The San Jose Sharks have called up forward Daniil Gushchin, defenseman Jack Thompson, and goaltender Georgi Romanov for the season’s final two games after clinching last place in the league, with Romanov receiving his first NHL call-up following a successful stint in Russia’s VHL and the AHL.
The San Jose Sharks just made a move. They’ve called up forward Daniil Gushchin, defenseman Jack Thompson, and goalie Georgi Romanov. This is happening with just two games left in the season.
Why now, you ask? Well, it’s after they locked in last place in the league. That came with a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes yesterday. Ouch.
Gushchin and Thompson? They’ve seen some NHL action this season already. But Romanov? This is a big moment—it’s his first call-up. The guy’s 24 and this is his first season playing in North America. Before this, he was with Gornyak-UGMK in the VHL. That’s Russia’s second-tier league, in case you were wondering.
Over there, Romanov was pretty solid. He had a .916 save percentage across 80 games. Not too shabby, right? That performance got him a contract with San Jose last May. Since then, he’s been in the AHL, winning nine games and posting a .904 save percentage over 29 games. He even dipped into the ECHL, playing seven games there.
If Romanov gets to start, he’ll be the second Sharks goalie to have played in the AHL, ECHL, and NHL this season. The first was Magnus Chrona. But let’s just say his NHL stats… well, they could be better.
As for Gushchin, Thompson, and Romanov, they’re likely to get plenty of ice time in these last games. The Sharks want to see what these fringe lineup prospects can do. This means some of the older guys, like Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jan Rutta, and Ryan Carpenter, might be sitting a bit more.
Gushchin’s been in four NHL games over two seasons, snagging three points. Thompson? He just made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning in January. Both are hungry for their first NHL goal of the season. Let’s see what they’ve got.
