Vlasic missed the Sharks' morning practice Monday after leaving their previous game vs. Colorado after just five shifts and 3:15 TOI and is expected to be out Tuesday as San Jose takes on Carolina due to an undisclosed injury. The 36-year-old veteran is in his 18th NHL season and has played in 70+ games in every full NHL season since 2015-16.
The New Jersey Devils seem committed to continuing their goalie rotation early in the season as it appears Vanecek will return to the crease on Monday night. In his only game of the season thus far, Vanecek allowed three goals on 35 shots en route to securing a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The Devils are listed as -169 home favourites against a Florida Panthers team that has struggled immensely so far this season, scoring only four times in their first two games (0-2-0).
Thrun had one assist and one shot in 19:29 TOI in the Sharks season-opening loss to the Golden Knights. However, he will come out of the lineup on Saturday to make room for Nikolai Knyzhov to make his season debut.
Knyzhov was a healthy scratch for the Sharks' season-opening loss to the Golden Knights but he will replace Henry Thrun in the lineup vs. Colorado. Knyzhov had one goal and no assists in 12 games with the Sharks last season.
Georgiev will search for his 100th career victory as he is slated to tend the pipes for the second consecutive game for the Avalanche. Georgiev was terrific in his first game of the season, saving 34 of 36 shots in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. After a fantastic first season with the Avalanche that saw him record a 2.53 GAA and .918 SV% in 62 games (40-16-6), Georgiev looks poised to pick up where he left off as one of the top goalies in the league this season. The Avalanche will be facing a Sharks team that struggles to generate offence and will be without Mikael Granlund and Logan Couture.
Entering his fourth NHL season, Vanecek is coming off of his busiest campaign which saw him play 52 games (33-11-4) and record a 2.45 GAA and .911 SV%. Vanecek had an extremely strong start to last season before cooling down to a .896 SV% in his final 16 regular season games (9-6-1). His struggles continued in the postseason where he posted a 4.64 GAA and .825 SV% in seven games (4-1-3) and battled for time with Akira Schmid. The two goalies will likely share time in the crease this season unless one can pull away as the clear favourite. The New Jersey Devils are considered a serious Stanley Cup contender this season and open their campaign as -230 home favourites against the Detroit Red Wings.
Georgiev led the NHL in wins with his 40-16-6 record, .918 SV% and 2.53 GAA in 2022-23 and will be Colorado's starting goaltender vs. Los Angeles for their season opener Wednesday. The 27-year-old is entering his second season in Colorado after signing a three-year, $10.2 million contract prior to last season. He takes on Los Angeles on the road, who finished 2022-23 11th in the NHL in both shots per game (32.4) and goals for (274).
Couture has missed the entire preseason with a lower-body injury and will be forced to miss the Sharks' season opener vs. Vegas as he is week-to-week with the ailment. The 34-year-old top-line centre is a massive loss for San Jose after he had 27 goals, 40 assists, 198 SOG, 19 PIMs, and a -30 plus/minus through 82 games in 2022-23.
The 26-year-old forward was brought into Pittsburgh camp on a PTO and has earned himself a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000. The Boston-born veteran had eight goals, seven assists, 64 SOG, and 12 PIMs across 68 games in his only season in Florida in 2022-23. He is joining his third NHL team after spending six years in Ottawa and one with the Panthers.
Furlong was drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft (140th overall) and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sharks on Thursday. The 19-year-old Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) captain had seven goals, 43 assists, 40 PIMs and a +47 plus/minus in 67 games in 2022-23 in the Quebec league. He has returned to Halifax for his 2023-24 season.
Couture was considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury he suffered in offseason training. According to head coach David Quinn, Couture continues to progress but he seems highly questionable for the start of the regular season.
Musty was San Jose's 2023 first-round pick (26th overall) and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sharks on Wednesday. The 18-year-old left-winger had 26 goals, 52 assists, 71 PIMs and a +16 plus/minus through 53 games played with Sudbury (OHL) in 2022-23. He is expected to return to the OHL for his third season with Sudbury for the 2023-24 season.
Couture is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained during off-season training and is expected to miss the Sharks' opener on October 12th. The 34-year-old centre led San Jose in scoring in 2022-23 with 27 goals, 40 assists, 198 SOG, and a -30 plus/minus through 82 games played. He is entering his 15th NHL season with San Jose and will hope to have a proper timeline for his return in the upcoming days.
Rutta had three goals, six assists, 64 SOG, 30 PIMs and a +3 plus/minus with Pittsburgh in 2022-23 and has been traded as part of a three-way deal to San Jose. The 33-year-old stay-at-home defensemen brings 15 goals, 70 points and 153 PIMs across 294 career games played to the Sharks.
Kovalenko had 21 goals, 33 assists, 36 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus through 56 games with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Colorado. The 23-year-old Russian winger was the Avalanche's 2018 sixth-round pick (171st overall) and is currently loaned out for another season to Torpedo for the 2023-24 season.
Dellandrea had nine goals, 19 assists, 92 SOG, 54 PIMs and a +9 plus/minus through 82 games in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year contract extension with Dallas worth $900,000. The 22-year-old centre was drafted in the first-round of the 2018 NHL Draft (13th overall) by the Stars and completed his first full season of his career in 2022-23. The two-way specialist has 12 goals and 33 points in 109 games in his career.
Gawanke was acquired in a trade for Artemi Kniazev late last week and has now signed a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $775,000 with San Jose. The 24-year-old is coming off an incredibly strong season in Manitoba (AHL) where he had 20 goals, 25 assists, 51 PIMs and a -6 plus/minus through 68 games played in 2022-23.
Schuldt had eight goals, 24 assists, 31 PIMs and a +22 plus/minus through 71 games with Coachella Valley (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 with Seattle. The 28-year-old defenseman has appeared in one NHL game throughout his career, picking up a point and a -1 plus/minus back in 2018-19.
Todd had eight goals, eight six assists, eight PIMs and a +3 plus/minus through 16 games with Springfield (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, two-way contract ($775,000 AAV) with the San Jose Sharks. The 27-year-old centre has yet to make an NHL appearance since making the jump to the ECHL in 2017-18 as an undrafted free-agent from Carleton University (USports).
