Move over Vlasic, here comes the Sniffle Monster

I’m fighting an upper body injury (code for the common cold) and the current plan is for us to record this week’s episode Thursday after the Red Wings game. We figured since we were running late, we might as well wait until after the Detroit game, right? So there’s still plenty of time to send in more questions for this week. We’ve got a ton to discuss, including the Sharks trade for Wallin, other moves around the league and the Sharks pre-Olympic road trip.

As for tonight, the Sharks have posted an impressive 7-0-2 record against the Blue Jackets in their last nine, so there’s no reason to believe that anything is going to change in that regard. The Sharks have been finding ways to win on this road trip and should be able to overpower the Blue Jackets. The interesting sidestory to tonight’s game might be for Sharks fans to pay some attention to two Blue Jackets defensemen, Jan Hejda and Fedor Tyutin. If you’re looking for two potential guys who might be moved at the deadline to get some new blood into Columbus, it could be one of these gentlemen. Both would look good in Teal, with Hejda being more of a shutdown defender and Tyutin being more a puck mover. The emergence of young Anton Stralman might make Tyutin expendable,  and Tyutin would be my preference.  To snag either of these two guys, it would require Doug Wilson trade someone from his current roster, which according to interviews this week he seems unwilling to do.   We all know Doug Wilson isn’t willing to tip his hand, yet Dudes on Hockey and our friend at ESPN E.J Hradek have been pointing to the Sharks need for an upgrade in the top four that the acquisition of Wallin doesn’t seem to address. Could DW still use his depth up front on the current roster to land a player like Tyutin or Hejda (ed. note: Fear the Fin just posted about a trade for Hejda)?

Take it or leave it, just a little something extra to watch for in tonight’s game. Talk to you tomorrow after I have endured treatment from the Dudes on Hockey training staff, and by that I mean Mike in a little nurse’s outfit and a sponge bath.

On second thought, I’d just rather be sick.