Rating Lines and Pairs from 2021 Sharks Training Camp: Defense

Mario Ferraro at 2021 Sharks Training Camp. Coutesy of San Jose Sharks/SAP Sports

6 Pairs of Defensemen skated at the Sharks 1/10 Camp Scrimmage.

1. Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Erik Karlsson: There’s been much unaffiliated media speculation and concern about the productivity of this pair. All I can tell you is that Boughner, Vlasic, Karlsson and other Sharks have said things have been going well. Personally, I worry more about Karlsson staying healthy than Vlasic bouncing back to his defensive-shutdown form.
2. Mario Ferraro–Brent Burns: If you were watching Ferraro closely last year, and are a fan of The Youngest of Plugs, you knew this was bound to happen. And at least partly because of Radim Simek taking a step back due to lingering knee problems (he’s been rehabbing since a surgery from ten months ago), it has become a reality. In Ferarro, we have the Sharks best 2019–20 newcomer and a personality that projects some potential leadership qualities. In Burns: the Sharks biggest offensive secret-weapon, even if it’s not-so-secret around the league anymore. Such a pairing of old and new could be a huge step for reestablishing that importantly touted culture that saturated the Sharks locker room for years, but was seemingly lost with the departure of Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Ferarro was the first player to score in camp, and has been meshing well enough with Burns to at least not get broken up. Even if Simek gets back to 100%, I believe this pair just makes more sense overall, as Ferraro meets the challenge of showing that he can play big minutes against top talent.
3. Jacob Middleton–Nikolai Knyzhov: These two will be tested tonight, and highlighted to slate in as the possible third and fourth on D, as they topped Group 1’s defense opposite Vlasic-Karlsson and Ferarro-Burns in Group 2. Middleton, having now passed through a plague of injuries last year, is probably all but penciled-in on the third pair for opening night. At the beginning of camp, Boughner observed of Middleton that:

“he came here in good shape. He looks good. I think he’s one of the probably three or four of those guys vying for those [sixth and seventh defenseman] spots.” (via Kevin Kurz–The Athletic)

Since then, Middleton has been paired with Ryan Merkley, Brinson Pasichnuk, and now Knyzhov, proving to be the x-factor for the possible bottom pairing. Knyzhov has only recently emerged in the past few days of camp, with Boughner noting his “unbelievable feet” and size, with Knyzhov himself, commenting that he’s put on some extra muscle this offseason. Being the focus of the media tonight, it seems Knyzhov came to form with the right timing as all signs indicate he will indeed fill in as the sixth-man. Post-scrimmage update: Knyzhov scored a goal in tonight’s game.

Brinson Pasichnuk. Courtesy of Arizona State Athletics

4. Brinson Pasichnuk–Nicolas Meloche: Pasichnuk will probably be the closest call to cracking the top-6, but may very well stand in on the taxi squad or as the seventh D if Simek isn’t yet ready. At times during camp, Pasichnuk earned Boughner’s praise, but always paired with the suggestion that the young defensemen was “learning” a lot for the first time, indicating that Boughner might not yet trust him playing in many NHL games right away. Still, the future is bright for Pasichnuk, given his ability to learn, and leadership abilities that saw him captain his NCAA Arizona State University squad in his junior and senior year. Meloche, the former 40th Overall Draft Pick of the Avalanche in 2015, on the other hand, has a longer road to prove himself again into the good graces of an NHL coaching staff. Though he frequently played up with guys like Pasichnuk and Knyzhov throughout camp, we probably didn’t hear enough about him to be in arguably in the mix.

5. Jaycob Megna–Ryan Merkley: When Boughner talked about a new strategy for the power-play, and said of Burns and Karlsson that:

“…you need both those weapons on your first unit. They’re going to take a good chunk of time if they’re fresh….One can be at the top, one can be on the flank. You can flip-flop them…I envision that both those guys will be on the number-one unit…To be honest with you, both our units are probably going to be evenly strong. We feel comfortable saying we have two good units. That’s what we’re working towards,” (via Sheng Peng-SanJoseHockeyNow)

I assumed that the second unit would be a prime place for Merkley to slot into. Boughner even praised Merkley for being a “special player” when he plays on the man-advantage, but it ultimately seems that Boughner has decided guys like a Ferraro or Pasichnuk may be in a better position for that. Hence, Merkley started tonight with destined AHLer Megna. Still, most think the Sharks long-coveted prospect will find his way into the lineup sometime this season.

6. Trevor Carrick–Nick DeSimone: Though neither of this duo will start with the Sharks, both players played fairly well through camp, especially Carrick who had a goal during one of the scrimmages. DeSimone is a right-handed shot, so bypasses some in the pecking order of the D corps, but like Meloche, he’s another player that probably needed a longer look in camp anyway, but never got one.

Notes: Simek (recently dealing with an injury)did not play.