Editor's note: The Sharks are currently enjoying their bye week before the kicking off the last 30 games of the season against the Coyotes on Saturday evening. There are a few questions facing all three position groups as San Jose heads down the stretch run. This week, we'll pose key questions facing the goaltenders, the defense, and the offense. Today's edition covers the defense.
Now when we say “defense,” we aren’t talking about the whole team's effort to help the goalies out. We’re talking about the actual blueline, which has had to weather a couple storms so far through 2019 because of an array of injuries.
So we ask: How far can health go to boosting the blue line down the stretch?
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There’s no denying, it can go a long way to pushing the Sharks through an important stretch of the season.
For starters, having a healthy d-corps will take the pressure off some of the big guns logging insane minutes every game.
San Jose’s blue line depth was challenged right from the start of the new year with Radim Simek, Justin Braun, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic sidelined with their respective injuries.
While the Sharks were able to plug in Joakim Ryan, Tim Heed, and Jacob Middleton, they also began relying more heavily Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson to spend an extended amount of time on the ice. When the Sharks hosted the Lightning on January 5, for example, Burns logged 30:45 minutes of ice time and Karlsson logged 29:15 minutes with Vlasic, Braun, and Simek all out of the lineup. Braun and Simek both eventually returned to action, but the workload for Burns continued to be heavy after Karlsson was sidelined for the last three games before the All-Star break with an undisclosed injury.
San Jose Sharks
Getting Karlsson and Vlasic back after the break would definitely help even out some of the responsibilities along the blue line.
It can also help reunite the most successful d-pairs. Karlsson has had his best success of the season while partnered with Brenden Dillon. The pair became as good at breaking up the opposing teams’ plays as they were at creating offense in their own end, to the point Dillon has had the best plus-minus on the team since December.
Moving down the lineup, Simek’s has proven to be a great anchor for Burns. No. 88 has complimented the Czech rookie’s style on multiple occasions, pinpointing his poise and uncomplicated physical style as key factors to their success as a duo. All the Sharks need at this point is for Vlasic to be back healthy and slated in on Braun’s left to make the blue line complete. (Heck, maybe that reinstated chemistry can help cut down on San Jose giving up six goals a game.)
Which brings us to the status of Vlasic’s health. He’s been listed as day-to-day for the better part of a month after sustaining an injury against the Colorado Avalanche on January 2. He began participating in Sharks’ practices before the All-Star break but has yet to pencil back into the lineup. Despite questions about No. 44’s level of play throughout the first half of his 2018-19 campaign, his game was on an upswing through the month of December.
[RELATED: Sharks' goaltending could be a strength during stretch run]
In that last game against Colorado, he registered an assist and ended the evening with a plus-3 rating. How he will play when he returns – or even when he returns, for that matter – still remains a bit of a mystery. But getting him back together with Braun would definitely fill out the Sharks’ blue line.
San Jose is going to get tested pretty quickly after the break, with road games against the Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Flames. (Make that the first meeting with the Flames since the New Year’s Eve showdown when Sam Bennett laid a hit on Simek that gave him a concussion.) It will behoove the Sharks to have a healthy defensive corps as a very crucial part of the season gets underway.