Okay, here’s the lowdown: Seems like the San Jose Sharks’ bench boss David Quinn decided to throw us all a curveball by benching Mikael Granlund for the upcoming three-game streak. Word on the street—courtesy of team sleuth Sheng Peng—is that Granlund might end up cooling his heels on injured reserve, with his buddy Ty Emberson who’s nursing what they call an “upper-body boo-boo” on a week-to-week basis.
Now, Granlund’s been the kind of guy who lights up even in dismal times, amassing 29 points in 38 face-offs. That’s the kind of magic that lands you on the team’s silver-medal podium for racking up points. Picture this: the dude is clocking in over 20 minutes of grind time every clash, and guess what? He’s knocking on the door of a 63-point season, which would be, like, his best score since the ’21-’22 season—talk about a comeback, am I right?
Let’s not forget about newcomer Emberson, who’s not just warming the bench—he’s actually seen the ice in 21 of their 45 showdowns, hustling for nearly 19 minutes per game. And for a freshman in the NHL big leagues, snagging seven points isn’t too shabby. Not to mention he’s part of the Sharks’ rookie rat pack, which includes Nikita Okhotyuk, Henry Thrun, and Danil Gushchin.
But wait, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon for the Sharks—their fearless leader, Logan Couture, is finally hitting the ice after missing out on a solid 45 games thanks to his lower-body mishap. This guy’s been repping the Sharks for 14 seasons, which translates to 927 games—only a handful of folks have that kind of loyalty. Having donned the captain’s “C” since the 2019-20 season (grabbed it from Joe Pavelski when he skipped town to the Dallas Stars), having him back is like getting the cherry on top of your sundae, you know?