Sharks update: Better news on health front, Quinn talks Vlasic, lingering trust issues

Injured center Mikael Granlund could return as soon as Sunday when the San Jose Sharks play the Washington Capitals to finish their five-game road trip, coach David Quinn said.

Granlund, who has dealt with a lower-body injury and hasn’t played since the Sharks’ Oct. 12 season-opener, had what was described as a minor setback earlier this week as he was preparing to play the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

But Granlund has felt better of late due to what Quinn said was a “different approach to his treatments.”

“And they’ve worked very well,” Quinn said Friday before the Sharks played the Carolina Hurricanes.

If the Sharks do activate Granlund off injured reserve before Sunday’s game, they’ll have to make a corresponding move since they are already at the 23-man roster limit.

Still, the Sharks will take any type of encouraging news they can get right now, and Granlund’s return could help slot other forwards into more ideal positions.

Off to the slowest start in franchise history with just eight goals, no wins, and one point in seven games, the Sharks have played without center and captain Logan Couture since the start of the season, and winger Alexander Barabanov was sent back to San Jose on Thursday to have his broken finger examined by a specialist.

Barabanov, the Sharks’ fifth-leading scorer last season with 47 points, is considered week-to-week. Quinn said he didn’t have a health update on Couture.

LINEUP CHANGES: Roughly six hours before the game, Quinn said he had not finalized his lineup, but did add that center Ryan Carpenter will play against the Hurricanes. Carpenter, 32, was recalled on Thursday after Barabanov was placed on injured reserve.

Carpenter, a veteran of 330 NHL games, spent the first four-plus years of his professional career with the Sharks organization, and tonight’s game will be his first with the team since Dec. 10, 2017. Since then, he’s been in the organizations of the Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, and New York Rangers.

Asked what he thought of the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Carpenter during training camp, Quinn said, “I liked him. I liked his professionalism, his grit, his smarts. Gives us a little bit of size.”

Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a healthy scratch for the Sharks losses against Florida (3-1) and Tampa Bay (6-0). Asked what he wants to see from Vlasic, 36, should he dress for Friday’s game, Quinn said he wants him to be, “A little bit quicker, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger. Really, that’s it.”

Quinn did say they he’ll have Fabian Zetterlund on a line with Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair. The Sharks coach juggled his lines during Thursday’s game and said he liked what he saw from that trio.

TRUST ISSUES: Quinn talked Thursday about what appears to be a lack of trust between Sharks players right now in terms of everyone’s individual responsibilities. He reiterated those concerns before Friday’s game.

The Sharks have a league-worst goal differential of -21.

“All you can do is what you’re supposed to do, and if everybody on the ice has that mentality, then all of a sudden people start trusting each other more,” Quinn said. “But unfortunately, what has crept in with us is guys are hesitant to do what they’re supposed to do because they’re not sure someone else is going to do what they should be doing.

“When you get to that situation, things become dangerous and you get a game like we had last night. That’s what we’ve got to get away from. We’ve got to get back to playing with a certain attitude and playing with conviction and doing what we’re supposed to do through all three zones.”

The Sharks have a league-worst goal-differential of -21 right now. The seven defensemen presently on the Sharks’ roster have combined for three assists.

“We’ve been spending way too much time in our D-zone, so I think (the defensemen) are too gassed to jump into the play offensively,” Quinn said. “I know that we’ve been challenged offensively but you’ve got to defend better. We’re defending way too much and when we do get out of his own, there’s not a lot of cleanliness to it, because it’s out of desperation instead of possession.

“We’ve got to defend better and be crisper on our breakouts, which will allow us to transition to the neutral zone and generate more offense.”