Preview/Lines #42: Eklund Will Play, Sturm Out

The San Jose Sharks practiced on Friday, but very short-handed.

Mikael Granlund, Alex Wennberg, Nico Sturm, and Cody Ceci did not participate.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky, however, said Granlund, Wennberg, and Ceci should play, though he stopped short of guaranteeing it.

Sturm, however, is a game-time decision with a lower-body injury, after blocking a first period Darren Raddysh shot on Thursday. Sturm left the game, returning in the second period.

There was good news for the injured William Eklund and Jake Walman.

Eklund, upper-body injury, appeared to practice without restriction on Friday, the fourth-straight day that the media has seen him skate. Warsofsky didn’t rule him out for Saturday.

Warsofsky also revealed that Walman, lower-body injury, skated on his own for the second-straight day. We haven’t seen Walman skate since Dec. 30, so that’s a good sign.

Both are big-time contributors: Eklund is tied with Macklin Celebrini with 27 points, second on the Sharks, while Walman leads San Jose defenseman with 25 points.

SATURDAY UPDATE: Eklund will play, activated off the IR. Walman will go on the IR in his place.

Sturm will not play, Luke Kunin will take his 4C spot. 

Walman skated on his own for a third-straight day.

San Jose Sharks (12-23-6)

Yaroslav Askarov will start.

Per Warsofsky, the Lund Line is reunited and pairings remain the same.

Warsofsky, on reuniting Lund Line, jokes, "Grandpa Granny there can help them out a little bit. He takes them under their wing…helping these two young players who are still trying to figure out how to play consistently in this league."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 4, 2025

Here’s SJHN’s guess at lines:

Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Kovalenko-Wennberg-Toffoli
Goodrow-Kunin-Kostin

Thrun-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Vlasic-Rutta

New Jersey Devils (24-14-3)

Here’s how the #NJDevils  are lining up at today’s practice in San Jose.

Notably, Dowling taking rotations with Tatar on the Lazar line. Tatar has been in and out of the lineup, curious to see if maybe that happens again. pic.twitter.com/9YJ1T4IKIp

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 3, 2025

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils is 1 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.