Preview/Lines #34: Warsofsky Fined by NHL, On Scratching Dellandrea, Kostin Update

Ryan Warsofsky has received his first NHL fine.

The NHL announced on Tuesday that the new San Jose Sharks head coach was slapped with a $25,000 fine for “inappropriate conduct” during Saturday’s heated game against Utah Hockey Club.

Warsofsky didn’t want to elaborate on what he did on Saturday, but he confirmed that it was related with the officiating.

“I’m not going to get into what happened. We’re moving on. Emotions, emotional sport, and we’re going to move on,” he said. “Get ready for tonight.”

From the San Jose Sharks’ perspective, it looked like the referees missed Kevin Stenlund boarding Macklin Celebrini and Logan Cooley hitting Mikael Granlund in the head, at minimum, in a 4-3 loss.

Warsofsky is known as a fiery coach.

“It’s something that I’m trying to get better at. That’s kind of who I am. At the same time, I’m passionate, I wear my emotions on my sleeve. Sometimes it gets the best of me, but at the end of the day, I gotta have our players’ back. And that’s not gonna change,” he said. “Do I wish I used different words or whatnot? But at the end of the day, we’re all in this together as a group, myself, the coaches, the trainers, the equipment staff, the players, and I’m gonna have our players’ back.”

Warsofsky shared, smiling, that he was fined a couple times in the AHL, where he was head coach of the Charlotte Checkers and Chicago Wolves from 2019 to 2022, but never in the ECHL, where he helmed the South Carolina Stingrays from 2016 to 2018.

San Jose Sharks (11-17-5)

Alexandar Georgiev will start, and Ty Dellandrea will sit out.

Here’s how the Sharks have lined up the last two days:

Goodrow-Granlund-Zetterlund
Kovalenko-Celebrini-Toffoli
Eklund-Wennberg-Smith
Grundstrom-Sturm-Kunin

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Rutta

Warsofsky said that he’s hoping for a more “balanced” top-nine, hence Mikael Granlund playing with another new linemate, grinder Barclay Goodrow.

On sitting Dellandrea, Warsofsky said on Monday, about the 24-year-old: “Trying to find his role and his identity for our team. I think his play away from the puck at times, has been a little inconsistent.”

The bench boss also added, in admiration of the center-winger: “He’s a guy that gives you everything he’s got. I love the kid. He’s a competitor. I think he knows at times his game has struggled, and we’ve talked about that, but he’s a guy that gives you everything he has. He cares deeply about getting better himself and for the team.”

Warsofsky also admitted that Dellandrea isn’t 100 percent: “He’s banged up too. He’s dealing with some things. He’s the type of person that wouldn’t tell you. That’s just the type of person he is.”

Also, Klim Kostin, on IR, took to the ice for the first time since he received an upper-body injury on Dec. 12 in St. Louis.

Warsofsky wasn’t sure if Kostin will be traveling with the team on its upcoming road trip to Canada. Kostin is next eligible to play on Dec. 21 at the Edmonton Oilers.

Winnipeg Jets (22-9-1)

The Jets didn’t have a full morning skate today.

This is how they practiced yesterday:

No changes to #NHLJets line rushes.

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Chibrikov
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Ehlers, Gustafsson (non-contact)

Morrissey-DeMelo
Fleury-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
Heinola-Coghlan

— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) December 16, 2024

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets is 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.