With banged-up forward group, Sharks recall 2020 draft pick from AHL

The San Jose Sharks, dealing with injuries to at least two key players, recalled forward Thomas Bordeleau from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, on Saturday.

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Thursday that center Alexander Wennberg has been playing through a lower-body injury “for a while now.” Wennberg, the Sharks’ second-line center, has 35 points in 74 games this season and had over 22 minutes in ice time in San Jose’s 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

“I think he’s been one of our best players since the (4 Nations Face Off) break,” Warsofsky said of Wennberg.

The Sharks were without leading goal scorer Tyler Toffoli for their home game against the Calgary Flames last Monday. The winger was considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Toffoli returned to play Wednesday in Minnesota and Friday in Edmonton, both Sharks losses, as the team’s skid reached eight games.

Warsofsky said last Monday that Toffoli, who has 29 goals, has been dealing with the injury, “probably since right after the break.”

The Sharks had the day off Saturday, and it was unknown whether Wennberg or Toffoli would be available to play Sunday in Calgary against the Flames. Before recalling Bordeleau, San Jose had just 13 forwards on its roster. As of late last month, the Sharks had used up all four post-trade-deadline non-emergency recalls.

Bordeleau, a second-round draft pick by the Sharks in 2020, has 38 points in 59 games with the Barracuda this season. Bordeleau also has 18 points in 43 career NHL games, with his last game with the Sharks coming in the 2023-24 season finale on April 18, when the team was again in Calgary.

Bordeleau was sixth on the Barracuda in scoring this season. He missed the first five games of the year in October with an injury he sustained during training camp, and was also suspended for one game in February for cross-checking an opponent in the face.

The Barracuda clinched a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs on Friday night with a 4-1 win over the Ontario Reign. San Jose hosts Ontario again on Saturday and enters the game in fifth place in the AHL’s Pacific Division standings, one point behind fourth-place Coachella Valley. The teams that finish second through fourth in the division will each host a best-of-three first-round playoff series.

Bordeleau’s promotion created an opening in the Barracuda’s lineup for Saturday’s game, and winger Quentin Musty will make his pro debut with the team. Musty, selected 26th overall by the Sharks in 2024, joined the Barracuda early last week after his season with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves came to an end.

After Sunday, the Sharks have just two games remaining, as they play in Vancouver on Monday and host the Oilers on Wednesday at SAP Center.

The Sharks will finish in 32nd and last place in the NHL’s overall standings for the second straight year if they lose any of their last three games, or if the 31st-place Chicago Blackhawks pick up a point in their last three games, starting with their home game on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Sharks have 51 points, five less than the Blackhawks. But Chicago owns the first tie-breaker with 20 regulation-time wins. San Jose has 14.