SAN JOSE -- Doug Wilson’s latest major trade acquisition wasn’t at training camp on Friday, but his first one was.
While Erik Karlsson was still awaiting approval of a visa so he could join the Sharks, Joe Thornton, coming off of his second significant knee injury in as many seasons, was a full participant during the first day of camp.
“I feel good,” Thornton told reporters. “Everything’s healthy, 100 percent, ready to go.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The 39-year-old missed San Jose’s final 35 regular season games, as well as the entirety of the team’s postseason run, after he fully tore his right ACL and MCL against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 23. It’s the same injury that Thornton suffered in the beginning of April of the previous regular season in his left knee.
Thornton, who said he was close to returning in the playoffs last year, told reporters those extra couple of months made a big difference, and that he won’t need as long of an adjustment period at the start of his 14th season in teal. In his 13th year, the center scored 11 points in his first 20 games, and then scored 25 in 27 games after Thanksgiving.
His head coach said there was “no comparison” between how Thornton looked to start camp this year versus last year.
“I don’t think he’s B.S-ing,” DeBoer said. “I think he’s had a good recovery timetable. He’s been able to do it at his own pace without rushing it, and I thought he looked really good today.”
San Jose Sharks
Melk on the shelf
The Sharks were split into three groups (A, B, and C) on Friday. Only one player with NHL experience skated in Group C: Four-year veteran Melker Karlsson.
The winger skated with the third group away from the main rink because he’s recovering from an upper-body injury, and has not yet been cleared for contact, according to DeBoer.
“It was something that he dealt with most of the summer,” DeBoer said.
Some lines about the lines
Karlsson’s spot in his group was meaningful. The rest? Well, DeBoer said you shouldn’t read into that too much.
“These [line] combinations and [defensive] partners, we’re way too early to get into that,” DeBoer said. “As you guys know, that’s fluid on a daily basis. It’s step one, and for me it’s not about combinations, and partners, or things like that right now. We’re starting our journey, and it starts with our foundation. That’s what we’re starting today.”
Still, it was hard not to notice a few things. For one, longtime partners Marc-Edouard Vlasic (A) and Justin Braun (B) opened camp in different groups, while Brent Burns and Joakim Ryan (B) did not. Brenden Dillon was in Group A, which is the group Karlsson is set to join when he reports to camp after this weekend.
DeBoer insisted the split was to get younger defensemen reps alongside their NHL counterparts, and the fluidity of the pairings during on-ice drills reflected that. When asked, Vlasic was coy about the possibility of playing with Karlsson, while Braun said he’d like to keep his pairing the same.
“I hope so, we’ve had good chemistry,” Braun said of staying with Vlasic, his partner of over 3000 five-on-five minutes over the last three seasons. “But you never know what the coach is going to do, [or how] the dynamic’s going to be. Whatever you’re needed [to do], you’re needed. We’re going to one goal this year, and if things change, they change.”
Not that he’d mind the odd shift here and there with Karlsson, which would be pretty rare since both are right-handed blueliners.
“Hopefully I get some shifts out there with him, and maybe get a couple points letting him run up the ice,” Braun joked.
Up front, the notable forward lines looked as follows:
Evander Kane-Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski (A)
Tomas Hertl-Logan Couture-Timo Meier (B)
Joonas Donskoi-Antti Suomela-Kevin Labanc (A)
Marcus Sorensen-Dylan Gambrell-Barclay Goodrow (B)
It was just the first day, and other lines included players who could be in the mix for roster spots. But, rookies Suomela and Gambrell were skating with players that suited up in the playoffs. Chris Tierney was traded to Ottawa as part of the Karlsson deal, and fourth-line center Eric Fehr signed with Minnesota as a free-agent in July, so the Sharks will need new, bottom-six centers this season. But second-line center Logan Couture sounded confident the Sharks would fill the holes down the lineup.
“Everyone’s making a big deal of that right now,” Couture said. “I think Pete’s done a good job in his tenure here of finding lines that have worked [and] putting guys in spots that benefit them. Obviously, losing [Chris Tierney] -- with the minutes he played, penalty kill, taking faceoffs, … going out and creating mismatches -- is going to be tough. I think we’ve got some guys in our system where we can change up the lines here or there if need be, but I think we’ll be alright.”