The fallout from the San Jose Sharks’ back-to-back losses is head coach Ryan Warsofsky adjusting his forward lines.

After Vincent Desharnais suffered an upper-body injury that landed him on injured reserve and Jeff Skinner returned, the Sharks can finally have some flexibility in their lineup. The Sharks had to stick to the same 12 forwards for an extended period. While Warsofsky did a good job managing, having the ability to change up personnel and combinations is always preferred.

Per SJHN, the Sharks have moved Collin Graf to the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.

“He’s played some good hockey, stacked some games together,” Warsofsky told SJHN. “We need someone to go in there and help win some pucks, so we can play with the puck in the offensive zone. If you look at the [Dallas] game, at the end of the day, we don’t win enough pucks in all areas. When we even have numbers in there to our favor, we don’t win pucks. So it’ll be a big key tomorrow.”

The Carolina Hurricanes showed the Sharks what a Stanley Cup-contending team is like, winning 5-1 on Oct. 14. Graf, who is arguably the Sharks’ best defensive forward, can provide the defensive safety 5-on-5 for Smith and Celebrini. The Sharks didn’t have Graf in the lineup for the first matchup, as he was a healthy scratch.

But since that game, Graf has been one of the San Jose Sharks’ most consistent forwards this season.

“Well, obviously, I don’t want to be scratched. I don’t think anyone ever wants to be scratched. It should piss you off a little bit,” Graf told SHD in October. “That’s sort of just the competitor in me. The competitor and everyone, right? You want to play. That’s your job. It’s your livelihood.”

Disrupting the Hurricanes’ forecheck to have a clean breakout will be critical to any Sharks’ potential victory. Graf’s reach, hockey IQ, and skating ability could make this new-look top line a sneaky two-way danger.

SJHN reports that Graf didn’t join his new linemates on the top power play unit, as the Sharks look to figure out a scoring method on the man advantage.

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