San Jose Sharks goalie misses practice after injury; Eklund audition continues

SAN JOSE –  Adin Hill did not take part in the Sharks’ morning skate Monday after he was injured the day before in practice, but coach Bob Boughner said the team is optimistic the 25-year-old goalie can return to the ice later this week.

Hill, the Sharks’ presumptive No. 1 netminder, was slated to start Monday’s preseason game with the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center. On Sunday, though, he left practice early after he took a puck that was shot on a 2-on-1 off of his wrist.

Boughner said Monday that Hill was feeling better, although he was going to have X-rays done later in the day as a precautionary measure.

“They’re going to rehab him today and hopefully we’ll have him in the next couple of days,” Boughner said of Hill. “We’ll see tonight how he comes back to the rink after working out the trainers today,

“We don’t think there’s going to be anything wrong.”

James Reimer will start Monday’s game. Alexei Melnichuk, reassigned to the Barracuda last week, has rejoined Sharks camp, which now has 31 players.

Hill was acquired by the Sharks in July and signed to a two-year, $4.35 million deal in August. The way things were trending, he was going to be the Sharks’ starter for their Oct. 16 season opener at home against the Winnipeg Jets.

Boughner had not yet declared who his goalie would be for that game. But Hill was sharp in his one preseason game so far, stopping 21 of 23 shots in a 4-2 Sharks win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 26.

The Sharks have one more preseason game on Saturday at home against Vegas.

AUDITIONS CONTINUE: The Sharks are dressing a handful of roster hopefuls Monday night, including forwards William Eklund, Jasper Weatherby, Lane Pederson, Jeffrey Viel, and Adam Raska.

Eklund, who leads the Sharks with four points, will start the game on a line with Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov, and Pederson will play right-wing on a line with center Nick Bonino and left-wing Rudolfs Balcers. Weatherby centers a line with Viel and Raska, two players who have been noticeable through the preseason with their hard-nosed play.

Eklund, the No. 7 overall draft pick in July, has earned rave reviews throughout camp and appears to be on his way to solidifying a spot on the opening night roster. He looked comfortable on the power play and has so far stood up to the physical demands of the North American game.

If Eklund, 18, is on the NHL roster to start the year, the Sharks can play him in up to nine games before they must decide whether to keep him, assign him to the AHL or return him to Djurgardens in the Swedish Hockey League. If he is assigned elsewhere before he plays a 10th game, it would delay the start of his contract to the following season.

Players on entry-level contracts can skate in nine games before teams must decide whether to send them to the American Hockey League, junior hockey, or back to their European club teams.

The last Sharks players to make the NHL out of camp in their draft years were Patrick Marleau in 1997 and Milan Michalek in 2003. Marleau played the full season in the NHL but Michalek suffered a serious knee injury in his second career NHL game.

“It’s up to Willie,” Boughner said of Eklund’s chances of making the Sharks roster. “If he continues to play like he has, I think that he’s got a great chance, One of the things, if you look at our lineup, injecting more skill in there is important.

“We have a lot of good two-way players and I think we can never have enough skill.”

On defense, Jacob Middleton will be with Erik Karlsson and Santeri Hatakka will be with Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the third. Mario Ferraro and Brent Burns, as usual, are together on the Sharks’ top pair.

“We know what (Middleton) can do. It’s just (showing) that consistency through camp and providing us with a little bit of sandpaper back there,” Boughner said. “I would think it’s a big game for a lot of these guys tonight and Saturday.”