It would have been nice from Duclair’s perspective, though, had players had also been able to wear special night-themed warmup jerseys – an exercise he wants to see return after the league banned the practice last offseason.

“Obviously like a night like tonight or any night that we celebrate should be celebrated properly,” Duclair said. “I think having those specialty jerseys — for whatever event it is — I think it’s awesome. The boys embrace it, and it sucks that we can’t wear it.”

A small number of NHL players, including former Sharks goalie James Reimer, chose for various reasons not to wear special Pride-themed warmup jerseys last season on the nights their teams held Pride celebrations.

Reimer said the jerseys went against his religious convictions, and some Russian-born players believed they might experience repercussions back home if they showed support for the LGBTQ+ community.

The NHL, feeling those few instances had become an unwelcome distraction, decided last offseason that teams will not be allowed to wear any themed pregame jerseys, including on Hockey Fights Cancer and Military Appreciation nights.

In October, the NHL sent a memo to all teams clarifying what they could and could not do as part of their respective in-arena theme celebrations. That included a ban on the use of specialty stick tape, such as rainbow-colored tape for Pride nights, an edict that was later rescinded.

Still, wearing theme-night jerseys for pregame warmups remains outlawed, and Duclair would like the NHL Players’ Association to have discussions with league officials about ways to change the rule.

“That’s definitely a topic that they need to bring up, for sure,” Duclair said, adding later, “I would say the biggest changes will happen during the summertime and it should be and definitely will be a topic of conversation this summer. Hopefully, that can change for next year.”

The Sharks, as part of their Black History Month celebrations, wore special pregame jerseys for at least the last three years.

Last season, the jerseys’ shoulder patches showcased the NHL’s official Celebration of Black History Month logo, as the nameplates and numbers were designed by San Jose artist Dion Rollerson. The jerseys were later auctioned off, with net proceeds benefiting the African American Community Service Agency.

This Thursday, as part of our Celebration of Black History p/b @Zoom, every fan in attendance will receive a poster featuring Givani Smith, Anthony Duclair and Justin Bailey that they helped design!

: https://t.co/SkmDsIo5wt pic.twitter.com/RqmIXsxsfB

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 26, 2024

Duclair said other NHL players would also like to see themed-night jerseys make a return. Last summer, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid said the NHL’s ban was “disappointing to see.”

“I’m not the only one,” Duclair said. “Even like breast cancer awareness and indigenous nights, we‘ve got so many cultures in this league and so many guys that support different initiatives. Everything’s a little personal to them, just like for myself, Givani (Smith), and Justin (Bailey), this is a personal night for us.

“We want to represent and at the same time, we want to support other guys that support other initiatives. We want to come together and be one and a night like tonight where we can wear the jerseys would be beneficial for that.”

Thursday, the Sharks are giving away posters featuring the Sharks’ three Black players – Duclair and fellow forwards Bailey and Smith, and their autographs – with a handful of background images, including ones of trailblazers Willie O’Ree and Grier.

O’Ree became the league’s first Black player in 1958, and Grier, who played 1,060 games over a 14-year NHL career, became the league’s first Black GM when he was hired by the Sharks in 2022.

Duclair hopes Grier’s leadership of a hockey operations department can help open the doors for other groups.

“It’s good to have representation in that position for minorities, not just Black people,” Duclair said. “This doesn’t necessarily have to be through hockey. It can be in management, it could be social media or journalists. It could be connected to sports and other ways, and I think that’s definitely going to shed light on visibility in that sense, and definitely going to inspire young kids to hopefully be in that position one day.”

Blackwood was injured Tuesday night in the Sharks’ game against the New Jersey Devils, as left the ice late in the first period after he made a save. Blackwood did not return to the game as the Sharks were blasted 7-2 by the Devils at SAP Center.

Kaapo Kahkonen will start Thursday when the Sharks host the Anaheim Ducks to finish what’s so far been a winless five-game homestand in which they’ve been outscored 19-7.

Sharks coach David Quinn told reporters Wednesday he didn’t expect Blackwood to be out long-term, adding that it is not related to any of Blackwood’s past injuries such as with his groin or knee.

“This was just a fluky hockey play,” Quinn said.

Still, the 27-year-old goalie will have to miss the next four games, at least. After Thursday, the Sharks (15-37-5) travel to face Dallas and Minnesota Wild on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and host Dallas on March 5, as players on IR are ineligible to compete for seven days.

