The San Jose Sharks will be making a few changes to their defense against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
Vincent Iorio and John Klingberg will enter the lineup for Shakir Mukhamadullin and Vincent Desharnais.
Iorio, who returned from a conditioning loan with the San Jose Barracuda on Nov. 24, will play his first game for the Sharks in over a month. He last suited up in the NHL on Oct. 26 against the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks won that game 6-5, and Michael Misa scored his first NHL goal.
“Just move pucks. Be hard around our net. Defend with some purpose and urgency, play towards his strengths,” San Jose Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He’s a big guy, can skate, can move pucks, something that we’re still trying to get better at. He’s done a good job when he’s in there.”
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Iorio will pair with Sam Dickinson, giving the Sharks a very young line against the Canucks. Warsofsky feels that Friday’s game could be a good launching point for the pair’s confidence.
The Sharks claimed Iorio from the Washington Capitals for a reason. Iorio is right-handed, which, as Warsofsky says, is like finding a unicorn.
“He fits the mold of how we want to build the back end. Big, long, can move pucks,” Warsofsky says. “We’ve seen it around the league where guys go to second organizations. Takes a few years to figure it out, but become a really good defenseman in this league.”
Warsofsky also explained that, given the league’s current development trajectory, finding internal talent to develop has become even more critical. Players like Zack Ostapchuk are perfect examples of internal competition pushing NHL players from the AHL.
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“We’re trying to develop some of these guys. You have to. Where we’re at, not speaking for Mike [Grier], and the way the league is developing here, as far as the [salary] caps going up, and no one’s really going to the market,” Warsofsky said.
“You have to develop internally, and we have to continue to work with [Mukhamadullin], [Dickinson], and [Iorio]. See if we get some guys that can develop and guys that we think are long-term fits.”
As for Klingberg, Warsofsky would not say whether the veteran d-man is returning to the Sharks’ top power-play unit. He should be paired with Mario Ferraro as they skated in practice together on Thursday.
The penalty kill will need to be sharp with Desharnais out of the lineup. Warsofsky said the Sharks still feel there is more that can be added to the former Canucks’ defenseman’s game.
“He’s done a good job on our penalty kill. He’s a real reason why we’ve had success on it, but you obviously have nine defensemen,” Warsofsky said. “We want to keep guys playing here a little bit. There’s still an area of development for some of these young players.
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There’s a little bit more to [Desharnais] game [that] we can continue to peel and pick at and get better at. That’s what we’re doing with back-to-back games. A lot of hockey coming up.”
Yaroslav Askarov will start in goal for the Sharks. Askarov is coming off a game in which he gave up four goals and was pulled in the second period against the Colorado Avalanche.
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