San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn had no plans to hold certain players believed to be on the trading block out of the lineup Tuesday when his team hosts the Dallas Stars, an indication, it seems, that no deals were imminent.
“We’re not there yet,” Quinn said of holding players out.
Anthony Duclair, Alexander Barabanov, Mike Hoffman, Kevin Labanc, and Kaapo Kahkonen, all pending unrestricted free agents, could all be on the move before the NHL trade deadline Friday at noon (PST).
Kahkonen will start in net Tuesday and forwards Duclair and Hoffman will both be in the lineup against the Stars. Indications were that winger Barabanov would return from injury after a two-game absence and that Labanc would be a healthy scratch.
The Sharks will no doubt be sellers with general manager Mike Grier saying in January that he didn’t want his numerous pending UFA’s to walk away from the team for nothing.
Quinn said as the coach of the New York Rangers in 2019, the organization held Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes out of the lineup shortly before they were traded.
“It was close. It was two days before the deadline,” Quinn said of that time five years ago. “But it’s not the deadline, it’s how close are you to making a deal that dictates whether you somebody out or not.”
Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was held out of Anaheim’s lineup against the Sharks last Thursday at SAP Center shortly before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Monday. center Alex Wennberg, another pending UFA, was held out of the Seattle Kraken’s lineup when they played the Calgary Flames.
Quinn said he likes that kind of transparency.
“That’s all anybody wants,” Quinn said. “I think everybody wants to know where they stand. I don’t think people want gray area. I think uncertainty is probably the worst feeling you have, so I think it’s the right way to do it.”
Two moveable assets, Duclair and Kahkonen, would appear to be pending UFAs who could bring the biggest return to the Sharks.
Going into Tuesday, Duclair had just 23 points, including 14 goals, in 55 games for the Sharks this season. But he was a key cog in Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup Final last year and with a 31-goal season for the Panthers two years ago, has shown he can be a dangerous player in the right environment.
Kahkonen has struggled recently and was carrying a .897 save percentage into Tuesday. After games last week against New Jersey and Anaheim in which he stopped just 48 of 60 shots, Kahkonen bounced back to some degree Sunday in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
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Against his former team, Kahkoen stopped 28 of 32 shots, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring two goals in the third period to complete his third hat trick of the season.
NOTABLE: Center William Eklund appeared to be on track to play Tuesday after he missed Sunday’s game with an illness. Eklund skated Tuesday morning and appeared to be feeling much better.