Kane has been skating at Sharks Ice away from team
SAN JOSE >> Evander Kane, eligible to play NHL games again in just over a week, has skated at Sharks Ice away from the team, a source confirmed to this news organization.
Kane has served 17 games of the 21-game suspension he was handed by the NHL on Oct. 18 for violating the NHL and NHLPA’S COVID-19 Protocol by submitting a fake vaccine card. He is eligible to play again on Nov. 30 when the Sharks play on the road against the New Jersey Devils.
The Athletic first reported Sunday that Kane had skated at Sharks Ice on Saturday. Hours before their game with the Washington Capitals, the Sharks, as has been their routine this season, held a morning skate Satuday at SAP Center.
Right now it is unclear how Sharks general manager Doug Wilson plans to handle Kane’s potential return to the organization.
Asked Saturday night after the Sharks’ 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals if he could share anything regarding Kane’s status with the team, coach Bob Boughner said he didn’t have any further information.
“And that’s completely honest,” said Boughner, who said late last month that he did not know where Kane was at that time. “I don’t have any information. You know, there are decisions that need to be made.”
Kane led the Sharks with 49 points in 56 games last season and the team could use his production to fill a glaring need for another bonafide goal-scoring winger in their top-six forward group.
With Saturday’s shutout, the Sharks have scored just eight goals in their last five games. The Sharks host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight.
Kane was not around the team at any point during training camp earlier this fall as the NHL opened two new investigations into the 30-year-old forward’s past behavior.
One centered around a COVID-19 protocol violation, and the other involved accusations of physical and sexual abuse raised by his estranged wife in a court filing in September.
The NHL said it could not substantiate the domestic abuse allegations but did find that Kane breached the league’s COVID protocol, slapping him with a quarter-season suspension that cost him roughly $1.68 million of his $7 million salary for this season.
Kane is still owed over $20 million over the final three-plus years of his contract, which is set to expire after the 2024-25 season. SHARKS SHUFFLE LINES WITHOUT DAHLEN >> The Sharks are already having a tough time scoring goals and now they’ll have to face the NHL’S stingiest team without one of their top offensive players.
Rookie forward Jonathan Dahlen, injured in Saturday’s game with the Washington Capitals, will not play today when the Sharks continue their homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Boughner considers Dahlen day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is hopeful he can play again later this week. The Sharks host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday to close out a four-game homestand.
In the meantime, the Sharks have to figure out a way to put pucks in the net against a Hurricanes team that is off to a 14-2-0 start with an Nhl-best .875 points percentage. Carolina is allowing just 2.00 goals per game — best in the league — which includes just 21 goals against at even strength.
The Sharks have scored just eight goals in their last five games after they were shut out 4-0 by the Capitals at SAP Center on Saturday. Dahlen is tied for the Sharks’ lead with seven goals and has nine points this season, fifth-most on the team.
The Sharks created enough chances to score against the Capitals but just couldn’t bury their opportunities. Notably, Logan Couture and Nick Bonino had tap-in chances and Tomas Hertl and Noah Gregor both had shots go off the cross-bar. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks generaled 10 high-danger chances at even strength and allowed just five.
“So that’s a good thing. We played a real good defensive game,” Boughner said Sunday, adding that the Capitals “don’t need as many chances as us right now. (Our) margin for error is a lot smaller.”
The Sharks tweaked their forward lines for Sunday’s practice without Dahlen.
Rudolfs Balcers took Dahlen’s place on the Sharks’ top line with captain Couture and Timo Meier. The Sharks also had Gregor back on the second line with center Tomas Hertl and fellow winger Alexander Barabanov.
Balcers has seven points in 17 games this season but has been struggling offensively of late with just two assists in his last six games.
“(Couture) plays against top lines, so whoever you put up in that situation, you want it to be a guy that can play 200 feet,” Boughner said of inserting Balcers on the top line. “(Dahlen) an offensive guy, but he played the right way in his own end and (Balcers) is a lot like that.
“I think he’s got to find his offense a little more, but I think he can help us in that situation and, let’s be honest, there’s not a lot of other choices when it comes to who goes up there.”
Kevin Labanc, after he served his one-game suspension Saturday for slewfooting Tyler Bozak of the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, skated with new thirdline center Jasper Weatherby and winger Matt Nieto.
Nick Bonino, who remains without a point in 17 games this season, centered the fourth line. Andrew Cogliano, Jonah Gadjovich, and Jeffrey Viel were the fourth-line wingers.
Viel, who had finger surgery early last month, is expected to be a scratch for today’s game as the Sharks want to get him some more action with the Barracuda before he plays again for the Sharks, who could call up another forward from the AHL for today’s game.
Dahlen was injured in the first period of Saturday’s game.
Dahlen was trying to control the puck behind the Capitals’ net when he was bumped by Washington defenseman John Carlson. Just a second later, Dahlen clutched his left shoulder and then grabbed onto the back of the Washington net with his right hand for support.
With the play having moved up the ice, Dahlen then headed straight to the Sharks’ bench and retreated to the team’s dressing room. Play was blown dead with 6:39 left in the period.
Dahlen came back to start the second period and skated for two shifts before he went back into the Sharks’ dressing room and did not play again.
The Sharks held a brief practice Sunday but spent some time going over the video of Saturday’s loss.
“Today was about talking about a few things that we didn’t stick to early in the game, and our details, but also some of the good things and what we need to improve on and not feeling sorry for ourselves,” Boughner said. “Just being positive because we can’t change what happened last night. We just got to worry about Carolina, another great team coming in.”