Projected Lineups for the Sharks vs Blackhawks – 10/17/24

The San Jose Sharks take on the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

SHARKS (0-1-2) at BLACKHAWKS (1-2-1)

8:30 p.m. ET; CHSN, NBCSCA

Sharks projected lineup

William Eklund — Mikael Granlund — Tyler Toffoli
Alexander Wennberg — Klim Kostin — Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin — Will Smith — Barclay Goodrow
Carl Grundstrom — Nico Sturm — Ty Dellandrea

Jake Walman — Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro — Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun — Matt Benning

Vitek Vanecek
Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Danil Gushchin, Givani Smith, Jack Thompson

Injured: Macklin Celebrini (lower body) Shakir Mukhamadullin (lower body), Thomas Bordeleau (lower body), Logan Couture (lower body), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (upper body)

Status report

• The Sharks held an optional morning skate Thursday.
• Eklund will be a game-time decision because of an upper-body injury; he did not practice on Wednesday but took part in the morning skate. If he cannot play, Gushchin, a forward, will enter the lineup.
• Vanecek will start in goal after Blackwood made 36 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
• Celebrini is eligible to come off the injured list when San Jose plays at the Winnipeg Jets, but the center will not play and remains week to week; is is not traveling with the Sharks on their three-game road trip

Latest for THW:

• Revisiting the Sharks’ Erik Karlsson Trade
• Sharks Could Be in Danger of Repeating Last Season’s Start
• A Look Back on the 5 Worst Teams in NHL History

Blackhawks projected lineup

Nick Foligno — Connor Bedard — Teuvo Teravainen
Taylor Hall — Philipp Kurashev — Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev — Jason Dickinson — Joey Anderson
Patrick Maroon — Lukas Reichel — Craig Smith

Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Wyatt Kaiser — T.J. Brodie
Nolan Allan — Connor Murphy

Petr Mrazek
Arvid Soderblom

Scratched: Ryan Donato, Andreas Athanasiou, Isaak Phillips

Injured: Alec Martinez (lower body)

Status report

• Reichel will play for the first time this season after being a healthy scratch the first four games.
• Martinez, a defenseman, was placed on injured reserve Thursday.
• Phillips, a defenseman, was recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Thursday but is not expected to play.

Latest for THW:

• Blackhawks Look Much Better Through 4 Games
• Flames Defeat Blackhawks for Fourth Straight Win to Start the Season
• Projected Lineups for the Blackhawks vs Flames – 10/15/24