Sharks’ Alex Wennberg to return to lineup after one-game absence
The San Jose Sharks are set to get a boost to their lineup on Tuesday night, as center Alex Wennberg appears poised to return to the lineup after a one-game absence.
The Sharks are nearing the end of a grueling road trip, and they’ll have some fresh-ish legs in Wennberg on Tuesday night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers in a matchup that is key to the Western Conference playoff race.
According to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, Wennberg was centering Kiefer Sherwood and Pavol Regenda on the second line at today’s morning skate.
#SJSharks lines at morning skate, looks like Wennberg back, Leddy in for Mukhamadullin: Graf-Celebrini-Smith Regenda-Wennberg-Sherwood Eklund-Misa-Toffoli Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Gaudette Orlov-Klingberg Ferraro-Leddy Dickinson-Desharnais
San Jose just completed a back-to-back over the weekend that saw them win in Montreal by a 4-2 margin on Saturday before losing 7-4 in Ottawa on Sunday.
Wennberg is in the midst of a strong 2025-26 campaign for San Jose. In 64 games this season, the 31-year-old has put up 13 goals and 30 assists for 43 points, averaging 20:36 of ice time per game.
Formerly of the Kraken, Panthers, Rangers and Blue Jackets, Wennberg is in the second season of a two-year, $10 million contract, but the Sharks re-upped him with a three-year contract extension that will kick in next season and carry a salary cap hit of $6 million.
The Sharks have struggled with depth production behind Macklin Celebrini all season, but Wennberg’s 43 points are good enough to have him fourth on the team, just behind Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli.
San Jose enters Tuesday night’s game in Edmonton five points back of the Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division, though with three games in hand, a regulation win tonight would give the Sharks a better points percentage than the two-time reigning conference champs.
As far as the wild card, San Jose sits just one point back of Los Angeles and Seattle for the final spot, with a games-in-hand advantage on both clubs. The Sharks are looking to pull off the rare feat of making the playoffs just a year after finishing as the worst team in the league.