San Jose Sharks News & Rumors: Celebrini, Dickinson, Misa, Success Against Contenders & More

San Jose Sharks News & Rumors: Celebrini, Dickinson, Misa, Success Against Contenders & More

Hello everybody and welcome into another Sharks news and rumors here at the Hockey Raiders. I’m your host Matthew Zatour and as always joined in by Alex Hutton. Alex, how’s it going? It’s going all right. You know, I uh I’m I’m from the Bay Area originally, obviously Sharks, but I I live in LA now, so with with the Dodgers the last few days, it’s been it’s been a little bit annoying. Um but um I’m doing I’m doing well. Yeah, I Yeah, it’s probably pretty crazy around there right now. Yeah. No, the the on the day we’re taping this, today was the parade, so I was just sort of trying to stay out of the way of all that more than anything else. Really busy for sure. U but yeah, I mean the Sharks are actually uh doing pretty well uh lately. They’ve uh had some pretty good games and that’s a good spot to start this video and that’s uh with their last three games. And these are not against uh small opponents. These are against pretty uh they’re contenders all three of these teams. Um, I mean, the Red Wings are tied for first in the Atlantic. The Avalanche, of course, we all know how good they are. And the Devils have been pretty good as well. Uh, Sharks took five of six, uh, points against those two three teams. Uh, the only blemish is the Red Wings shootout loss. So, uh, what do you think uh, with this uh, I mean, it is very, very small sample size, but the Sharks kind of turning a corner of being really competitive and actually beating some of these really good teams. Yeah. you know, and I I’ll also add like, you know, right right before those games, it was a game where they lost in regulation, but but for the most part dominated the Kings where they vastly outplayed and they just started some a few bad bounces just kind of didn’t go their way and that was a really tough loss. But they they’ve been playing really well for the most part, stringing some some pretty good games together. And I think, you know, this is this has happened like the last couple seasons as well where they started out really bad and then got that first win and that kind of was able to carry them a little bit more to playing at least, you know, respectable league average, maybe a little bit better than that. Some kind of hot streak in there. But this is also over these last few seasons, this is the earliest that that’s happens, which I think is a really good sign. And I definitely think the um the young players are coming into their own a little bit more. I think they’ve found some some forward line combinations that that really work. um one with um Celebrate Smith and Tofoley and then another one with um Kuresv, Skinner, and Wenberg. Um that’s been able to really get some good production going, which has been really great to see it there because, you know, these last couple seasons there’s been a lot of juggling and moving pieces around trying to find things that work the best. Uh but but this season, they I think they found that a little bit quicker, which I think is a really good sign. And then, you know, a couple of the a couple of the defenseman have have stepped up stepped up as well. Um Tim Timothy Ligin’s had a couple of really good games. you know, Sam Dickinson is is starting to come into his into his own and gain a little bit more confidence as he now moves past that nine-game barrier and is going to get that first full season on his contract. So, I think there’s a lot of uh there’s a lot of positive developments. I think it just I I think I think it starts with finding those combinations um that that work well and that are giving them a boost for sure. I know we talked about I think it was on the first or second video saying about they got to get some consistency with the players and uh and start gaining, you know, kind of picking this core and just sticking with them and that includes veterans, right? So, we’ll see how that kind of plays out after this season or on the trade deadline how many of these guys they trade. Um but I mean, yeah, four six and three now on the season. They’re not last in the Western Conference, which is a good development. Uh they are third uh to last up. tied with Minnesota Wild. I mean, really, when you’re looking at the standings, they’re like one point behind. I mean, they’re only two points out of 10th. So, it’s like it’s really tight at the um around the middle part there. But, I mean, they’re not last, and that’s that’s a like I say, that’s a big development uh for for this team. So, I mean um they’re not far out of last, but whatever. Uh they it’s a it’s very tight uh around that area, but yeah, it’s a good sign uh for sure. We’ll see if they can sustain a bit um for the next um few games or in the next couple months here. We spoke about Sam Dickinson. He Yeah, you you mentioned him going past that nine games. Uh he has