Sharks Scratching Dickinson on Opening Night: What’s Next For Him?

Opening night for the San Jose Sharks is finally here, but lineup controversy is already brewing ahead of Thursday’s game.

Defenseman Sam Dickinson, the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, will be a healthy scratch against the Florida Panthers. While the Sharks didn’t do any line rushes at morning skate, Dickinson was on the ice after the main group got off, signaling he won’t play.

Throughout the end of San Jose Sharks training camp and the two practices leading up to tonight, Nolan Allan has skated with Jacob Trouba. Dickinson and Trouba were paired at the start of training camp. Allan has effectively won the job over Dickinson.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters that Dickinson is in a good headspace and ready to take on the challenge.

“He’s done a good job. Like I said, he had a good game against Vegas. He’s had a couple of good practices in a row. Stack the days, that’s what I’ll say,” Warsofsky said on Wednesday.

Dickinson told reporters on Wednesday that he is staying ready no matter what happens. The young defenseman knows he can improve in many areas, but to do that, he can’t get down on himself.

“I don’t worry about the lineup or anything like that too much. I just try to focus on myself and my game. The coaches set the lineups and that sort of thing. Obviously, I want to play, and I want to play every game, and I want to play a lot of minutes and that sort of thing,” Dickinson said on Wednesday. “But you know, we’ll see what happens tomorrow, [but] playing or not, [I’ll] be out there for morning skate. Doing my thing and trying to get better and better every day.”