Sam Dickinson is returning to the San Jose Sharks lineup in place of Shakir Mukhamadullin on Saturday.
Dickinson was a healthy scratch, for management purposes, on Friday during the Sharks’ 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Like Dickinson on Friday, Mukhamadullin isn’t being scratched for performance issues.
“Just want to get [Dickinson] in there,” Warsofsky said. “There’s a thought process behind [keeping left-right pairs]. I think Mukh has played some pretty good hockey. I thought he had a good third period. We got a lot of D, and [Nick] Leddy is getting close. We got to manage it and with the back-to-back get some fresh legs.”
Mukhamadullin played 13:01 on Friday and finished +1 overall. He didn’t look out of place, and Warsofsky doubled down that this scratching isn’t performance-related.
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“Just consistency through his shifts. To put him back on his right side and flip him back and forth at a young age is really not ideal. That was really the message. This is not a punishment,” Warsofsky explained.
“This was back-to-back games. Want to get [Dickinson] in there. Want our lefty-rightys. [Vincent Desharnais] has been good on our penalty kill, and this is a good power play. Sometimes watching the game is not the worst thing in the world for a young defenseman.”
The San Jose Sharks are carrying nine defensemen. Leddy is not active and remains on IR, but has participated in practice for the past week. Vincent Iorio hasn’t played since Oct. 26 against the Minnesota Wild.
After giving Dickinson his housing letter, the Sharks won’t want to sit Dickinson out for an extended period. Mukhamadullin is just the casualty to get the young prospect into the lineup.
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“We think the world of the kid. He’s a great kid. He works extremely hard, and he’s coachable. He’s gonna be a really good player. It was just matchup based on the back-to-back,” Warsofsky said. “Again, we want to get some fresh legs in there. [Dickinson] did a good job last time we played a back-to-back. Came and gave us some fresh legs. It was a tough decision.”
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