The Sharks make HUGE changes...

Wednesday morning, the Sharks changed their lineup in three different ways. A 21-year-old defenseman got sent down and a former first-round pick who's been waiting for this call since 2022 got the call up and there is still one move that people have been begging for but it wasn't made yesterday. Tonight against Vancouver, Philip Bystrom gets to play his first NHL game which is very exciting and I love the line that they put him on but there is still one thing that they left alone that I don't like. The Sharks have scored 37 goals in 13 games and got shut out two times this season, so they're looking for something and what they chose tells you a lot about what they believe. I'll show you what changed, why it changed, and one change that we hoped Ryan Warsofsky would make, but he didn't. Start with Bystrom. He was drafted 27th overall back in 2022 and he's been waiting for this call for a very long time and he's going to get his NHL debut tonight. He's one of only two players in that draft class drafted in the first round that haven't made their debut yet and we get to see him tonight. Last season in the AHL, he scored 22 goals and 60 points in 65 games, and the Barracuda named him team MVP. This year, he has 4 goals and 8 points in 8 games. Over 4 AHL seasons, he has 42 goals and 106 points in 131 games. That is nearly a point a game from a kid who had to wait his turn behind a deep group of forwards. And listen to what he said when the call came. Quote, It means everything. It's my dream. His family is currently flying from Sweden to the game tonight, so they'll be there before puck drop, and that's very exciting for him and his family. Now here's why this happened this week. Alexander Wennberg and Igor Shein Zubov both went on injured reserve on Wednesday. Since Wennberg went down, the Sharks are 2-2, winning 47% of their face-offs and facing 38 shots a night, according to Jason Demers. So the Sharks needed a center and instead of trading for one they broke the glass on one they had in their system. That's the call up but somebody did have to lose their spot for him to come up and that's the part that stings. Quick one if you want a breakdown on this Sharks lineup every day we're home for it so go down below hit that subscribe button. Luca Cagnoni is 21 and coming into this season he was supposed to be the guy to run this power play. He played nine games and had one goal and one assist both on the opening night and he averaged 17 minutes 30 seconds a game. So they sent him to the Barracuda. Here is what head coach Ryan Warsofsky had to say on why. Quote just to get back to playing with the puck and having some swagger with it and some confidence. End quote. He called it quote just a little speed bump in his development. And Barracuda coach John McCarthy took the same view. Quote it's important to recognize that he's 21 years old and he's done really well for us and just view this as a part Part of his process. Two coaches, one message. This isn't a punishment, and honestly, I buy it. He's already back on the Barracuda's top power play unit with Huntington, Leeson, Barbault, and Lund. Taking his roster spot is Libor Hajek, who is 28. He played 110 NHL games with the Rangers from 2018 to 2023, then spent the last three seasons in Czechia. But look at the lines. Hajek is an extra defenseman behind Dickinson, Truba, Nurse and Allen, Orloff and Kesselring. So Canzoni's spot didn't even go to somebody playing tonight. So this is just telling us that it's basically Canzoni getting more minutes to start playing better and start looking like the Canzoni we all know and love. And I think this will be great for him. And I don't think it's a punishment because it's not in the case of bringing somebody up that's better than him. So, you know, I'm happy with this. This is a confidence fix, not a lineup fix, and I'm fine with that. The one that matters is up front. We got Sherwood, Bystad, and Toffoli tonight, and I absolutely love it. Tyler Toffoli has four goals and five assists in 13 games. That's nine points, and he does it in 12 minutes and 56 seconds a night. He has shot 28 shots on goal in those 13 games, only celebrating with 44. Will Smith with 35. Have more on this team. That's two shots a game on just shy of 13 minutes a night. Imagine what he's going to do with a center who can get him the puck. And on the other side, Kiefer Sherwood has two goals and four assists and 24 shots in 13 games and has been my favorite player this season. Now put a 6'4 center who scored 22 goals in the AHL last season between these two guys. They are going to dominate. This is a center who can go in and win the puck and get it out front for these shooters and they can score goals. And Byström can shoot it well as well. He has a great shot. So hopefully we can see him get his first point tonight. And he gets third line minutes. You don't push him immediately to the top line, which I think is great because you ease this guy into the NHL, put him between two veterans, and I think this is going to be great for the future of Filip Byström, and I think this is a guy that could really shock a lot of people tonight. To make room, Zach Ostapchuk sits and Ty Langer plays fourth line center. And that does leave a hole. Max Miller reports Ostapchuk was a penalty killer and Worsawski said other guys can step up, naming Stenberg and Celebrini as options. So Celebrini might be killing penalties tonight and keep that in mind because this might make