Red Wings Look for a Road Win Tonight against San Jose

The Detroit Red Wings travel to San Jose to play their third road game in four nights.  Detroit won the first meeting 6-2 on January 4th in Detroit.  Since then, the Sharks are 2-0-0 with victories over Buffalo and Philadelphia.

Game time is 10:30 PM ET at SAP Center in San Jose, CA.

Red Wings Notes

• Today, Steve Yzerman held a press conference at 1:00 PM ET to announce the hirng of Nicklas Lidstrom as Vice President of Hockey Operations
• Today, Lucas Raymond was selected to represent the Red Wings and play for the Atlantic Division in the All-Star Game.
• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 16-16-4 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 14.0%, PK 77.7%
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 16 goals and 32 points in 32 games
• Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider lead the Red Wings with 20 assists each
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 23 points in 36 games
• Tyler Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +12 rating
• Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has an 10-9-3 record, 2.86 GAA, and .915 SV% in 24 games
• Forwards Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to play while Dylan Larkin is out tonight

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Robby Fabbri – Lucas Raymond

Filip Zadina – Pius Suter – Givani Smith

Vladislav Namestnikov – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Riley Barber – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Jordan Oesterle – Moritz Seider

Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alax Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Not in lineup

Dylan Larkin (upper body), Carter Rowney (healthy), Danny DeKeyser (healthy)

Sharks Notes

Kane clears waivers after being terminated by  San Jose

After a wild ride since the end of last season, the San Jose Sharks officially parted ways with forward Evander Kane.  Kane had a terrific season with the Sharks in the abbreviated season last year.  Kane led the Sharks with 22 goals, 27 assists, and 49 points in 56 games.

The off-season was a mixed bag of personal problems and then the fake COVID passport sealed his fate with the Sharks.  At first, Kane was suspended without pay.  Then Kane was banished to the AHL where he scored two goals and eight points in five games.

Here is the press release from the Sharks:

“SAN JOSE, CA – The San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) have informed Evander Kane that he has been placed on unconditional waivers with intent to terminate his contract for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols.”

On Sunday, Kane cleared waivers and is free to sign with any team.  The price tag to sign Kane was steep.  He had an annual cap hit of $7M and no team in the NHL wanted to carry that salary and the baggage Kane carries.

According to Elliotte Friedman from Sportsnet, Kane and the NHLPA will file a grievance calling for wrongful termination in the hopes that an agreement on salary can be reached.  Stay tuned, the wild ride with Kane continues!!!

• San Jose are currently 5th in the Pacific Division with a 19-16-1 record
• The Sharks special teams are currently ranked 12th in the NHL, PP 17.2%, PK 83.3%
• Timo Meier leads San Jose with 24 assists, and 38 points in 31 games
• Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks with 20 goals in 36 games
• Meier also leads San Jose with a +14 rating
• Goaltender Adin Hill is expected to start and has an 8-9-0 record, 2.85 GAA, and .904 SV% in 19 games
• Defenseman Erik Karlsson is a game time decision for San Jose
• Today, Erik Karlsson was selected to represent San Jose and play for the Pacific Division in the All-Star Game

San Jose Projected Lineup

Forwards

Alexander Barabanov – Tomas Hertl – Timo Meier

Jonathan Dahlen – Logan Couture – Noah Gregor

Andrew Cogliano – Jasper Weatherby – Mathew Nieto

Jeffrey Viel – Lane Pederson –  Nick Merkley

Defensemen

Mario Ferraro – Brent Burns

Jaycob Megna – Erik Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Ryan Merkley

Goaltenders

Adin Hill (starting)

Zach Sawchenko

Not in lineup

James Reimer (lower body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Nick Bonino (COVID-19), Jacob Middleton (upper body), Scott Reedy (healthy),  Adam Raska, (healthy), Radim Simek (lower body), Nicolas Meloche (healthy)