SAN JOSE – Where will the Sharks be in just over three weeks’ time?
Will they be a confident group? Will their forward lines have discovered some chemistry? How will their highest-paid players be looking, or their new goalies? Will any rookies be on the team?
Will Evander Kane be back in a Sharks uniform?
Some of these questions figure to be answered by the time the Sharks open their regular season at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 16. Others might linger, such as Kane’s availability.
The Sharks issued a statement late Wednesday that said Kane and the organization have agreed that he will not be participating in camp “until further notice.”
The NHL on Wednesday cleared Kane of any wrongdoing in its gambling investigation after his estranged wife, Anna, alleged this summer that he bet on league games and tried to throw games “to win money.”
But new, unrelated allegations are now being examined. Earlier this week, Anna Kane filed a restraining order application in Santa Clara County Family Court that included accusations her husband physically and sexually assaulted her.
Clearly, if the allegations were found to be true, it would put Kane’s NHL career in peril.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the Sharks’ training camp roster with everyone’s projected chances of making the season-opening lineup.
Forwards (40)
LOCKS: Rudolfs Balcers, Alexander Barabanov, Nick Bonino, Andrew Cogliano, Logan Couture, Dylan Gambrell, Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Matt Nieto.
HOPEFULS: Joachim Blichfeld, Sasha Chmelevski, Jonathan Dahlen, William Eklund, Noah Gregor, Jayden Halbgewachs, Joel Kellman, John Leonard, Jacob McGrew, Nick Merkley, Lane Pederson, Scott Reedy, Jeffrey Viel, Jasper Weatherby, Ozzy Wiesblatt.
QUESTIONABLE: Evander Kane.
LONGSHOTS (or no shot): Ethan Cardwell, Macauley Carson (tryout), Brandon Coe, Zach Gallant, Liam Gilmartin, Danil Gushchin, Dillon Hamaliuk, Krystof Hrabik (AHL contract), Timur Ibragimov, Max McCue, Adam Raska, Tristen Robins, Kyle Topping (AHL contract).
WHO’S OUT: Lean Bergmann, Ivan Chekhovich, Ryan Donato, Kurtis Gabriel, Fredrik Handemark, Maxim Letunov, Patrick Marleau, Max McCue, Stefan Noesen, Marcus Sorensen, Antti Suomela, Alexander True.
ANALYSIS: Whether Kane returns to the Sharks before the regular season begins is anyone’s guess. If he doesn’t, the team will have to figure out in camp who is most capable of stepping into his place as a top-line winger. That, of course, will have a ripple effect throughout the lineup.
Even before Wednesday’s announcement, there were questions about the bottom-six forward group. Bonino is projected to be the third-line center, but the fourth-line center role, and one or two spots on the wing, is up for grabs.
Should Dahlen be considered more of a lock considering his one-way contract? Maybe, but we’re holding off any judgment on Dahlen until he has a few practices and a couple of preseason games under his belt. Leonard and Gregor are also far from sure things to be on the opening night roster, despite their NHL experience. Can Merkley and Pederson make a push?
This is also a big season for pending restricted free agents such as Blichfeld, Chmelevski, and Halbgewachs. Can they inch closer to full-time NHL status? Can Gambrell earn himself another contract past this season?
Defensemen (19)
LOCKS: Brent Burns, Mario Ferraro, Erik Karlsson, Nikolai Knyzhov, Radim Simek, Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
HOPEFULS: Mark Alt (tryout), Santeri Hatakka, Artemi Kniazev, Jaycob Megna, Nicolas Meloche, Ryan Merkley, Jacob Middleton, Brinson Pasichnuk.
LONGSHOTS (or no shot): Jeremie Biakabutuka, Nick Cicek (AHL contract), Gannon Laroque, Artem Guryev, Cole Moberg (tryout)
WHO’S OUT: Trevor Carrick, Fredrik Claesson, Christian Jaros, Nick DeSimone, Greg Pateryn
ANALYSIS: The top six looks fairly set assuming Knyzhov can pick up where he left off last season and Simek is healthy. There will be a competition to be the seventh defenseman for the start of the season, and Meloche, Megna, and Pasichnuk figure to be in that mix. Hatakka and Kniazev both played well at the rookie faceoff in Scottsdale, but we figure they, along with Merkley, need more time in the AHL before they can claim an NHL job.
Goalies (6)
LOCKS: Adin Hill, James Reimer.
HOPEFULS: None.
THE REST: Zachary Emond, Benjamin Gaudreau, Alexei Melnichuk, Zach Sawchenko.
WHO’S OUT: Devan Dubnyk, Martin Jones, Josef Korenar,
ANALYSIS: Hill and Reimer are going to compete for the No. 1 job, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them work more as a tandem with a somewhat evenly split workload throughout the season.
Melnichuk had a rough ending to his first season in San Jose, getting lit up in his last two NHL starts, then watching Korenar play all four Barracuda playoff games. How will he look in his second NHL camp? Without question, the Sharks want to see some progress and more consistency from him this year. Is Sawchenko the better prospect? Maybe we’ll find out soon enough. Gaudreau is going back to the OHL and Emond might be ticketed for the ECHL.