The Sharks recalled Magnus Chrona from the Barracuda to take Blackwood’s spot on the roster. He’ll tandem for the time being with Kahkonen, who entered Tuesday’s game after Blackwood’s injury and stopped 24 of 31 shots, as the Sharks lost by five goals or more for the seventh time this season.

Blackwood, who made 13 saves Tuesday before his injury, has played in 35 games this season and has a 9-18-3 record with a .899 save percentage and a 3.48 goals-against average.

Aside from an illness that kept him out of action for a week after Christmas, Blackwood has been healthy and available for the Sharks all season.

Sharks general manager Mike Grier acquired Blackwood from the Devils last June for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick and subsequently signed him to a two-year, $4.7 million contract.

Getting a fresh start and adjusting his offseason routine, Blackwood had been able to stay healthy, as his workload this season was the most he’s had since 2020-2021 when he went 14-17-4 for the Devils.

“When I first got hurt in New Jersey, I never really treated it properly in terms of waiting until I was fully healthy to start trying to play and play a lot again, so it just kind of compiled,” Blackwood said earlier this week.

“I did my ankle, and then I did my groin and then I did my knee on the other side, just because everything was just overworking each other. So I never really waited long enough for my body to be ready to handle a full 80-game workload.

“After not playing a lot last year at the end, having a good summer of rehab, and changing my training a little bit. It’s helped me feel good again.”

At the behest of some friends, Blackwood incorporated Pilates and core muscle work into his offseason regimen.

“A lot of people recommended (Pilates) to me, so finally got through to me and my stubbornness,” Blackwood said. “I said ‘You know what, sure. I’ll try it out this summer.’ And I did it like three, four days a week and it was good. I just added it on top of my regular training.”

This is a complicated time for Blackwood’s injury.

Kahkonen, a pending unrestricted free agent who could be on the move before the March 8 NHL trade deadline, might now have to take on a greater workload as the Sharks head into a busy month of March.

After this weekend’s back-to-back games, the Sharks play 13 times in 26 days, with one more back-to-back on March 16 and 17 when they play Columbus and Chicago, respectively, as part of a five-game, eight-day road trip.

Kahkonen has a 6-18-2 record with a respectable .901 save percentage in 28 games this season, and his underlying numbers are impressive. Among the 41 goalies who have played at least 25 games this season, Kahkonen, per moneypuck.com, is tops with a .853 save percentage on high-danger unblocked shot attempts.

“You never want to see teammates go down with injuries,” Kahkonen said Tuesday night when asked about Blackwood. “I don’t know what’s going on, but hopefully it’s not too bad, hopefully, it goes away quickly and he’s back soon. He’s a great teammate and a great goalie.”

It’s unclear how much interest other teams have in Kahkonen with the trade deadline just over a week away. If Blackwood has to miss more than a week, would that alter any plans the Sharks might have of trading Kahkonen?

Besides Chrona, Georgi Romanov, the Barracuda’s other goalie, has never played in the NHL and, like Chrona, is in his first season of North American professional hockey.

The 23-year-old Chrona, who was on the ice with the Sharks on Wednesday, is 5-13-4 this season with a .892 save percentage in 24 games with the Barracuda. Chrona has allowed four goals on 29 shots for a .724 save percentage in two appearances with the Sharks, including one start.

Romanov, 24, is 6-7-5 with a .886 save percentage in 20 games.

The Barracuda’s other goalie, Eetu Makiniemi, hasn’t played since Jan. 26 and is currently dealing with an illness, per a team spokesman, with no timeline for a return.

Then everything went wrong, for himself and the Sharks.

Blackwood was injured late in the first period and did not return, and the Sharks, after taking a brief lead, got completely outclassed in the final two periods in what became a 7-2 loss to the Devils before an announced crowd of 10,982 at SAP Center.

Kaapo Kahkonen, in relief of Blackwood, allowed three goals in the second period and four more in the third as the Sharks totally unraveled and, remarkably, lost by five goals or more for the seventh time this season.

“We just gave them the puck over and over and over and over again,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “You don’t need to talk about anything else. If you just keep making plays, and you don’t care about the consequences, you’re going to get a 7-2 loss.”