now played 10. So that means yeah, he’s going to be with the Sharks. Well, I mean may not be for the whole season. They I mean teams send guys back to junior even after this, but I don’t think that’ll happen. Is this the right move? uh Dickinson staying with the team. I think so. I think you know juniors he was just so dominant last season that I don’t know there’s a whole lot more developing he can do that down there. I think it’s better for him at this point to stay with the Sharks and even if he has some rough games, play through those mistakes, learn at the at the highest level. I I do think that if it were an option, the AHL would be the best place for him. But obviously with the under the current current rules that just that’s just not possible. So, of the of the other two options, I do think the better one is to put him in in the tougher situation and just give him those opportunities to to develop with the Sharks coaches and have maybe those tough moments, you know, kind kind of the welcome to the league uh moments. And I think I think just think that would that’s more beneficial for him at this point. And I also think that now that he is got now that he’s got the message of hey, you’re an NHL player, I think that can really that can help his confidence as well. I’m sure that, you know, players who are in those first nine games and not sure whether they’re going to be sent down or get the full season, I’m sure that affects their their confidence in how they play. And now that that weighs off his shoulders, that could help him out as well. I mean, in his in his 10th game, he scored his first career goal. So, that’s a that’s a great start, a great jumping off point hopefully for the rest of the season. For sure. Yeah, that’s that kind of audition type thing out of your mind. It’s like, well, I’m not going to be I mean, like I said, technically they could be sent back to junior again. But it’s it’s rare that that happens unless there’s, you know, an injury or something like that where uh they feel like, well, you know, get him back down there again. But I think I think Sharks made a good decision u keeping him up and he’s like you mentioned at the beginning there uh he’s starting to come into his own a bit uh in the NHL now and starting to get comfortable. So that’s uh that’s a good thing. Uh he’s developing for sure. Another guy who they’re going to have to make this decision on as well is Michael Misa. He is not at that point yet. He’s at seven games. So they still have a couple games before they have to make that decision. Uh he has a goal and three points uh so far in his NHL career. Uh do you feel that’s the same thing? Should he stay as well or will he stay and follow Dickinson? I I would I would think so just because I think with the way the Sharks are stretching these games out where they’re not putting him out there every game. I think yes, partially it’s for his development and giving him the best matchups possible. I think part part of it also, if I had to guess, is trying to figure out their contract situation and trying to give themselves time to to maybe move someone to clear up that space uh to get him on the roster full-time. He’s someone who’s definitely, you know, hit his bumps and he’s had certain games where maybe he hasn’t been able to like really establish himself and has just kind of been been out there and getting ice time but maybe not getting himself into the middle of the action as much as he might, you know, be able to in in juniors and and be, you know, the puck dominant player that he is. But I do think he’s he’s learning. you’re seeing progress from him in each game where you know those first couple games I think were definitely that where he was still learning it but then he’s gotten a couple assists like you said he’s gotten a goal and I think that’s something you want to see progress for the rest of the season and I think obviously putting him in the NHL and keeping up with the Sharks is going to give him the best opportunity to do that. Yeah, I think he’s another guy where I don’t think he going back to junior is going to really help him. I mean he’s dominated that league. It’s not like he’s going to do any more developing there. I I think the best place is the NHL and you mentioned with Dickinson with the AHL, I think that would be a good spot for him too, but again, he can’t do that. Um, I think the NHL is probably the the best for his development as well. And the same things you mentioned with Dickinson’s, the same things with Misa, you know, with the coaches and and with NHL players, I think is a good spot right now. So, I I think he should stay uh too. All right. Well, the guy that definitely is staying and definitely is a big part of the Sharks right now is Mlin Celabbrini. Uh, and he is has 18 points this season and the top five in NHL scoring right now. I is this start sustainable? I mean, he had a really good rookie season for sure, but he’s over a point a game. Uh, he’s