SAN JOSE – Jack Thompson got an opportunity to return to the NHL at the end of last season when the San Jose Sharks finished the year with games against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
The experience could have been better. An already dismal Sharks season hit rock bottom with a 9-2 pasting at the hands of Connor McDavid and the Oilers and a 5-1 loss to the Flames. San Jose finished the year with an NHL-worst 19-54-9 record.
But Thompson used the long offseason to his advantage, and right now, he’s starting to make a case to be on the Sharks’ 23-man roster for the start of the regular season.
Thompson played in his second preseason game Tuesday and scored a power-play goal late in the second period in a 4-3 Sharks loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Thompson, on a defense pair with Jimmy Schuldt after playing the first few days of camp with Mario Ferraro, logged over 19 minutes in ice time for the second straight game.
“I liked Jack a lot tonight,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Tuesday. “He’s obviously a guy that can move pucks, and that’s going to be really important.
“To play in the offensive zone, to play really good hockey at this level, you have to break pucks out of your own end. And that’s something that we’re going to continue to work on and preach.”
The Sharks have to be thrilled to see Thompson, a 2020 third-round draft choice by the Tampa Bay Lightning, start to emerge.
The Sharks have practiced without Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Shakir Mukhamadullin through the first five days of training camp and the opening two preseason games. Vlasic (upper body) and Mukhamadullin (lower body) were both banged up before camp began.
The Sharks have been mostly mum about when Vlasic, Mukhamadullin, and other injured players like goalie Yaroslav Askarov might be able to return. Warsofsky has labeled that trio as day-to-day, while captain Logan Couture (osteitis pubis) will start the season on injured reserve.
The more practices and games Vlasic and Mukhamadullin miss, the less likely, it seems, that they’ll start the regular season on time. If that’s the case, the Sharks will need someone take at least one of those roster spots.
Thompson, the 22-year-old right-shot defenseman the Sharks acquired from the Lightning in March for forward Anthony Duclair, seems to be emerging as a top possibility.
In the summer, the 6-foot-1 Thompson put on six or seven pounds of muscle and cut back his body fat percentage — changes he feels have helped him with battles along the wall and in front of the net.
“I’ve felt it,” Thompson said recently. “It’s good to see that when you work hard all summer and come into camp, you see some improvement. There are still areas to improve, but I think it’s been a good start.”
Tuesday, Warsofsky said Thompson, compared to the end of last season, “looks more comfortable, looks a bit stronger, gaining confidence. You can see he’s had some success. I’ve liked his game.”
The Sharks’ leading six defensemen are Mario Ferraro, Matt Benning, Jake Walman, Jan Rutta, Cody Ceci, and Henry Thrun. If Vlasic and Mukhamadullin remain out, Thompson, Valtteri Pulli, Jimmy Schuldt, and Joey Keane, who was given a professional tryout about five days before the start of camp, are likely leading candidates to be the seventh defenseman.
“I got a call, and then I was at the airport literally two hours later,” said Keane, who has more professional experience than Thompson. “So it all came together pretty quick.”
Still, Thompson seems to have a leg up for an NHL job, although a lot can change in the next two weeks before teams finalize their 23-man rosters for the start of the regular season.
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Warsofsky said Sunday that Thompson needs to be aware of his positioning, “not getting caught sleeping at times, making sure he’s aware of certain situations when he doesn’t have the puck.
Still, “He’s been good in training camp. I think he’s gotten better every single day.”
MOVING DAY: Will Smith hasn’t moved in with famous landlord, San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau, just yet. But it’s coming.
“We’re still figuring that out,” Smith said Tuesday morning, adding that he and fellow Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini had been to the Marleau’s home “the past couple of days.”