“Regardless of the outcome scoring-wise, we want the other team to say, ‘Hey, we had to work really hard for what we got tonight,’” Sharks center Nico Sturm said. “And I thought today we were just way too easy to play against.”

Nico Hischier had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Timo Meier, in his first visit to San Jose since being traded by the Sharks last February, had two assists.

“Definitely feels weird,” Meier said. “I’m happy we won. I think that’s the big thing. Before the game, some emotions and everything, but then once you go out there, it’s just business. And it’s nice to get those two points.”

Sturm and Justin Bailey both scored for the Sharks, who have now lost four in a row and six of their last seven. Kahkonen finished with 24 saves, as San Jose now has a goal differential of -102 on the season.

“We fed right into what makes them good,” Sturm said. “They’re a skilled team that feeds off transition, off turnovers on both blue lines. I think if you get a lead against a team that plays that way, you give yourself a really good chance.

“They give you chances, they play a very high-risk game. It was just completely unnecessary for us to play the way that we did.”

Blackwood has a lower-body injury, Quinn said, as it appeared he was injured making a save on Hughes. More will be known about Blackwood’s condition on Wednesday.

After Blackwood made the save with 2:28 left in the first period, his 13th of the game, he got up and skated toward the Sharks bench during a television timeout. After he reached the bench, Blackwood walked toward the Sharks’ dressing room and threw his stick down in apparent frustration.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead shortly after Blackwood left the game, as Sturm scored his fourth of the season off an assist from Alexander Barabanov at the 18:17 mark of the first.

Kahkonen allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced in the second.

On its third shot of the period, New Jersey tied the game, as a bad change by the Sharks led to a Devils 2 on 1. Jesper Bratt then took a pass from Meier and scored his 22nd of the season at the 3:29 mark.

Just 37 seconds later, Jack Hughes took advantage of a Sharks turnover and beat Kahkonen for his 19th goal of the season as the Devils took a 2-1 lead.

“Once we gave up that first goal, that’s where I really saw a change,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “Our first period wasn’t great, but we were hanging in there and we got away with a few things, and we actually did some good things.

“The beginning of the second, that’s where it went downhill. We started letting them play their game, and we didn’t play ours.”

Blackwood, acquired from the Devils last June, was playing in his 35th game for the Sharks on Tuesday as he had remained mostly healthy for the first four months of the season.

Beset by injuries the last two years, Blackwood hadn’t played in this many games in one season since 2020-2021, when he went 14-17-4 for the Devils in a non-playoff year for the organization.

Blackwood has a 9-18-3 record in his first season with the Sharks.

Kevin Rahl also scored for the Devils at the 13:08 mark in the second period as Kahkonen allowed three goals on 16 shots in the middle frame. Meier thought he had a power-play goal 52 seconds earlier, but the play was called back after the Sharks challenged for offside.

Colin Miller, Brendan Smith, Dawson Mercer, and Hischier all scored in the third period.

After Hischier’s goal, Quinn called a timeout, but didn’t appear to say much for the first few seconds. He then talked calmly, likely challenging his team to show a bit more backbone to finish the game after allowing seven straight goals.

Asked about his message, Quinn said, “I’ll keep that between myself and our team.”

Blackwood has a lower-body injury, coach David Quinn said after the Sharks’ 7-2 loss to the Devils, adding that more will be known on Wednesday.

It appeared Blackwood was injured making a save on Devils center Jack Hughes.

After Blackwood made the save with 2:28 left in the first period, he got up and skated toward the Sharks bench during a television timeout. After he reached the bench, Blackwood walked toward the Sharks’ dressing room and threw his stick down in apparent frustration.

Blackwood made 13 saves in the first period before he was replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen, who came on in relief but did not have to make a save for the final 2:26 of the first period.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead shortly after Blackwood left the game, as Nico Sturm scored his fourth of the season off an assist from Alexander Barabanov at the 18:17 mark of the first.

Blackwood did not come out of the Sharks dressing room to start the second period when the team announced that he would not return.

Kahkonen allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced in the second.

Blackwood came out of the game after appearing to be injured on this play pic.twitter.com/7bj3fYyohP

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) February 28, 2024

On its third shot of the period, New Jersey tied the game, as a bad change by the Sharks led to a Devils 2 on 1. Jesper Bratt then took a pass from former Sharks winger Timo Meier and scored his 22nd of the season at the 3:29 mark.

