- Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
“They want me to play a lot of minutes and be that guy.”
In William Eklund’s own words, that’s why the San Jose Sharks sent him down.
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In the last three years, 29 players, including Eklund, have made their NHL debuts with the Sharks. Most assuredly, the lot of them, including Eklund last year, weren’t “that guy” wherever they were coming from.
And that might be why only one of those 29, Mario Ferraro, is considered a bona fide NHL player today. Noah Gregor and Nikolai Knyzhov are in that conversation as well, but it’s a really short list.
But things are different under new San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier, who has put a greater emphasis, at the outset of his tenure, on NHL playing time being earned. Dominate the AHL, and maybe then, we’ll talk NHL.
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