SAN JOSE — Pete DeBoer spelled out just how hard it will be for the Sharks to knock off the Edmonton Oilers in a potential seven-game playoff series.
When asked why he gave Tomas Hertl the dispiriting assignment of going head-to-head with Oilers phenom Connor McDavid in the Sharks 4-2 loss Thursday, DeBoert bluntly replied: “because our other two centermen aren’t really centermen.”
Hertl, the 23-year-old Czech, is the best of the Sharks “real centermen” right now because Logan Couture, who would normally draw the McDavid assignment, is still recovering from a gruesome-facial injury and Joe Thornton is resting his injured left knee.