Just 37 seconds later, Jack Hughes took advantage of a Sharks turnover and beat Kahkonen for his 19th goal of the season as the Devils took a 2-1 lead.

Blackwood, acquired from the Devils last June, was playing in his 35th game for the Sharks on Tuesday as he had remained mostly healthy for the first four months of the season.

Beset by injuries the last two years, Blackwood hadn’t played in this many games in one season since 2020-2021, when he went 14-17-4 for the Devils in a non-playoff year for the organization.

Kevin Rahl also scored for the Devils at the 13:08 mark the second period as Kahkonen allowed three goals on 16 shots in the middle frame. Meier thought he had a power-play goal 52 seconds earlier, but the play was called back after the Sharks challenged for offside.

Blackwood has a 9-18-3 record in his first season with the Sharks.

“I still have a spot here and some stuff here, so it’s like the second packing I had to do,” a smiling Meier said Tuesday morning at SAP Center. “Mostly clothes. A lot of clothes. I had to throw some stuff out. Too many clothes.”

Meier appears glad to be back on the West Coast, arriving in town to enjoy a bit of the mild California weather before the next rainstorm arrives.

Perhaps it was also good for Meier, Devils coach Lindy Ruff and everyone on the team’s roster to get a brief respite from the mounting pressure the underachieving Devils are no doubt feeling back home with time running out to make a playoff push.

Entering Tuesday’s game with the Sharks, which begins a three-game California swing, Meier and the Devils, who advanced to the second round of the playoffs last season, are seven points out of a wild card spot with 24 games left to play.

The Devils (29-25-4) also came into the game with the second-worst team save percentage in the NHL at .883, and their power play, while ranked 14th in the NHL at 22.4 percent, is 4-for-39 this month, a 10.3 percent success rate that ranks next to last in the league.

New Jersey lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lighting on Sunday and entered this week with just four points in its last six games. That prompted fans inside the Prudential Center to begin once again chanting, “Fire Lindy,” near the end of the third period, and one writer who covers the Devils to also call for Ruff’s dismissal.

“I take full responsibility,” Ruff said after Sunday’s loss. “You want to win. We’ve dealt with a lot. The players want to win. I’m responsible for the wins and losses. Who gets on the ice, and who doesn’t get on the ice.

“I’ve said this before: We’ve got a very passionate fanbase. They want to see wins. In a back-to-back and if you look at our home record, that part hurts. So I feel fully responsible.”

Meier feels the weight of expectations, too.

Meier is the Devils’ highest-paid forward, having signed an eight-year, $70.4 million contract extension with New Jersey last June. It would have made zero sense for the Sharks to offer him a similar deal, given that they were already missing the playoffs with him, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, and other veterans.

But he got that from the Devils and now everyone wants to see if he can deliver. He scored 40 goals between his time in New Jersey and San Jose last season, or once every other game.

He’s well back of that pace now, with just 11 goals and 24 points in 45 games before Tuesday.

“I have high expectations for myself,” Meier said. “I want to grow as a player and I want to win. That’s the biggest thing. Just try to get better every day. There will be highs and lows, but just learning from them and staying positive. Keep coming in every day with a positive attitude.”

Meier was the Sharks’ most-used winger by the time his tenure ended in San Jose, but that’s not the case in New Jersey. While he averaged 20 minutes of ice time in 57 games with the Sharks last season, he’s at 16:39 this season.

“It’s maybe a little different role on this team that I had on the Sharks, so it’s definitely a little bit of an adjustment there,” Meier said. “Different teammates. I was playing with some of the same guys for such a long time and we kind of knew where they were at all times, and you had that chemistry.

“So it’s just about building that and trying to find your game maybe in a different role, but it’s down to just trying to go out there and helping your team win in whatever way you can.”

East Coast fans hit a bit differently too, especially when things are not going well.

“The passion is there by both (Sharks and Devils) fan bases. Maybe some fans express it a little differently than others,” Meier said. “But that’s part of our business and you’ve got to handle those situations.”

The Sharks got a haul for Meier when they sent the power forward to the Devils on Feb. 26, 2023.