on pace. I I love his on pace numbers at the beginning of the season. He’s on pace for over, you know, close to 100 points. Is this something that he can kind of sustain uh throughout the season and be maybe an 80 90 point player? Yeah, I mean I don’t know if these exact numbers are sustainable. There there’s es and flows to his season and there’ll be just tough stretches in there. He’s not soaring at this rate, but I think the I think the overall play is sustainable. Yeah, I think he’s just he’s playing with a lot more confidence. you know, he he started last season injured, so just trying to shake that off and then also develop and adjust to this new league, I think, is is part of trying to figure everything out as well. But like he’s he’s got good linemates in Will Smith and Tyler Tofoley, who he’s obviously close with off the ice and they’ve really learned each other’s games on the ice over the last couple seasons. So, that’s helped him out a lot. And just, you know, playing with with more confidence. You saw you saw last year. I mean, he’s always fascinating to watch on the ice because he’s always anticipating what the play is going to be, always skating with his head up, um, and just trying to sort of stay one step ahead of everybody else. And now that he’s got a year of experience under his belt, he can do that at an even higher level, which is which is great to see. So, you know, if he can, obviously health is going to be a big part of it, but if he can stay healthy and his linemates can stay healthy, he’s he’s in a really good place. And, you know, ideally the the wins are going to come along with it. You know, something we talked about in an earlier video is how how losing can be really really frustrating, especially for a really good young player like him. So, you know, if they can keep up this pace where they’re winning more consistently, getting points more consistently, that should help his play on the ice as well and and make the team situation better overall. Yeah, I mean, he’s got seven goals already. Seven goals in 13 games. He had 25 all of last season, of course, on pace to shatter that number right now. I I mean, okay, so here’s the on-pace numbers. 44 goals and 113 points he’s on pace for. And that those aren’t insane numbers, but they are uh league leading type numbers. I mean, and particularly for if if you if he were to do that in his second NHL season, that that would be especially crazy. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I mean, I think that’s also I mean, if he does that, the Sharks are probably in a really good position, you know, in the standings, I think, as well. Um, so yeah, really good start for him and you know what I really look I mean plus minus whatever but he was a minus 31 last season he’s a plus two I so far this season which is I think in my opinion I mean it doesn’t matter about what you ever you think of a plus minus that’s good being on the positive side of it especially on a team that’s not supposedly not very good so I mean I I think that’s a big thing as well. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the important thing is that it is an indication that he’s also surrounded by better players and like we like we’ve been talking about this whole video, more consistency with with his linemates throughout like up and down the lineup. Um that’s going to have an impact on those kinds of statistics as well, I think. Yeah. And another thing, I mean, he’s also taken on that leadership role a bit here. He’s got an A on his jersey uh this season, too, which uh I mean, he’s he’s becoming part of I mean, he’s he is the guy you’re building around. And I mean, there’s a lot of young guys, but I think he’s the guy that you’re you know, I think the Sharks are saying this is the guy and he’s their Conor Badard. He’s their Conor McDavid uh right now. And I think he’s starting to kind of embrace that a bit. And I I like that. I think he he’s going to be a really big piece of this team for a long time and he’s already showing that this season so far. Yeah. And and you’ve seen him take on like I think a more bigger leadership role where he’s being a little bit more vocal. Um in the in the Red Wings game we were talking about you could see where there was a there was a a penalty on him and a penalty on someone of the Red Wings. Was it Cider maybe? But you you see them chirping at each other from the from the penalty boxes. And that’s so that’s just sort of another example of him sort of growing into his own I think becoming more confident in the NHL. I mean you would assume he’s going to be the captain in in a season or two. Oh yeah. So like it’s just a lot of this I think is him kind of may maybe intentionally maybe kind of as a byproduct but sort of preparing for that role as well as well. Yeah, I see that for sure. So we’ll keep monitoring his uh his stats throughout the season here. So I see if he can keep going. All right. Uh we’ve talked about a lot