Jaycob Megna could force San Jose Sharks into hard decisions

Jake Middleton is slowly recovering from a concussion he suffered earlier this month and Sharks coach Bob Boughner said there’s an outside chance the defenseman could return to the lineup prior to the NHL’s all-star break early next month.

Whenever Middleton, who was hurt Jan. 4, does return, even if it is in mid-February after the Sharks’ 12-day break between games, it appears Boughner and his staff will have some decisions to make as to who stays in the lineup on the back end.

Boughner has been impressed with both Jaycob Megna and Ryan Merkley since they were both given chances to play in the first week of January. Megna will be in the lineup for the eighth-straight game Thursday when the Sharks play the Seattle Kraken, and Merkley will dress for his seventh consecutive game.

Boughner has especially liked the way Megna, at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, has played with Erik Karlsson over the last two weeks with Middleton unavailable.

“He’s a steady influence back there and I think that (Karlsson) and he play off each other a little bit, much like (Karlsson and Middleton),” Boughner said of Megna. “He’s taken the most of this opportunity and he deserves to be in there every night, and he’s really made some hard decisions for us.

“He’s a guy that can play on a lot of teams.”

The two, per Natural Stat Trick, had a Corsi-for percentage of 55.7 before Thursday, and they’ve created more than twice as many scoring chances (40) as they’ve allowed (18) at even strength since they’ve been together.

“I’m just doing my best to make things easier on him, and he, obviously, can go to his full offensive potential and make plays,” Megna said of Karlsson. “I’m kind of just the safety valve for him. I think it’s a good dynamic with him being such a good skater and wanting to jump in, and me kind of being the stay-at-home guy.

“It’s a dynamic I’ve had a lot of times in my career, so it’s definitely worked out so far and just trying to keep it going.”

Megna and Merkley’s recent play has kept two other healthy defensemen – Radim Simek and Nicolas Meloche – in the press box, and both will again be healthy scratches Thursday.

Megna, 29, dressed for six straight games from Oct. 30 to Nov. 11 when the Sharks were hit with a COVID-19 outbreak that affected four defensemen – Karlsson, Simek, Middleton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. When those players returned, Megna and Merkley were returned to the Barracuda.

Now if the Sharks get fully healthy again, Megna wants to make sure he’s doing what he can to stay with the big club. He’ll have to clear waivers again if the Sharks want to reassign him to the Barracuda, whereas Merkley does not require waivers.

Megna turned pro in 2014 and has played 368 regular-season games in the AHL as opposed to 56 games in the NHL before Thursday. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Sharks in July.

Before this year, Megna’s last NHL games came with the Anaheim Ducks in the second half of the 2018-19 season.

“The biggest thing for me is just trying to take advantage of the opportunity I have right now,” said Megna, now in his eighth season as a professional. “I know they don’t come around that often.”

LINEUP CHANGE: Adam Raska will re-enter the Sharks’ lineup Thursday in place of Lane Pederson, who will be a healthy scratch for the fourth time in the last five games. Pederson had a shot on goal in 11:20 of ice time in the Sharks’ 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and has just two assists in 21 games this season.

Asked what is missing from Pederson’s game at the moment, Boughner said, “Consistency, details. I thought he played OK (vs. L.A.). Ran a few wrong routes,” Boughner said. “When he jumps over the boards, you’ve got to know what to expect every night and that’s a part of his game he needs to work on.”

Raska made his NHL debut on Jan. 11 against Detroit. He also dressed for the Sharks’ games against the Rangers and Penguins before he was scratched for Monday’s game.