San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane disagreed with the three-game suspension he received Saturday for elbowing Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk.

In a statement he posted to Twitter, Kane wrote, "The fact the NHL Department of. Player Safety headed by George Parros continue to pick and choose, who and what they suspend is ridiculous!"

MY STATEMENT: pic.twitter.com/taoALpVmvn

— Evander Kane (@evanderkane) February 15, 2020

Kane was assessed an elbowing penalty when he hit Pionk with 6:43 left in the Sharks' 3-2 win. In explaining its decision, the NHL Department of Player Safety said Kane "[did] not keep his arm close to his chest to deliver a full-body hit but instead raises his arm up and away from his core and directly into Pionk's head."

Kane's comments toward the league were generally echoed on social media:

Kane brings the heat on Parros. Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t heard more of this from players this season. Lots of bubbling discontent. https://t.co/KX6P097Obc

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) February 15, 2020

Evander Kane saying what everyone is thinking about the department of player safety. The system is so broken.

— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) February 15, 2020

Big kudos to Evander Kane on this. Something that had to be said. George Parros running player safety is a joke. https://t.co/779JxIXNnn

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) February 15, 2020

In one recent example, The Hockey News' Jared Clinton criticized the Department of Player Safety for only handing a seven-game suspension to Edmonton Oilers winger Zack Kassian. Kassian kicked Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak in the Oilers' 3-1 loss to the Lightning on Thursday.

Clinton wrote he expected Kassian to be out for at least 10 games and that "there's no real sense of justice" in the wake of his seven-game ban.

Kane will be eligible to return for the Sharks on Feb. 22 against the New York Rangers.

Sportsnet Stats noted the 28-year-old will have missed nine combined games and lost $282,258.08 in salary over his career because of punishments doled out by the NHL.

The San Jose Sharks announced Saturday defenseman Erik Karlsson will miss the rest of the 2019-20 NHL season after suffering a broken left thumb in Friday's game against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Swedish rearguard is in the midst of his 11th NHL season—his second with the Sharks—and he was enjoying another productive campaign to the tune of a team-high 40 points (six goals and 34 assists) across 56 appearances.

San Jose acquired Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators in an offseason trade prior to the 2018-19 campaign that sent forwards Josh Norris, Chris Tierney and Rudolfs Balcers, defenseman Dylan DeMelo and three draft picks to Ottawa.

The Karlsson trade came after his numbers dipped a bit in his final season with the Sens. He finished with nine goals and 53 assists for 62 points in 2017-18, marking his lowest goal and point totals since 2012-13 when he appeared in just 17 games.

Karlsson was also a minus-25, which was the second-worst rating of his career.

Although injuries limited him to 53 regular-season games in 2018-19, he was productive when healthy with 45 points during the regular season and 16 points in 19 playoff games.

The All-Star blueliner is just three seasons removed from a campaign that saw him register 17 goals and 54 assists for 71 points, along with a plus-10 rating. He also added 18 points in 19 playoff games, with Ottawa falling just one win short of the Stanley Cup Final in 2016-17.

The previous season was arguably the best of his career; he posted personal bests with 66 assists and 82 points.

He is a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman, and the 29-year-old is undoubtedly among the top players at his position. However, his injury could spell doom for a club that has disappointed thus far with a 25-28-4 record that sees them 20 points back from a wild-card spot. 

San Jose will now lean more heavily on Brent Burns to pick up the slack offensively on the back end. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brenden Dillon will also be tasked with taking on a greater role during the Swede's absence.

The San Jose Sharks announced Thursday that All-Star forward Tomas Hertl will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 NHL season after he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Wednesday's game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Hertl suffered the knee injury during the first period and didn't return to the contest.

The 26-year-old Czech Republic native scored the opening goal of the Sharks' 5-2 loss to the Canucks but logged just 1:10 of ice time.

Hertl enjoyed a breakout 2018-19 season in San Jose with a career-high 74 points (35 goals and 39 assists) in 77 appearances. He parlayed that into a strong start to this campaign, finishing with 16 goals and 20 assists in 48 games.

The 2012 first-round pick was one of the standout players in last weekend's All-Star Game. He recorded five goals as the Pacific All-Stars defeated the Central and Atlantic All-Stars.

