San Jose Sharks’ Mikael Granlund and Mario Ferraro to return to lineup on Wednesday vs. Jets

Granlund, 31, had been out of the lineup since January 16th when he suffered an upper-body injury in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s missed the past six games, with the Sharks going 4-1-1 in his absence.

Granlund is one of the few Sharks players having a solid season this year, with 5 goals and 24 assists for 29 points in 38 games. It puts him on pace for 56 points should he play out the rest of the season, which will be just the fifth time he’s hit the 50-point mark in his career.

Based on the lines run during practice on Monday, Granlund is projected to slot onto the top line alongside Anthony Duclair and Fabian Zetterlund. Despite being outscored 10-9 and only having a 44.84% 5v5 expected goal share in 194:36 of ice time together, it’s still one of the Sharks best line combinations this season, especially out of the ones without Tomas Hertl on it.

Ferraro, 25, has been out of the lineup since January 22nd when he suffered a lower-body injury in a 4-3 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings. He’s missed the past four games, with the Sharks going 2-1-1 in his absence.

Ferraro has put up some respectable offensive production this season, with 1 goal and 13 assists for 14 points in 47 games this season. Should he play out the rest of the season, it would put him on pace for 23 points, which would be a career-high for the Toronto, Ontario product.

Ferraro is projected to slot into the top pair alongside Jan Rutta should the pairs from Monday’s practice hold. The pairing has outscored their opponents 4-3 despite a 34.13% 5v5 expected goal share in 71 minutes of ice time together.

The Sharks will look to bounce back from a 3-2 overtime loss the Anaheim Ducks when they visit the Jets in Winnipeg on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. EST. They currently sit in last in the Pacific Division with a 14-32-5 record, the second-worst in the league.