Sharks general manager Mike Grier received forward Fabian Zetterlund, defensemen Nikita Okhotiuk and Shakir Mukhamadullin, a 2023 first-round draft pick that turned into forward Quentin Musty, and a conditional second-round draft pick this year.

Zetterlund, before Tuesday, was tied for the team lead with 15 goals and figures to be with the Sharks for years to come.

Mukhamadullin is injured now but could be with the Sharks full-time next season. The Athletic just rated Musty as San Jose’s second-best prospect behind Will Smith and projects to be someone that can be in the NHL within three years.

But that’s the future. The Sharks, right now, are one of the worst teams in the NHL, while the Devils, if they can keep the puck out of their net, can be a Cup contender with all of their skill up front.

Ultimately, the Devils will be judged this season on whether they can make the playoffs and have some success, and Meier will be judged on how much he contributes to that success.

Regardless of his wardrobe.

“Sometimes it can be frustrating. You want to score a lot of goals, you want to create and play and be out there,” Meier said. “But sometimes just maybe the puck doesn’t bounce your way.”

The Sharks acquired Duclair from the Florida Panthers last July for forward Steven Lorentz and a 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Although Duclair was entering the final year of his contract and a pending unrestricted free agent, Grier at the time left the door open to keeping the forward past this season.

Duclair, who represents himself, is seeking a longer-term contract but has said he would be open to signing with the rebuilding Sharks. Thus far, though, Duclair said no discussions about a new deal have taken place.

“I’m just trying to enjoy every day and just trying to play my game and help the team win at this point,” Duclair said. “Nothing’s changed since the beginning of the year.

“I’ve been in this situation before and the rumors and all that stuff do not bother me at all, to be honest. I just enjoy every day and just take it from there.”

It’s been a challenging year for Duclair, on multiple fronts.

Duclair has 11 goals and 19 points in 51 games for the offensively challenged Sharks this season, a sizeable drop from the 31-goal, 58-point season he had for the Panthers in 2021-2022.

He’s also gone from being on a Cup-contending team like the Panthers to the also-ran Sharks, who have the second-worst record in the NHL at 15-36-5.

Duclair, though, has played with some renewed energy since the Sharks returned from a 13-day break between games on Feb. 14.

Duclair scored twice for the Sharks in their 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 17, and his play has been more consistent of late, as he’s been moving his feet to help create chances.

Duclair said the mental respite, perhaps even more than the physical one, did him a lot of good, and he’ll again be on San Jose’s top line with Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund on Tuesday when the Sharks host Timo Meier and the New Jersey Devils.

“The break was much needed for me,” Duclair said. “A little reset to think about other things. Physically, I kind of feel the same, feel great.

“Obviously the season hasn’t gone the way we would have liked and I think all this losing and bad stretches definitely hurt me mentally for sure, and it’s just been a tough transition. But at the same time, since the break, I’ve been liking my game I’m feeling back to normal, getting more chances, getting more opportunities.

“Definitely creates more confidence and it’s been much better. That break was much needed.”

Duclair is one of several pending UFAs the Sharks have, and he’s shown he can be a postseason contributor, as he had 11 points in 20 playoff games during Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

No one would be surprised to see Duclair get moved by the Sharks to a playoff contender before March 8. If Duclair is dealt, his new team will get a player who appears to be reinvigorated

“It’s not easy stepping into our situation,” Sharks coach David Quinn said when asked about Duclair. “He’s going to a free agent, we get off to a tough start … all that plays a role in it all, and he’s done a really good job pulling it together.

“He’s always had great moments, but I think he’s been much more consistent in the player that we all know he’s capable of being. I give him a ton of credit.”

Injured before the start of training camp in September, Couture was diagnosed with osteitis pubis, inflammation in the joint between a person’s left and right pubic bones. After taking months to recover, Couture made his season debut for the Sharks on Jan. 20 at home against Anaheim.

But Couture said he started to feel some discomfort almost right away, and the injury continued to worsen during a stretch in which he and the Sharks played six games in 11 days at the end of January before the NHL All-Star break.

Couture said after San Jose’s game in Anaheim on Jan. 31 — the last game before the break — he didn’t feel well for at least two days.

“It got it got pretty bad,” Couture said.

Couture also endured setbacks from the injury in the fall when he was trying to get back, and wondered at times whether he would be able to play in the NHL again.

Couture’s outlook wasn’t much better this time.