"I don't know what happened, because normally I don't score that many goals," Hertl told the NHL Network (via Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group). "I had an awesome time. It was such a great experience playing with all of these guys. I'm happy I can help the team with some goals."

His 36 points this season were tied with Logan Couture for second on the team behind only Erik Karlsson (37).

Hertl's absence reduces the chances San Jose can make a late playoff surge. The Sharks are nine points behind the two wild-card teams in the Western Conference with a 22-26-4 record (48 points).

Joe Thornton figures to resume his longtime role as the Sharks' top center. He may share the duties with Evander Kane and Timo Meier, however, since it's unclear whether the 40-year-old Canada native can still handle around 20 minutes per game for the season's entire second half.

Barclay Goodrow and Patrick Marleau are other options to see some first-line action.

In the midst of a disappointing start this season, the San Jose Sharks have fired head coach Pete DeBoer. 

TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported the move, adding DeBoer had one more year and approximately $3 million remaining on his contract. 

Per TSN's Darren Dreger, Sharks assistant Bob Boughner is expected to take over for DeBoer. 

Expectations were high for San Jose coming into this season coming off back-to-back 100-point campaigns in 2017-18 and 2018-19. 

Things haven't gone as planned for the Sharks to this point. They entered Wednesday in sixth place in the Pacific Division with 32 points and a 15-16-2 record. The franchise hasn't finished a season under .500 since 2002-03 and hasn't missed the playoffs since 2014-15. 

DeBoer took over the Sharks in May 2015 after the team parted ways with Todd McLellan. The 51-year-old led the franchise to its first-ever Stanley Cup appearance in his debut season. He will leave San Jose with a 198-129-34 record in 361 career games. 

Boughner spent two seasons as head coach of the Florida Panthers from 2017 to '19. He went 80-62-22 with 182 points but missed the playoffs both years. 

San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane allegedly owes the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas $500,000 in unpaid gambling markers first extended to him in April, according to Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

The casino filed a lawsuit against Kane on Monday and is also suing Kane for legal costs. 

Akers' Tuesday report provided additional context on the lawsuit: "The court documents state Kane, who is a Canadian citizen, took out eight credits of varying amounts between $20,000 and $100,000 on or about April 15. That date would have fallen between games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup playoff series between the Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights."

As a member of the Buffalo Sabres, Kane turned himself into police in July 2016 and was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing at Bottoms Up, a bar in Buffalo, New York, in June of that year. Kane was also charged with non-criminal harassment and disorderly conduct (h/t ESPN). 

Two women and a bouncer at the bar said Kane grabbed multiple women by the neck, hair and arms on June 24, 2016. Through his attorney, Kane denied the charges. In May 2017, Kane's case was dismissed after he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The 28-year-old arrived in San Jose through trade during the 2017-18 campaign and signed a seven-year contract with the Sharks in May 2018. Per Spotrac, the deal is worth $49 million.

Patrick Marleau is right back where it all started.

The San Jose Sharks announced they signed the forward Tuesday, and Chris Johnston of Sportsnet noted the deal was for a league-minimum $700,000 and one year.

HE'S BACK IN TEAL!

Welcome back, Patrick Marleau! pic.twitter.com/jyFczqWrJy

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 8, 2019

Marleau played the first 19 seasons of his career for the Sharks from 1997 to 2017 but was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs the past two years. He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes this offseason and subsequently bought out, and there was some thought he would return to San Jose.

This comes after TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported talks between Marleau and the Sharks, among others, were "heating up."

The three-time All-Star has been one of the most durable players in recent league history, playing at least 74 games in each of his 21 years except for lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. He also appeared in all 82 during his last nine seasons, excluding the lockout year.

Marleau scored as many as 86 points in a season during his prime and has 191 playoff games on his resume. While he is 40 and no longer a high-profile scorer, he can still provide veteran leadership to the Sharks. He helped lead the Maple Leafs to the playoffs last season with 16 goals and 21 assists.

"He should be playing somewhere," Sharks center Joe Thornton recently said of Marleau, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. "I expect he'll be somewhere soon. He skates with us in the summer, and he's still the best skater on the ice."

San Jose can use the offensive help.

It is off to an 0-3 start and scored just one goal in each of the three losses. Joe Pavelski, Joonas Donskoi and Gustav Nyquist all left in free agency, and Evander Kane missed the first three games because of a suspension.

