What are the San Jose Sharks’ biggest training camp battles?
The Sharks open camp on Thursday, hoping to snap their streak of six-straight seasons out of the playoffs.
That quest will start in camp, and with these five key battles.
In favor of top prospects Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson, who will get pushed off the roster? Will any other rookies challenge for an opening night job? And will Yaroslav Askarov emerge as No. 1 between the pipes?
Who Gets Pushed Out?
On the surface, there are 22 obvious roster spots, of 23, that are already filled by San Jose Sharks players with significant NHL experience.
There are 13 forwards, Macklin Celebrini, Ty Dellandrea, William Eklund, Adam Gaudette, Barclay Goodrow, Collin Graf, Carl Grundstrom, Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Reaves, Jeff Skinner, Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli, and Alex Wennberg.
There are seven defensemen, Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, Timothy Liljegren, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Dmitry Orlov.
There are two goalies, Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic.
Notably, this group doesn’t include forward Misa and defenseman Dickinson.
Misa and Dickinson are expected to break camp with the San Jose Sharks, which, barring injury or another move, will force out one of the above 22.