NHL
“Stay Away” from Galchenyuk, Goodrow on Pavelski
Just some San Jose Sharks-relevant odds and ends today: A scout said “Stay away” in regards to pending UFA Alex Galchenyuk, a Marcus Sorensen update, Barclay Goodrow talked about Game Seven versus the Golden Knights last year and Joe Pavelski, and Pavelski chats about how odd it is to be on the same team with Corey Perry.
“Stay Away” from Galchenyuk
Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin told reporters this week that they would not be re-signing pending UFA Alex Galchenyuk.
So the third-overall pick of the 2012 Draft will be onto his fifth team in four years. Should the San Jose Sharks check in?
A scout — not one of two who talked to San Jose Hockey Now two weeks ago about Galchenyuk and other UFA forwards — cautioned: “Stay away. He doesn’t want to work. He’s a good player — when he feels like it.”
There will be a team that takes a chance on the former 30-goal scorer. After all, he’s just 26. But nobody, it seems, has figured out how to get Galchenyuk going.
“If we knew,” the scout acknowledged, “he would be with us.”
Sorensen to Allsvenskan?
Will Joel Kellman joining Kristianstads IK open up the floodgates for Sharks players to join Allsvenskan clubs?
Of course, there were already rumors that Marcus Sorensen is on his way to the same league’s HC Vita Hästen.
However, Vita Hästen GM/head coach Tony Zabel, who spoke with SJHN about Sorensen a couple days ago, says they had “no further information” on the San Jose Sharks winger.
If you’re curious why Kellman, and potentially, Sorensen, will be playing in second-division competition instead of top-division SHL, Swedish hockey insiders Per Bjurman and Uffe Bodin filled us in earlier today.
Goodrow on San Jose & Pavelski
This morning, Barclay Goodrow talked about what he learned from last year’s Game Seven against Vegas. No San Jose Sharks fan will ever forget his series-winning overtime goal, but people may forget that he was benched in the middle of the game before his re-emergence in OT: “When you go on different runs, you learn things along the way. I learned a lot from that game. It’s just about staying even-keel. There’s so many things that can go on in a game. It’s like you’re never out of it. You always have to stay ready.
“There’s definitely a lot of highs and lows. You just have to stay the course.”
Goodrow was also asked about facing his ex-captain Joe Pavelski in the Stanley Cup Final: “He’s a leader. He’s a guy, it’s easy to follow to follow his lead. His play in the playoffs speaks for itself; he rises to the occasion. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years; it’s going to be fun to compete against him.”
Pavelski & Perry
Speaking of odd couples, long-time rivals Pavelski and Corey Perry shared the podium yesterday at Stanley Cup Media Day.
Before their team-up this season, Pavelski had played 66 regular season games against Perry’s Anaheim Ducks, Perry 65 against Pavelski’s San Jose Sharks.
“I think it’s great. A few games ago, we did one of these [pressers] and I just kind of looked up at the screen and saw it, and I just kind of started laughing,” Pavelski said, smiling. “This is great, here in the playoffs with Corey Perry. It’s been awesome. There’s tons of experience, we’ve competed against each other for a long time. It’s fun to be on the same side.”
Pavelski vs. Perry was also book-ended by a pair of playoff match-ups, Anaheim’s six-game upset of the top-seed in 2009 and San Jose’s first-round sweep in 2018. But Perry pointed out that they had also been fierce rivals outside of the NHL.
“There are lots of battles that we’ve gone through, regular season, playoffs, whatever it may be. Internationally,” Perry noted. “There’s been a lot of hockey played between us. It’s nice to be sitting here beside him right now and doing this.”
Wisconsin-born Pavelski has battled Ontario native Perry in the 2010 Olympics, the 2014 Olympics, and the 2016 World Cup.
But now, they’re sharing laughs and the same sweater on the eve of the Stanley Cup Final.