“I was devastated. It sucked,” said Couture, who has 701 points in 933 career NHL games over 15 seasons.

“I thought it was past it. But like I said, as I started to play a little bit more, got more sore and more sore and more sore. Even on days when I didn’t skate and off days, it was getting worse.

“It’s never a good sign. I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t move for a bit. I knew what it was, obviously, this time, but it definitely wasn’t much easier.”

Couture said he is continuing to see a San Francisco-based physiotherapist and is at the point now where he’s “just trying to get back to feeling good away from hockey and day-to-day life stuff.”

Couture said he resumed off-ice workouts roughly two weeks ago but as of now, has no timeline to skate again. He emphasized, though, that has not entertained any thoughts of having surgery.

The Sharks, all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention going into Tuesday’s game against Timo Meier and the New Jersey Devils, have just 26 games remaining before the end of the regular season on April 18.

Asked if he has considered shutting himself down for the remainder of the regular season to get ready for camp in the fall, Couture said, “That thought hasn’t crossed my mind.

“Just trying to feel better every day when I wake up and come in and get some work done, see how I feel when I go home,” Couture said. “It’s just kind of a day-by-day thing right now.”

Couture made an impact in the six games he played. He had one just assist and seven shots, but averaged 18:45 in ice time per game — just 23 seconds less than last season — and the Sharks went 4-1-1 with him in the lineup.

Since their return from the NHL All-Star break and their bye week, the Sharks, without Couture and fellow injured centerman Tomas Hertl, are 1-4-0 with a season record of 15-36-5.

“It’s a tough injury,” Couture said. “It’s the way these things go, unfortunately. Just continue to work and try and get better. It’s so tough because I felt so good going into those games, was skating hard, and felt like myself on the ice. So, it’s tough.”

Hertl had a procedure done on Feb. 12 to clean out loose cartilage in his left knee and, like Couture, wants to be back before the end of the regular season.

For the time being, the Sharks have Mikael Granlund centering the top line with Anthony Duclair and Fabian Zetterlud and William Eklund centering the second line with Luke Kunin and Filip Zadina.

The Sharks have never had Couture, Hertl, Granlund, and depth center and Stanley Cup champion Nico Sturm all in the lineup at the same time this season.

With the March 8 trade deadline looming, and by the time Couture may be healthy enough to return, pending unrestricted free agents like Duclair, Mike Hoffman, Kevin Labanc, and Alexander Barabanov might be on other teams.

Couture and Granlund, who is signed through next season but could be moved, have not played in the same game this season.

“Anytime you go down with any type of injury, especially an injury like that where there’s so much uncertainty, it sucks,” Duclair said about Couture. “Especially a guy like that, who’s been successful for so long and it just looks like it comes easy for him.

“That’s a guy that I was looking forward to playing with all year. I texted him that over the summer. It’s tough not having him in the lineup. He’s our captain, he’s our leader and that definitely hurts the room a little bit. At certain times during the year when we kind of needed that boost or that spark, he’s a guy who would light up the room and be a game changer at times. Obviously, we miss him a lot.”

Granlund scored his seventh goal of the season Saturday in the Sharks’ 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators, giving him 31 points in his last 35 games.

Through 43 games, Granlund is averaging a career-high 20:35 in ice time, helping fill the present void with both Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl injured and unavailable.

“I’ve had so much respect for him from afar without ever meeting him, thinking he was a hell of a player,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “Then you get to coach him and deal with him on a daily basis.

“There are few and far players in the league like him who bring that honesty. There’s no (b.s.) to his game.”

It’s easy, then, to see why Granlund might be general manager Mike Grier’s most valuable asset ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 8.

The Sharks have a handful of wingers, like Anthony Duclair, Alexander Barabanov, Mike Hoffman, and Kevin Labanc, who could be on another team in less than two weeks.

But with only so many quality centermen available as the trade deadline nears, we can speculate that opposing general managers have checked in about a possible price tag for Granlund.

It should be high, and Grier shouldn’t waver.

With Granlund under contract for next season at a $5 million cap hit, what’s the rush to trade him right now?

Sure, if another team comes along and meets Grier’s price tag, Granlund, who turns 32 on Monday, should be traded for assets that better fit in with the Sharks’ long-term plan.

