 5th best d-man in the league, entering the prime of his career (62pts in 67 games and good on defense, too). He’ll be a Norris finalist a lot in the years ahead. Outside of Makar and Hughes, not sure there’s any d-man in the league whose clearly better.
Thompson has 5 more seasons on his deal, Dahlin 7.
Thompson can’t be a top 4 for a playoff team next season. Maybe he grows into one in a few years but he’s not close to that level yet and Shak won’t be good enough to carry him yet. That 3rd pair is not playoff caliber either. Unless you’re playing that first pair 40 minutes a night?
As Joseph said, if you’re signing Marner you have to move Eklund. Even if that roster makes the playoffs they have sweep written all over them. Incredibly soft top 6.
Could get Marner for nothing in return if he hits free agency. Just sayin’. The only meaningful difference is the 8th year in the sign-and-trade. Its Marner who holds the cards. He’s signing where he wants to sign. As for Thompson, one hopes he’d be a better player by the end of 2026 than he is at the start. Still, that roster leaves enough cap room for a respectable middle pairing. Just not sure who it is or how it happens. Though I do think Thompson is further along than you do. And while I wouldn’t play the top pair… Read more »
This would certainly be a waaay better team (on paper anyway) than any team recently put on the ice by SJ. Some thoughts though. Buffalo players: While this would be a net gain for sure, I don’t see Buffalo agreeing to this. Liljegren is a clear downgrade, and Dickinson unproven in the NHL. Buffalo likely would want more than just draft picks for Tage, even if that first is top 3. Stranger things have happened I guess, but I just don’t see them being willing to give those players up for that return. Even if they tossed in Mario. Marner:… Read more »
So the Sharks made a late schedule addition, making tonight Vietnamese Heritage Night. You can buy tickets to the game and get a special puck. You could also buy a puck separately, which I did for my Vietnamese stepdaughter. She couldn’t come tonight but I told her I was getting her this puck and showed her a pic of it. Her reaction was that it doesn’t seem Vietnamese at all. Which was actually my reaction upon first seeing it too, but I figured you can’t go wrong with pretty flowers so she will dig it anyway. It’s got cherry blossoms… Read more »
Dam I hope you’re wrong! I googled it, and yeah cherry blossoms are more often associated with Japan, but I’m reading that there’s cherry blossom festivals in places in Vietnam like Dien Bien.
Yeah from what I can tell the Vietnamese are pretty cool with cherry blossoms. But who isn’t?
They don’t rise to being a thing to represent your Vietnamese identity.
Cherry blossoms are observed as the sakura festival in Japan, but they’re a symbol all across East Asia, and my read was that this puck was chosen because now’s literally when they’re blossoming in the Bay Area; growing up in Cupertino, the cherry trees blooming was celebrated by all, and my town was much more Taiwanese than anything else, including Japanese.
So, not ESPECIALLY Vietnamese, but not as awkward as a repurposed Japanese one would’ve been.