San Jose faces the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane has received a three-game suspension for his actions against a referee during Sunday's preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The NHL announced Kane's punishment under Rule 40.4 (Physical Abuse of Officials) when he appeared to shove linesman Kiel Murchison in the third period. 

The incident began when Kane and Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland had a brief shoving match on the ice. Murchison attempted to intervene when Kane swung his stick and hit the linesman in the leg. 

A few moments later, Kane looked like he was going back to engage Engelland when Murchison grabbed him by the jersey and both fell to the ice. Murchison helped him up, but Kane extended his arm in an apparent shoving motion. 

Kane, who received a 10-minute misconduct and 10-minute penalty for abuse of officials, told reporters he was "kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by the referee." He also called his ejection "baffling."

Per TSN.ca, the Sharks can appeal Kane's suspension. 

As it stands, Kane will miss San Jose's first three games of the regular season and will be eligible to return Oct. 8 against the Nashville Predators. 

Erik Karlsson is reportedly staying in San Jose.

The Sharks announced on Monday that they had signed Karlsson to an eight-year contract extension.

"We are extremely pleased that Erik and his wife Melinda have committed to the San Jose Sharks and that they have done so prior to July 1," general manager Doug Wilson said in a press release. "Players with Erik's elite level of talent are rare and when they become available, it's important to be aggressive in pursuing them. He is a difference maker who consistently makes the players around him better. 

According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, the star defenseman reportedly will be paid "north of $11 million per season," adding the Sharks have made "a huge move in keeping the superstar D from hitting the market."

TSN's Bob McKenzie added more details on the potential payout:

I would expect Karlsson’s AAV to come in at around $11.5M. https://t.co/RLLv1DoOg7

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 17, 2019

#sjsharks now locked in at $26.5m for just three defencemen (Karlsson, Burns, Vlasic) over the next 6 seasons. On deadline day in February, only three teams (#pens, #canes and #sjsharks) were spending that on their entire defence corps. Sharks were tops at $30.5m.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 17, 2019

The Ottawa Senators—who traded Karlsson to the Sharks in September for Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Norris, Rudolfs Balcers and draft picks—will receive a 2021 second-round pick as a result of Karlsson's extension, per LeBrun.

Keeping Karlsson comes at a high cost and one that could leave the Sharks a bit top-heavy going forward:

Per TSN, the reported deal will make Karlsson among the highest-paid players in hockey:

"Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty is currently set to be the league's highest paid defenceman next season, when his eight-year, $88 million extension kicks in. Connor McDavid remains the NHL's highest-paid players, carrying a $12.5 million cap hit, followed by Auston Matthews who will make $11.634 million next season on his new deal."

Karlsson was limited during the regular season, as a groin injury kept him to just 53 appearances. He scored three goals and had 45 points overall in that span and continued to show his value in the postseason, notching 16 points in 19 games while averaging 24 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time.

Behind Karlsson, the Sharks reached the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in five games. 

Regardless of that result, the city of San Jose clearly got its hooks into Karlsson:

The return of Karlsson should keep the Sharks in contention for the foreseeable future. But it also calls into question whether players like Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton will be able to return for financial reasons. Monday is a good day for the Sharks and their fans, but there are still questions to be answered this offseason.

The San Jose Sharks have had some bounces go their way during their postseason run, but they're pushing back on the notion that they've been "lucky."

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told reporters Thursday:

"It irks me when you use words like that because this team has played four or five elimination games. Not moments—games. Twelve to 15 periods of elimination hockey against Vegas, against Colorado in Game 7, so I think it's a ridiculous statement.

"You know what? We've found a way. And we've faced a lot of adversity. We've had calls go against us and we've had calls go for us, and we're still standing. For anybody to minimize that, I think is disrespectful to our group and what we've done."

The Sharks hold a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference Final series against the St. Louis Blues after surviving a pair of seven-game thrillers against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. In Game 7 of the Golden Knights series, officials called a controversial five-minute major penalty against Vegas' Cody Eakin in the third period, and the Sharks scored four goals during the power play to rally from a 3-0 deficit. The NHL later deemed the major penalty was incorrect.

Officials also missed a Timo Meier hand pass that set up Erik Karlsson's game-winning goal in overtime of Game 3 against St. Louis.