For now, though, as long as that price tag – whether it’s a first-round draft pick, a quality prospect or someone just breaking into the NHL – isn’t met, then there’s no harm in keeping Granlund in a teal uniform. He adds to the culture the Sharks are trying to build.

The same goes for defensemen Mario Ferraro and Jan Rutta, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood or any other Sharks player signed past this season.

A Granlund deal can also easily be made this offseason when more center-starved teams might be in the mix for his services, or even at the 2025 deadline when other GMs do not have to worry about creating as much cap space to fit in Granlund’s salary.

Waiting for what you want can be a good thing, as history has shown.

Exactly one year ago Monday, the Sharks sent Timo Meier, four other players, and a 2024 fifth-round pick to the New Jersey Devils for four players, including Fabian Zetterlund and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin, and three draft picks, one of which was used to select forward Quentin Musty at No. 26 overall last year.

Meier was owed a $10 million qualifying offer as he was in the last year of a four-year, $24 million contract. But Grier, after much speculation, got the best deal he could, spurning other offers that included more draft picks and fewer older players, and pulled the trigger to try and lay part of the foundation for the future sooner rather than later.

“It was a unique situation because of the qualifying offer Timo was going to have. It was a little bit different situation than most guys in his position,” Quinn recalled. “So that probably hurt us a little bit in the return. But that being said, you look at the trade and I think we did very well.”

A Granlund trade won’t bring the same return as the Meier trade did.

Just last season, Granlund went from the Predators to the Penguins for a 2023 second-rounder. If the Sharks were to get the same kind of return – a 2024 second-rounder, for instance — before the deadline, they would have up to five draft picks in the first two rounds this year.

Grier would likely get a bigger return from the team he’s dealing with if he were to retain some of Granlund’s cap hit for the rest of this season and next.

But that would present another issue for the Sharks, who only have one retention spot left after Grier kept some salary on the team’s books in the Brent Burns and Karlsson deals.

Retaining some of Granlund’s contract might not only hamper efforts to move some of the Sharks’ pending UFAs this year, but any deals next year, as well, involving players with sizeable contracts.

Perhaps getting the right package for Granlund supersedes all of those potential concerns.

But if the right package isn’t there for Granlund, there’s nothing with holding onto him, as he’s been a terrific fit in San Jose, providing what a rebuilding Sharks team needs.

“He could have a C on his jersey,” linemate Zetterlund said of Granlund. “He’s helped the team so much this year, in all ways, in the locker room and outside the rink.”

“He’s got this leadership ability to kind of talk to people in a mature manner, but he’s also has a fun side to him that endears himself to his teammates,” Quinn said. “He’s a guy that’s very valuable.”

Regardless of what happens, Granlund is keeping an even keel.

“I mean, there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said Saturday night. “So play hockey, enjoy the game. Playing in the NHL, it’s pretty fun. But really, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever beat him in a practice,” Granlund said. “I don’t know anything about goalies. Let’s just put that out there first. But his positioning and the way he moves, I’ve never seen that fast of a goalie.”

Granlund got one by Saros on Saturday, scoring in the third period when the Sharks started putting more pressure on the Predators and their netminder.

Still, the Sharks lost to Saros for the 11th time in 14 all-time meetings, with the Finnish-born goalie making 23 saves in a 4-2 Predators win at SAP Center.

Filip Zadina also scored for the Sharks, who are now 0-3-0 on this five-game homestand that continues Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils. San Jose has won just once in its last six games, scoring a combined 13 goals along the way.

“It was frustrating today because we had some really good stretches and some really tough ones,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “The one thing that we’ve got to do is clean up our bad stretches. They can’t be as bad as they’ve been, but we did a lot of good things against a good team.”

Some takeaways from Saturday’s game:

THRUN’S NIGHT, AND ADDISON’S: Quinn mentioned Saturday morning that Calen Addison, not Henry Thrun, would be on the ice with the Sharks’ first power play unit against the Predators, even though Thrun had practiced in that spot earlier in the week.

When the Sharks were on their first two power plays in the opening period, though, it was Thrun, and not Addison, out there with Granlund, Fabian Zetterlund, Anthony Duclair, and William Eklund.

Addison only played three shifts in the first period, with his last one ending in a Kiefer Sherwood goal.

