SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks, seeking to address a couple of problematic areas, could debut some new forward lines and defense pairs on Tuesday when they play the Buffalo Sabres to open a four-game homestand.
In Monday’s practice, Ivar Stenberg joined the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, and defensemen Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba were together for the first time this season as a No. 1 pair. Michael Kesselring was also paired with Sam Dickinson in another change.
The Sharks just finished a six-game road trip with a respectable 3-2-1 record but may need an adjustment, as they’re giving up too many quality scoring chances on one end while creating far too few on the other.
“The biggest thing is we’re not generating a lot offensively,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, “and then defensively, what we’re giving up are goals that are very preventable, whether that’s individual or team-oriented.
“We can be better in front of our net, we can be better on face-offs, we can generate more by holding on to pucks and getting on the forecheck. When things aren’t kind of going, you’ve got to look at some things.”
The Sharks were critical of their defensive effort, especially in the third period, in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins in the final game of the trip. Four of the Bruins’ first five goals were scored right in front of San Jose’s net, including Frazer Minten’s game-winner at the 12:00 mark of the third.
“All that is, just outwilling guys and wanting to defend harder than the other team wants to score,” Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic said after the loss. “We had bodies in the area on all of (the goals), it’s just outwilling them a little bit more, just being a little harder on our sticks.
“I can do a better job swallowing up another puck or two there and killing plays or putting rebounds in better spots as well.”
Nurse had been with Kesselring since training camp began, and Trouba had recently been paired with Dickinson. Trouba was signed as a free agent, Nurse and Kesselring were acquired this summer via trade from Edmonton and Buffalo, respectively, and Dickinson, drafted 11th overall in 2024, is in his second NHL season.
The top two pairs had grown familiar with each other, but advanced metrics suggest it might be time for a change.
In 12 games this season, the Nurse-Kesselring pairing, per moneypuck.com, had an expected goals-against mark of 9.6, ranking 48th out of 49 NHL defense pairs that had played at least 95 minutes together this season. The Dickinson-Trouba pairing had the 37th-best mark of 5.9.
Entering Monday, the Sharks, per Natural Stat Trick, had allowed 139 high-danger chances in 12 games — a league-worst average of 11.6 per game.
“We see how the goals are going in,” Trouba said of the net-front issues. “Even the opposite way, the way we score goals, we’ve got to get to the front of the net. That’s where all the action happens or goals are scored, so it works both ways. But we just want to be harder to play against, make it tougher to go to our net.”
It was unclear whether rookie defenseman Luca Cagnoni would return to the Sharks lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last three games. Warsofsky said the Sharks have tried to rebuild Cagnoni’s confidence.
“Just trying to find his swagger again, and being able to get up the ice, make plays, move pucks,” Warsofsky said. “That’s the biggest thing when you’re trying to crack an NHL lineup. There’s going to be some times where you go through some adversity — mental toughness, in and out of the lineup — and you’ve got to continue to find your game.”
The Sharks also had Collin Graf, who was with Celebrini and Smith for Saturday’s game, on a line with Michael Misa and Mason Marchment. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks created just four high-danger chances against the Bruins and, before Monday, were 29th in the NHL in that category with 80 in 12 games.
“Obviously (Stenberg’s) got the skill and the hockey sense (to) make plays,” Warsofsky said. “Just wanted to kind of give it a look today.”
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Warsofsky reiterated that forwards Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov are week-to-week with upper body injuries. Wennberg was injured during the Sharks’ game in Toronto on Oct. 19 and has missed the last three games, and Chernyshov was injured on Oct. 22 when he blocked a shot against the Ottawa Senators. Warsofsky wouldn’t say whether Chernyshov needs or has had surgery.
Both Wennberg and Chernyshov remained on the Sharks’ active roster as of Monday afternoon. But the Sharks could move one or both to injured reserve if they wanted to recall one or two forwards from the Barracuda.