Preview/Lines #22: Quinn Likes Cicek’s Two-Way Game

Should Nick Cicek get used to coming to the San Jose Sharks side of Sharks Ice?

The 22-year-old continues to impress David Quinn, evidenced by the head coach’s decision to stick with the rookie tonight against the Seattle Kraken over now-healthy veteran Radim Simek.

Simek has missed the last four games after taking a head shot from Mason Shaw on Nov. 13.

Quinn wasn’t quite ready to declare that these could be the seven defensemen that he rolls with for the foreseeable future – that’s Cicek, Simek, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mario Ferraro, Matt Benning, and Jaycob Megna – but it’s saying something that Cicek made it to Seattle. The Sharks could’ve also recalled Scott Harrington, who’s been their No. 7 defenseman for most of the year and re-installed the physical Simek back into the line-up.

“I just like his composure, like his toughness. I like how he defends. There’s a lot that I like about him,” Quinn said this morning.

The bench boss has also been enthused with the rookie’s first pass.

That’s a promising combination for the young defenseman if Quinn likes both his offense and defense at the highest level.

“This isn’t just from what I’ve seen up here since he’s been called up. By the end of the camp, he was someone that I felt really good about,” Quinn shared. “It gives us depth, having a guy like this that we feel confident in at this level.”

San Jose Sharks (7-11-3)

No expected changes for the #SJSharks. Dell is the backup for Kahkonen. pic.twitter.com/E2miHxRWyS

— Locked on Sharks (@LockedOnSharks) November 23, 2022

On Reimer, Quinn is still optimistic that he will be available to play this week.

Quinn, on Reimer's lower-body injury: "Just started not feeling great in a certain particular area leading into the game."

Says nothing particular happened, joked it could be age

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 23, 2022

Seattle Kraken (10-5-3)

Seattle has a solid team defense, but they can be attacked through the slot. They’re 25th in the league with 16.6 Slot Passes Against Per Game, per SPORTLOGiQ.

Old friend Martin Jones starts:

Kraken line rushes vs. San Jose, 11/23:

Schwartz-Wennberg-Burakovsky
McCann-Beniers-Eberle
Tanev-Gourde-Bjorkstrand
Donato-Geekie-Sprong

Larsson-Dunn
Oleksiak-Schultz
Soucy-Borgen

— Mike Benton (@Benton_Mike) November 23, 2022

Where to Watch

The San Jose Sharks will take on the Seattle Kraken at 7 PM PST at Climate Pledge Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.