Michael McCarron had the puck in the corner to the right of the Sharks’ net, and Addison skated toward him, trying to stop the pass that went right to Sherwood’s stick for a pretty one-timer that got past Kaapo Kahkonen and under the crossbar.

Quinn said that Addison has, “just got to defend harder more consistently. That’s usually what happens when he gets in a little bit of trouble and I just thought the first goal, there needed to be harder defending from his end of it, a little bit better decision.”

Addison took a more regular shift in the second and third periods and ended up with 12:34 in ice time. Thrun, playing just his second game after missing six in a row with an upper-body injury, ended up with 23:37 in ice time, trailing only Roman Josi’s 24:08 among all skaters.

“That’s not the number we want him at, so in fairness to him, he played a little bit too much tonight,” Quinn said. “Nobody’s fault but just wanted to send a message or two a couple of times. We shortened our d-corps up a little bit.”

Thrun said he made an error on Nashville’s third goal, as it appeared he could not decide whether he wanted to hit Sherwood at the Sharks’ blue line or sit back a bit. Sherwood got by him anyway before he fired a shot past Kahkonen for a 3-1 Predators lead 3:40 into the third period.

“I just made a bad read on it,” Thrun said. “I was trying to play aggressive down a goal and just kind of was half in and half out, which does you no good.”

“The thing I love about Henry is he’s coachable, he learns from his mistakes, and he’ll have a better night next time.”

We’ll see when the ‘next time’ is for Addison and whether Quinn tweaks his lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Devils. One possibility is to sit Addison and dress Nikita Okhotiuk, who was scratched Saturday and has now sat out four of the last five games.

Here’s what we know: Among the group of defensemen the Sharks have who are 24 or younger, Thrun has the most trust from the coaching staff.

ZADINA’S CONFIDENCE: Zadina scored his eighth goal of the season at the 9:34 mark of the third period off an assist from Jan Rutta to cut Nashville’s lead to 3-2.

After he scored twice on Feb. 15 against the Calgary Flames to snap a nine-game goal drought, Zadina now has three goals in four games and eight on the season in 51 games. He is approaching his career high of 10, set in 2021-2022 when he played 74 games for the Detroit Red Wings.

Zadina had four shots on goal Saturday. This season, in the six games in which he has four or more shots, he has five goals and two assists. In the 45 other games where he’s shot it three times or less, he has three goals and eight assists.

Zadina can make good things happen when he has the puck on his stick.

“He’s played well, not just because he’s scoring.” Quinn said of Zadina “I think he’s done a good job in a lot of other areas. I’m happy for him.”

Zadina, like other Sharks players, has been putting in work with development coach Mike Ricci. It’s paying off.

“Ricci told me that hard work pays off, but you never know when,”  Zadina said. “It’s slowly coming and I’m just trying to do my job.”

As has been the case for years now, it wasn’t easy.

Sharks winger Mikael Granlund and Filip Zadina both scored in the third period, with Zadina’s goal at the 9:34 mark cutting the Predators’ lead to one.

But San Jose could get no closer as Saros finished with 23 saves to lead the Predators to a 4-2 win at SAP Center.

The Sharks were hoping they tied the game with 10:02 left in the third period after it appeared the puck might have been on its way into Nashville’s net before it was dislodged. After an official review, though, it was determined the puck never completely crossed the goal line.

“I think in the second period, we weren’t as good,” Granlund said. “But in the first and the third we were playing hard. There are some breakdowns we need to clean up, but it was a pretty good effort. Both goalies were really good tonight.”

Just 2:30 after Granlund scored his seventh of the season at the 1:10 mark of the third period to cut Nashville’s lead to 2-1, Kiefer Sherwood scored his second of the game. Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun was defending on the play.

“I made a bad read on it,” Thrun said. “I was trying to play aggressive down a goal and was kind of half in half out, and at the end of the day that does you no good. Just had one misstep, and in the NHL that’s a telltale sign that it’s going to get by you.”

The Predators hung on from there, as they ran their win streak over the Sharks to nine games. San Jose’s last win over Nashville came on Nov. 9, 2019, and are now 0-8-1 against the Predators.

Saros now has a career record of 11-2-1 against the Sharks. Before Saturday, the Finnish-born goalie had a .940 save percentage and a 1.76 goals-against average in 13 games.

His counterpart and countryman, Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, made 31 saves, including 21 in the first two periods.