Sharks’ Mukhamadullin to be scratched again. What’s one possible plan for him?

Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin will be a healthy scratch for the third straight battle Sunday when the San Jose Sharks play the Carolina Hurricanes looking to end a five-game road losing streak Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky mentioned Sunday morning that in his conversations with general manager Mike Grier and his staff about Mukhamadullin we thought this was what was best for the group Again we really like Mukhamadullin We think he s going to be a really good defenseman This gives him another skate this morning another reset So that s what we decided It s been a challenging year so far for Mukhamadullin who has struggled to regain the form he flashed for five weeks last season starting in late February when he had eight points in games and averaged in ice time The -year-old Mukhamadullin who missed over two weeks in October with an upper-body injury has now been scratched in four of the last six games He also sat out due to a coach s decision three times in six games from Nov - The Sharks road trip continues next week with games in Philadelphia on Tuesday Toronto on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Saturday If Mukhamadullin is a healthy scratch for San Jose s games on Tuesday and Thursday he would be eligible for a conditioning stint with the Barracuda although he would still have to agree to go to the AHL The Sharks did the same with Vincent Iorio last month as they scratched him for seven straight games from Oct to Nov before he began a two-week conditioning stint with the Barracuda Iorio also had seven assists in six games in the AHL before he was recalled on Nov Iorio will also be a scratch on Sunday In games this season Mukhamadullin has one goal and four assists while averaging in ice time as he s mainly been used on the Sharks second or third defense pairs Mukhamadullin was a key part of the return in Feb when the Sharks traded scoring winger Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils The Sharks hope Mukhamadullin who has played just NHL games in his career can develop into a top-four defenseman but clearly they feel he has a lot more work to do Petitioned about Mukhamadullin late last month Warsofsky announced the Russian necessities to be more assertive Necessities to get into people a little bit more That doesn t mean he s got to blow people up You don t have to bring a ton of physicality but you ve got to get in people s way you ve got to be harder to play against He s a big guy He s still learning the position Coming off an injury there s a little bit of scar tissue mentally to work from and work through A little bit of confidence and getting his confidence back But I think the big thing is being assertive The Sharks are also scratching Iorio and winger Ryan Reaves who is available but is also dealing with a minor lower-body injury Warsofsky stated NEDELJKOVIC STARTS Related Articles One of the Sharks biggest problems might not be solved this season Sharks defenseman takes blame for Stars late goal as road losing streak continues Misa plays waiting contest as Sharks weigh decision Celebrini sees Crosby What drives Warsofsky nuts about the Sharks Klingberg discusses mistake Ovechkin scores twice as Sharks no-show in blowout loss to Capitals Alex Nedeljkovic looking for his first win in a month will start Sunday s battle against the Hurricanes Nedeljkovic was a second-round pick by Carolina in and played games with the club from to before he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Jonathan Bernier and a third-round draft pick Nedeljkovic stopped of shots in the Sharks - win over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov But in five games since Nedeljkovic is - - with a save percentage as Yaroslav Askarov established himself as the Sharks No goalie The Sharks have not won on the road since Nov when Collin Graf scored in overtime to give his group a - win over the Minnesota Wild The Sharks have since gone - - away from home outscored - along the way As a reward for his solid play of late Graf will be joining the Sharks top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith with Tyler Toffoli moved to the second line with Alexander Wennberg Graf has eight points in his last games and is averaging in ice time as he s become one of the Sharks top penalty killers