of the players is probably going to fall into it, but do you have any other uh takeaways for this first 13 games of the Sharks season? I mean, a lot of those that you could probably say, but anything else you want to say uh for these bunch of I mean, it’s not we’re not at a round number. It’s like we’re going at 10 or 15. It’s only been it’s been 13. So, what other things have you seen from the Sharks uh so far this season? Um I a couple things. I think the the goalending is still something to be figured out where they you got the tandem of Alexandovich, Yoslav, Ascarov where they they’ve had they’ve had good games and bad games. Ascarov, I think, has had a couple of sort of sort of shaky games where you’re like, I don’t I don’t know. I mean, because the the Sharks want him to be the next guy. That’s why they they traded for him and why they’re why they’d like him to have such a big role at such a young age. And he had a couple of of shaky games in there, uh, but then played really well in a couple as well. So, it’s that’s still something that’s early in the season. You’ll figure that out uh as you go along. You know, hopefully he can, you know, turn in those consistently good performances. Um if if there becomes more shakiness in there, you know, maybe there’s maybe a few games in the AHL wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world just to give him that little bit of that confidence boost. Let him settle things back down a little bit. I don’t think that would be the the worst thing in the world, but that’s only if you know he he starts to falter a little bit. But if he can keep up the the consistency he had a few in a few of these recent games, that would be really good. And then he can obviously stay in the NHL no problem. Um I think I think Ryan Reeves has been a very pleasant surprise. You know, obviously he’s been he just got injured, so he’s missed the last couple games, but before then I think he was doing a lot of good things both on and off the ice to help out the team, helping make the fourth line a little bit more respectable. They were they were one of the worst fourth lines in the league last year and they still not great, but they’ve definitely been better this season. I think he’s been been a part of that and you know when he was when they acquired him that they traded Henry Thun to get him and I think there was a perception at the time of just oh they’re just sort of getting him so they can get something fixed. They needed to dump a defenseman anyways. They’re just kind of getting something back for him but he’s actually showing that yeah he’s not going to score 25 goals or anything but but he he he can actually pro provide a role and be a veteran on a on a young team that can that contribute at least a little bit which is which is important. Um and then one other thing I would say is um Philip Kurichev I think has been has been been a really nice addition as well. Um getting those second line minutes scoring a lot recently which been great to see. You know sometimes with with a player like him you know coming from from Chicago he you know sometimes players just sort of don’t fit in a certain situation and sometimes the question is you know is it the is it the player? Is it the is it the team? Is it you know is he stuck behind somebody or does is he playing in a system that’s just not sort of right for him. And I think at the moment at the moment it seems like he’s really finding something uh that works for him with the Sharks. So, uh if he can if he can keep that up, that’s a great sign for the rest of the season. 100%. He has five goals in 11 games, so he had seven all of last season. So, he’s already approaching that. His current high is 18. So, I mean, he has shown in the past that he can put the puck in the net. So, uh maybe he’s starting to uh rediscover that. And again, the plus minus, he’s plus five. So it’s I think the team uh yeah they’re getting some good contri contributions from some other guys than not just celebr Alex for coming on talking Sharks as always as we keep going through this season and see their development and I mean it’s positive right now so hopefully the positivity continues on our next video. Um but make sure to check out everything at the hockey.com. We’ve got great articles uh Sharks and all the other uh teams as well. Make sure you’re checking that out. Substack, make sure you’re subscribed to that if you haven’t already uh to keep up to date with everything and of course all the other videos we’ve got on the YouTube channel. But until our next video, we will see you next time.

In this edition of the San Jose Sharks News & Rumors rundown, Matthew Zator and Alex Hutton discuss Sam Dickinson staying in the NHL and whether Michael Misa will eventually join him, Macklin Celebrini’s hot start, the Sharks’ recent success against the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings, and more.

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