After a day off on Monday, the San Jose Sharks returned to the ice for practice with some slightly different line combinations.
Klim Kostin and Noah Gregor skated as the extras, while Nikolai Kovalenko and Carl Grundstrom took the first runs through the bottom six.
The most prominent tweak Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky made was moving William Eklund down and Collin Graf up with Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli.
“Just give it a different look. I think that line has kind of gotten stale a little bit,” Warsofsky explained.
Wasofsky is the Eklund, Celebrini, and Toffoli line, which has been solid all season.
“I thought they were better than the second and third period against Washington, but we want to try and mix it up a little bit,” Warsofsky said.
Luca Cagnoni also jumps in the lineup for his NHL debut and is paired with Vincent Desharnais on defense.
At 5’9, Warsofsky emphasized what Cagnoni needs to do to be successful defensively for the San Jose Sharks.
“I think the big thing is [he’s] gonna have to have a really good stick. Stick detail is gonna be important when he goes into a guy that’s 6’4. To the point of not being overly aggressive and keeping people to the outside. It’s a lot about angles,” Warsofsky said. “It’s gonna be about angles and leverage on some of these bigger guys. It doesn’t make any sense for him to go watch Shea Theodore.”
The Sharks bench boss said he wants Cagnoni to watch smaller defensemen. He gave examples of Torrey Krug and Sam Girard of the Colorado Avalanche.
William Eklund was moved to the second power-play unit with Cagnoni’s arrival but will be the focal point. Warsofsky also said the lines run today are not set in stone.
