San Jose – The San Jose Sharks crossed their normal pre -match routine on Saturday morning as they were starting to prepare for the home match of this night against the New York Islanders.
But there was no question that the sharks were still in shock, both professionally and personally, from this week’s commercial activity, which saw a handful of popular and respected veterans sent to the teams linked before the NHL trade deadline on Friday.
A few lockers inside the Sharks locker room at the training center remained empty on Saturday morning, including the one belonging to the winger Fabian Zetterlund, who was surprisingly exchanged to the Senators of Ottawa just before the deadline on Friday.
Zetterlund had been one of the best scorers of the Sharks since the start of the 2023-24 season, established itself as an NHL attacker among the first. He was also a good friend for many team players, and he and William Eklund, in particular, developed an extremely close link.
Eklund refused to speak with journalists after Saturday morning skating, always emotional, seemed, after seeing his best boyfriend being exchanged in Ottawa for the attackers Zach Ostapchuk and Noah Gregor and a choice of second -round draft in 2025. The Sharks also sent the Trendy Ligues Sad Robins to senators.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he spoke to Eklund on Friday after the deadline for trade.
“An emotional day for him, and it will take time. He is a young child himself, “said Warsofsky about Eklund, 22. “He is not just going to present himself today with a big smile on his face ready to leave. It’s hard. So we have to put our arms around him a little, and we must be there to support him.
“He has just lost his best friend,” added Warsofsky about Eklund, his voice that stops. “I feel for him.”
The Sharks Center Alexander Wennberg said that Eklund and Zetterlund were like “two peas in a pod”.
“You can’t really see each other,” said Wennberg about his compatriots of Swedish origin players. “Obviously, it’s hard to see this. Even I dragged it with (zetterlund) every day, we were going to dine. He’s a very, very good guy. I wish him all the best. He (stinking) Do not have every day for sure.
As part of the deadline for exchanges, the Sharks also exchanged goalkeeper VANEK VANECEK and Center Nico Sturm at Florida Panthers, defender Jake Walman at Edmonton’s Oilers and striker Luke Kunin at the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
In their place during Saturday morning skating, the sharks had the Kostin Klim winger instead of Zetterlund on a line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, goalkeeper Georgi Romanov saving Alexandar Georgiev, and the newcomer Patrick Giles in Sturm’s old place as fourth line.
Shakir Mukhamadullin was on the Sharks’ defense pair instead of Walman, and Nikolai Kovalenko, as he did for Thursday’s match in Colorado, took the place of Kunin on the wing on the third line.
This is a lot of mixture of the place where the Sharks were Tuesday when they beat the Buffalo 6-2 sabers in one of their best efforts this season.
“It’s a difficult day,” said Sharks defender Mario Ferraro, who was twinned with Mukhamadullin on Saturday and was the subject of full -fledged commercial rumors.
“But this is the deadline for trade for you. It is not easy. It’s never easy. It’s sad to say goodbye to some guys. But at the same time, you look at the other side, it’s exciting to say hello to new guys, and we have to move on. And the players who have gone must move on and focus on reading hockey. »»
Sharks still have 18 regular season games from Saturday. Their appointment against the Islanders begins an eight game house.
Given that the Sharks are now without their two best defenders earlier in the season, Walman and Cody This, two top six attackers at Zetterlund and Mikael Granlund, in depth veteran Sturm and Kunin, and an experienced goalkeeper in Vanecek, the last six weeks for six years could bring some pain, like the director general Mike Grier noticed on Friday. Granlund and this were exchanged at the stars of Dallas on February 1.
The Sharks entered the NHL general place in the last place on Saturday with 43 points. According to Tankathon.com, they have, from Saturday, the 12th the largest remaining calendar in the league, their opponents with an average of 0.553 points in percentage.
In other words, certain thinner moments seem to be ahead, and it will belong to some of the veterans of the Sharks to keep the optimistic atmosphere if the losses continue to accumulate, especially now that some of their best friends are elsewhere.
“We talked to the leadership group, we talked to the group as a whole,” said Warsofsky. “We have to feel this as human beings. We do not flee. We have to go ahead, but we don’t furrow. »»
Notable: Gregor was not with the Sharks on Saturday because a team spokesman said he still sorts immigration documents. The next Sharks match is home Tuesday against Nashville predators. … Warsofsky could not say what is planned for Ostapchuk, who is on the list of San Jose Barracuda at the moment. We do not know when he could play for the Barracuda or be called back to the Sharks. Ostapchuk was on the list of senators in Belleville before trade in San Jose.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