Sharks forward Evander Kane dismissed the idea that his team has been lucky:

"I don't know if there's ever been a lucky team who's won. I think at the end of the day, it boils down to finding ways to win, and every team goes through adversity throughout the course of the playoffs. We've battled throughout these playoffs. There's been a lot of different types of scenarios that haven't gone our way that we've been able to push through and find a way to be successful."

It's unquestionable that the Sharks have gotten some breaks. Every team that wins a Stanley Cup does. San Jose's breaks have just been more blatant than others.

What some call "luck," others may call destiny. The Blues have home ice for Friday night's Game 4. Odds are the luck will return to the mean, but it may not happen before the Sharks hoist the Cup.

Logan Couture and Timo Meier each scored twice as the host San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final series Saturday.

Joe Pavelski and Kevin Labanc added goals for the Sharks, who lead the best-of-seven matchup 1-0.

Joel Edmundson, Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak scored for St. Louis.

Two themes characterized Game 1: the Meier-Couture-Gustav Nyquist line's performance and the Blues' costly turnovers.

In conjunction, those two factors led San Jose to victory, most notably when a tight 3-2 Sharks lead turned into a comfortable 5-2 edge in the second period.

A Blues giveaway thanks to a Couture poke-check led to Meier's first score at 10:24:

6:34PM #TimoTime #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/hGwfal8jFS

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 12, 2019

He added another after using Blues defenseman Vince Dunn to deflect the puck into the net at 17:34:

6:49PM #TimoTime #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/LzvqusYolm

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 12, 2019

Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic summed up the Blues defense's subpar performance:

Meier with another and it's a bank shot off Dunn's skate. Bad bounces happen, but Dunn looking way to casual there … and backing up the replay, Pietrangelo too casual not playing the puck in the neutral zone and then giving away the gap. Bad, bad day for the Blues defense …5-2.

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 12, 2019

Only four teams allowed fewer regular-season goals than the Blues, so the night isn't symbolic of their 2018-19 campaign.

However, any defense has little breathing room versus San Jose, which tied the Calgary Flames for the NHL's second-most regular-season goals.

The Sharks have kept the pressure up in the playoffs, most notably Couture.

The 30-year-old center isn't a stranger to postseason success, as Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports tweeted:

Logan Couture now has more playoff goals than Sidney Crosby in the last five years. Third most of anyone in NHL

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 12, 2019

He scored his NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason at 3:31 of the first period following a Blues turnover and a Meier pass:

What a start, what a finish. 👌 #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/4QkFjGYci6

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 12, 2019

Greg Wyshynski of ESPN praised the Couture-Meier-Nyquist line's postseason performance:

"Logan Couture, Timo Meier and Gustav Nyquist continue to dominate the postseason. The trio generated two goals at even strength through two periods in Game 1 of the Western Conference against St. Louis. They've now generated eight goals in the playoffs while surrendering just two at 5-on-5.

"Meier scored his second goal later in the game with Nyquist and center Barclay Goodrow on the ice. But the story hasn't just been their offense: Each of the three EV goals they've been involved in during Game 1 were scored off of turnovers. They entered the game getting 57.07 percent of shot attempts, and helped overpower the Nathan MacKinnon line in the previous round's win over Colorado."

To the Blues' credit, they hung tough despite the turnovers and the Sharks' offensive onslaught.

Edmundson answered Couture's goal with one of his own at 9:13 of the first period to tie the game at one:

This is Jaden Schwartz, picking up right where he left off. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/EGb4uNxDQ9

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2019

A Pavelski five-on-three power play score and a Labanc even-strength goal from the slot gave the Sharks a 3-1 edge, but O'Reilly closed the gap to 3-2 at 8:58 of the second after sneaking one past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones:

David Perron's rebound goes right to Ryan O'Reilly, who finds some space to one behind Martin Jones. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/oBpI7IOEUG

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2019

Even the two Meier goals didn't send the Blues packing, as Bozak went top shelf with 6:59 left:

Maroon - Bozak - Thomas gets the boys going again, just like they have all postseason. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/4qLa81Kx7a

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2019

The Blues ramped up the pressure down the stretch and earned a couple of quality chances, but they could not find the net again.

The Sharks did, however, after Couture found the empty net for his 11th postseason goal with 2:21 remaining to close the scoring.

         

What's Next?

San Jose will host St. Louis for Game 2 on Monday at 9 p.m. ET. NBC Sports will televise the contest.