San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #16: What Does Warsofsky Want From Eklund…And How Can Granlund Help?
NEWARK, N.J. — Ryan Warsofsky says that William Eklund’s game has been slipping for the last couple of games.
So maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Warsofsky dropped Eklund to the fourth line in the third period of Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Eklund agrees that he hasn’t been at his best: “I want to win more pucks, down low on the forecheck. Create offense in that way.”
“When he’s engaged and he’s skating, [he’s] on top when he’s winning those puck battles,” Warsofsky said. “For a guy like him, needs a puck on a stick, and how do you get the puck on your stick? You compete and you get in and you win some battles.”
What would help? Eklund’s got to stick his nose in there more.
“He’s on the perimeter a little bit too much at times,” Warsofsky said.
It’s a part of the process for the 22-year-old winger, the San Jose Sharks’ seventh-overall pick of the 2021 Draft. It’s easy to forget, when Eklund is surrounded by teenagers like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, how young he is.
“It’s still early in his career of learning what it takes to be a consistent NHL player,” Warsofsky noted. “What young players go through in this league is it’s 82 games. You’re not going to feel your best. You’re not going to have your A-game every single night. So what does your B-game look like?”
Luckily for Eklund and Celebrini and company, the San Jose Sharks have the “perfect” role model to learn from.
“A perfect example is Mikael Granlund. When Mikael is not making plays, he’s competing, he’s hard, he’s physical, he’s doing the little details. And that takes time for the young players to understand that. They get driven by the stat sheet and the points and the goals and the assists and the chances. But there’s more to a game and helping a team win,” Warsofsky said. “It might be a big hit. It might be a big block. So you have to find different ways to impact the hockey game, and that’s what him and Zetterlund and Will Smith and Mack are gonna have to continue to develop and understand.”
To that end, the “Lund Line” will be reunited on Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils, Granlund centering Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund.
That line had some success last year, enough to earn a nickname. Hopefully, they can find their game tonight!
San Jose Sharks (4-9-2)
Mackenzie Blackwood will start and Jake Walman is a game-time decision.
It’s Blackwood’s first start in New Jersey since the Devils traded him to San Jose in the summer of 2023.
Will Smith will not play, development day.
This is how the Sharks skated in the morning:
Looks like a Will Smith development day, morning skate lines:
Dellandrea-Celebrini-Toffoli⁰Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund⁰Kunin-Wennberg-Goodrow⁰G. Smith-Sturm-Grundstrom
Walman-Ceci⁰Ferraro-Liljegren⁰Thrun-Rutta
ThompsonDefensive pairings were a little mixed.
Thompson…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 10, 2024
New Jersey Devils (10-5-2)
Check out Mike Morreale of NHL.com’s projected lines.
Jake Allen will start.
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils is 4 PM PT at Prudential Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
One thing I will say for Eklund even if the offense hasn’t been there the last few games, he’s been blocking some gnarly shots and in general his play in the defensive end is so much better than it was last season. He’ll put it all together soon enough.
Top line Dellandrea… less than ideal
Actually not terrible for what he brings. Toffoli & Celly get a big fast F1 to go forecheck and retrieve the puck. Only for one game anyway so who knows.
Don’t love G Smith in the lineup, especially against a good team tonight. My prediction is he drags down the fourth line. Not a lot of other options I suppose but still.
This didn’t age well… ;P