The San Jose Sharks have activated forward William Eklund off injured reserve and will have him in the lineup Tuesday when they play the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena to begin a three-game road trip.
Eklund, who had missed the last four games with a lower-body injury, was a full participant in Monday’s practice in San Jose and Tuesday’s morning skate in St. Paul. On Monday, he skated on the Sharks’ second line with Alexander Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev.
To create a roster spot for Eklund, the Sharks returned forward Ethan Cardwell to the Barracuda. Cardwell played four games with the Sharks after his recall from the AHL on Nov. 2 and didn’t necessarily look out of place as he scored one goal and averaged 12:21 in ice time.
Eklund is the Sharks’ third-leading scorer this season with 11 points in 12 games. In six games from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1, Eklund had four goals and five assists, including a three-point night on Oct. 26 when the Sharks beat the Wild 6-5 in overtime.
In that game, Eklund, along with Wennberg and defenseman Timothy Liljegren, was hemmed in the Sharks’ own end for almost all of the 3-on-3 overtime before he came off the ice for Macklin Celebrini. After a save by goalie Yaroslav Askarov, Celebrini controlled the loose puck, raced into the Minnesota end, and beat Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt at the 3:47 mark of overtime.
Since that game, the Sharks are 5-1-1.
After Tuesday, the Sharks finish their road trip with games against the Calgary Flames on Thursday and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
LILJEGREN SCRATCHED
Defenseman Timothy Liljegren will be a healthy scratch for Tuesday’s game, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky confirmed. This will be the first time this season that Liljegren will sit due to a coach’s decision. He also missed three games last month with an injury.
Liljegren has averaged 20:31 in ice time in 13 games this season, as he has recently been playing on the Sharks’ top defense pair alongside Dmitry Orlov. He had also become one of the Sharks’ leading penalty killers, as the team had killed 17 straight penalties over its last five games going into Tuesday.
The Sharks do have more internal competition for ice time on the blue line. Vincent Iorio is on a conditioning loan with the Barracuda. However, the Sharks still have eight defensemen with them on this road trip after Nick Leddy was activated off IR on Monday.
With Liljegren out, Shakir Mukhamadullin, who was scratched for Saturday’s game against the Florida Panthers, will return to the lineup and be paired with Orlov. The Sharks will also have Mario Ferraro paired with John Klingberg and Sam Dickinson alongside Vincent Desharnais.
#mnwild lines with no Middleton
Kaprizov-Rossi-Zuccarello
Boldy-JEEk-Johansson
Tarasenko-Hartman-Hinostroza
Foligno-Yurov-TreninBrodin-Spurgeon
Buium-Faber
Hunt-Jiricek
Spacek— Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) November 11, 2025
GOALIE CAROUSEL
The Sharks are starting goalie Alex Nedeljkovic against the Wild, as Warsofsky continues to alternate his goalies. Starting with the Sharks’ game against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 28, Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov have alternated starts, and it’s worked out for both goalies.
Beginning with his Oct. 30 start against the New Jersey Devils, Nedeljkovic is 2-0-1 with a .972 save percentage. In three starts this month, Askarov is 3-0-0 with a .972 save percentage.
“We’re two competitive guys, and I said it coming into the season. I want to be successful, and I want (Askarov) to be just as successful, if not more successful than me,” Nedeljkovic said after his 32-save performance against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
“It pushes me to be better. I want to push him to be better. Ultimately, if we’re both playing really good hockey, then we’re giving the guys in front of us a chance to win every single night, and they’re playing with confidence every single night, doesn’t matter who’s in the net.”
HOW TO WATCH TUESDAY’S GAME
Fans interested in watching Tuesday’s game will need a subscription to ESPN+ or Hulu. After tonight, the streaming services will also show the Sharks’ home game against the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 20.
Tuesday’s game will begin shortly after 5 p.m. (PT). The ESPN+ subscription rate is now $13 per month.