San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #52: Granlund on What’s Been Different for Will Smith, Rutta Hurt

Will Smith has been one of the San Jose Sharks’ better offensive players since his Jan. 11 benching.
He has a goal and four assists in six games, fourth on the Sharks behind Mikael Granlund, Macklin Celebrini, and William Eklund. Most impressively, all his scoring has been done at even strength, and he leads San Jose in that category since Jan. 11.
So what’s been different for the 19-year-old, the fourth-overall pick of the 2023 Draft?
“His overall game, I think he’s way more comfortable, kind of in tight spaces, making some plays, holding onto the puck every once in a while, realizing you have a little bit more time than you think,” Granlund said.
The No. 9 pick of the 2010 Draft, Mikael Granlund had an up-and-down integration into the NHL as a youngster too.
“A lot of it is just getting used to, okay, I maybe I have a little bit more time. I can make a play. You have some good moments, good games, [then] oh boy, I can do that. That’s the issue of confidence to play the game you can play,” Granlund said.
Granlund has seen this first-hand recently, centering Smith.
San Jose goal!
Scored by Mikael Granlund with 08:04 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund.
Nashville: 0
San Jose: 3#SJSvsNSH #Smashville #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/enjlNUahtL— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 22, 2025
Smith (2) gets Nick Blankenburg (37) to bite on the shot, then Smith has the patience to look off Cody Ceci (4) driving the center lane, before hitting the man that he really wants, Granlund (64), lost in the weeds.
“With his hockey IQ, I knew he was gonna learn really quickly,” Granlund said.
San Jose Sharks (14-31-6)
Alexandar Georgiev will start.
#SJSharks morning skate lines, Rutta not on the ice at all:
Zetterlund-Granlund-Smith
Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli
Kovalenko-Wennberg-Kunin
Sabourin-Goodrow-DuehrWalman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Vlasic-Thrun— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 25, 2025
Warsofsky says Rutta has a day-to-day lower-body injury.
Dellandrea is classified as day-to-day for now, we'll see how his upper-body injury comes along. Warsofsky says he's doing better
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 25, 2025
Florida Panthers (28-18-3)
Sergei Bobrovsky will start and Aaron Ekblad returns to the line-up.
Get all your Florida Panthers lines and updates at Florida Hockey Now!
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers is 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.