San Jose – The veteran striker Andrew Paturalski led the AHL with 73 points and was appointed the most useful player in the league this season when he helped direct the San Jose Barracuda, the best affiliate of the minor league of the Sharks, at his first appearance of Calder Cup in six years.
Despite this, Paturalski only played three games with the Sharks, all from February 4 to 8, and it was practically by necessity. The attackers Alexander Wennberg, Nikolai Kovalenko, Nico Sturm and Klim Kostin were all injured at the time, and the Sharks had just negotiated the Mikael Granlund center at Dallas stars, so Paturalski was promoted and played his first NHL matches since November 2023.
Just after the Sharks started their break in confrontation on February 9, Paturalski was back in minors, never to come back.
“I would have liked to get a few games more in a row and start adapting,” Paturalski told Tech Cu Arena on Friday while Barracuda’s exit meetings held. “It’s my ninth year. You play nine years in the AHL, it’s an adjustment to go to the NHL.
“I want this opportunity to show that I can play at this level, and I have the impression that it should be for me to decide, and no one else. I just want to keep working to prove that I can play it. ”
Now, Paturalski, 31, although he is under contract with the team for another season, must wonder when, or if, he will have another game in the NHL, and if this opportunity will have come with the young sharks.
“I can’t say enough good things about my time here with the Cuda,” said Paturalski. “The staff gave me the opportunity to succeed, and I had a lot of good teammates to play and help me and do well, and we had a fairly good group. It was very fun to come to the ice.
“But in the same breath, I always continue the NHL, and it was a little frustrating from this point of view not to have a complete chance with the sharks. I suppose that I get it, but I do not agree with that. I get older, but I don’t think my game has slowed down.”
Paturalski may not be the biggest player (5 feet 10 inches, 185 pounds) or the fastest skater, but his skills, his shot, his tip and his Hockey IQ were sufficient to produce 493 points in 527 AHL regular season games and 73 points in 81 career series games.
It was an important part of the winning teams of Calder Cup in 2019 and 2022, the latter came with the Wolves of Chicago under the coach of the current Sharks Ryan Warsofsky.
Part of the reason why Paturalski signed a two -year agreement with the Reconstruction Sharks last July was his relationship with Warsofsky and the feeling that he would be more likely to play in a team that is still in the transitional phase.
When Paturalski was recalled for the first time in February, he was authorized to center the second line with Fabian Zetterlund and Will Smith.
“I don’t know if he never had this type of opportunity,” Warsofsky said. “I think it deserves this opportunity.”
He hadn’t done it. In six previous NHL games – four with the Hurricanes de la Caroline and two with the Seattle Kraken – Paturalski has on average less than 10 minutes of ice time. During his three games with the Sharks, Paturalski had a assist and on average 2:27 PM in time of ice.
However, that is only so far away. When the Sharks are again healthy, they remembered other Barracuda players, those they signed or written when they needed reinforcements.
Paturalski suffered a MCL tear in a Barracuda match against Abbotsford on March 28 and no longer played. However, he approached a return when San Jose was eliminated the playoffs on Wednesday.
“I always think that I have something to prove, and I have never fully had the opportunity in the NHL,” said Paturalski, “and I think it eats a little and motivates me to continue.”
Reports in Russia have suggested that Paturalski has already agreed to join Avangard Omsk from the KHL. But Paturalski said he had not officially decided where he will play next season.
If this is the case, then Paturalski and the Sharks could terminate his NHL contract. But the director general of Barracuda, Joe Will, said that he and Paturalski had not discussed such a decision.
“Andrew is the last pro,” said Will. “We have a relationship where we are talking about things very openly. He looks at him: “What can I do else?” I am the MVP of the regular season. He went to four finals of Calder Cup, winning two.
Even if he leaves the organization of Sharks, Paturalski was all that the Barracuda hoped that it would be in terms of professionalism, production and leadership. Whatever the problems he had with the Sharks, he did not show his frustration or let him affect his preparation while he continued to continue his dream in the NHL.
“I was quite frank by speaking to our coaches or our staff and management here throughout the year that this is what I continue,” said Paturalski. “I felt like I had done a lot in the AHL, but I have still proven anything in the NHL. This is what motivates me, and I am too competitive to just be an AHL veteran, and I want more. This is what pushes me to continue every day and to present myself at the skating rink and to be motivated. So I think they know where I am. “
California Daily Newspapers