this next part even worse. And one more thing on Celebrini, he averages 22 minutes and 54 seconds a night, the most of any Sharks forward, and now he might be killing penalties too. Now I'm not saying Bysted saves our seasons or anything, but let's be honest about what he is. The Hockey News wrote that he needs to improve his two-way play, especially as a center to be a full-time NHL player. And last fall, he was sent to the Barracuda camp after not standing out. Warsofsky said a lot of it came down to pace. So the pace is a thing to keep watching tonight. As a 6'4 center, he is playing with a couple of slower players in Sherwood and Toffoli, so I don't think that's going to be a problem. The thing we really need to watch is winning the face-offs, because if he can win 47% of his draws tonight, I'd be happy with that. And the clock is real. Our injury feed has Wemberg tracking back around November the 9th, and Hvistad around November the 14th. And that's not a knock on him. Most first round picks need to be eased into the NHL. And I think giving him two veterans on his line is really going to be great for him. And it's kind of like a soft landing for him into the NHL. And hopefully they can steer him into the right direction tonight and get a point on the board. So this could be a two week addition with these players out for a couple more weeks. And if he plays well tonight, Warsofsky is going to have some interesting decisions to make. Here's what I'm watching tonight, his first shift, his first faceoff, and whether he can get Toffoli the puck in the slot with enough time to shoot, or whether he can put himself into prime positions to get his goal scoring as well. And before we think a rookie center fixes this team, let's talk about what's broken. The Sharks allow 9.1 high danger shots a game, 31st of the 32 teams. Their goalies stop 85.6% of those, while the league average is 80.6%. So the goalies are bailing them out. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 38 of 39 against Buffalo, a 9.74 save percentage, and he starts again tonight. He has an .898 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average in eight games this season. A goalie can stop 38 shots every night. After the Buffalo game, Jacob Trouba explained the problem, quote, I don't think you want to get too spaced out. Maybe every once in a while, you'll catch one of those, but you wouldn't say it's a high percentage way to sustain offense. And that's the whole idea. When you're playing five on five and you try to go for those home run stretch passes, they're going to get picked off and the other team's going to come down all the way in your zone, but sometimes even on, you know, a two on one or a three on two. So we can't give them those opportunities tonight. And a line that holds the puck and makes plays and makes great passes is the opposite of that. And which is why the next thing that we're going to talk about is something I can't get past. Look at the lines for tonight. Stenberg, Celebrini, Graf, Marchment, Misa, and Smith. Celebrini and Will Smith are still split up. Worosowski's reason for splitting them up was balance. They tried it once, lost 2-0 to Buffalo. San Jose got 23 shots and Buffalo got 40. Before that, Celebrini and Smith played together for 12 games. The Sharks scored 37 goals, 3.1 a game. And here's the proof the pair works. The Sharks' power play was sixth in the league at 26.8% through 12 games, and Celebrini and Smith run the top unit together. Smith has 35 shots on goal in 13 games. Michael Misa, the center next to him now, has only 13. And Misa has two goals and four assists in 13 games. That is the line the best shooter on his team is on. Meanwhile, Levi Stenberg on Celebrini's wing got 20 minutes against Buffalo and didn't take a single shot. San Jose hockey now put it this way, Stenberg has been terrific on the power play, but he's still a significant work in progress at 5-on-5. That's a 19-year-old getting asked to drive a line. Celebrini said it himself, quote, I think it's nothing really to read into too much. He's being a good teammate. I'm not. The reason for Worosowski splitting him up was balance. Now having to Foley and Bystead on the third line, I believe it is balance, and I still don't understand why they're split up because they need to be back together. It didn't work last game. Let's start to get it back going tonight. Hopefully we do see that when puck drop happens. So reunite them or keep them split up. That's the whole video. So here's my verdict. Great call on Bystead, and a great move to get Cagnoni a little bit more confidence down with the Barracuda now, but they still left Celebrini and Smith split up, and I can't get past that. So Worosowski found the balance here in the lineup. He brought up a kid that has a lot of fire, has been waiting for this chance for years, and he's going to come into tonight with his family in the building all fired up. The one thing that has been working this year is having Will Mack together, and he still didn't put him back together for tonight's game. I'm saying you just need to put Will Mack back together on that top line and let the third line balance out the offense. Tell me in the comments, what do you think? Should we reunite them or split them back up? Let me know. But this has been another episode of Sharks Digest. If you enjoyed, go down below, hit that subscribe button. It's completely free to do so. And as always, I'm your host, Casey. Keep your stick on the ice.