Celebrini said to be OK after exiting practice, but fellow Sharks forward to miss time

SAN JOSE — San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini is expected to be OK after he left Tuesday’s practice early with what was described as a minor lower-body ailment. But fellow forward Thomas Bordeleau’s health outlook is not quite as benign.

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Bordeleau sustained a lower-body injury in a recent practice and is now considered more week-to-week, jeopardizing the skilled winger’s chances of making the team’s 23-man roster for the start of the regular season.

Bordeleau sat out the Sharks’ first preseason game on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center and did not skate Tuesday before the team hosted the Anaheim Ducks in the second of its six preseason games.

The Sharks play in Anaheim on Thursday then close the preseason with games against Utah, Anaheim, and Vegas early next month, with the game against the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 5. Bordeleau will likely need to get into at least one of those games to show he’s healthy enough to play once the regular season begins, as NHL teams need to finalize season-opening rosters by Oct. 7.

Warsofsky said it’ll be “close” as to whether Bordeleau, who has played in 43 career NHL games, will be ready to open the season.

“It’s really frustrating (for him), right? He’s had a good camp, and he was going to get in some games here,” Warsofsky said. “This is a part of his career and his path of some adversity that he’s going to go up against and let’s see how he responds. I know Bordy will do everything he can to get back and get healthy.

“We don’t think it’s severe, like a long-term thing. So hopefully, every day gets a little better, and maybe it’s sooner.”

Bordeleau, now in his third full professional season, is competing to be one of the 13 or 14 forwards chosen for the Sharks roster. He remains waiver-exempt, so the Sharks can assign him to the  Barracuda without risking losing him to another team.

Bordeleau played 27 games for the Sharks last season, splitting time between the NHL and the Barracuda of the AHL. After the Sharks recalled him from the AHL on March 7 of last season, Bordeleau, who moved over to the wing last season after starting his pro career as a center, played in all 21 of the team’s games down the stretch, scoring nine points and averaging 15:34 in ice time.

“For the past two years I’ve been able to play in the NHL, play in the AHL, but this season, I really want to make a statement,” Bordeleau said Saturday, “and show people what I can do for a full year.”

Bordeleau, drafted 38th overall by the Sharks in 2020, recently said his body felt as healthy now as it had in at least two years after dealing with various injuries. Bordeleau’s offseason included training to improve his skating, strength, and overall explosiveness, which were noticeable in camp.

“The past two years, I haven’t been the healthiest body-wise,” Bordeleau said Saturday. “It was good to kind of get to ground zero this summer and start from the bottom and just really re-program kind of my whole skating (stride), and now fully healthy and fully ready to go.”

If Bordeleau has to start the year on injured reserve or with the Barracuda to get up to speed, the competition for one of the final few forward spots will become much more acute. Collin Graf, Givani Smith, Filip Bystedt, Ethan Cardwell, Danil Gushchin — and others — would seem to be in the mix for those precious spots.

“You go up and down the lineup, there’s competition to be on our team,” Warsofsky said. “There’s competition for playing big-time minutes. There’s competition for power play, penalty kill. There’s competition if you go down to the Barracuda to be the first guy called up.”

Celebrini practiced with others who weren’t playing Tuesday against the Ducks. That non-game group did drills for the first half of practice, followed by 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 scrimmages. Celebrini did not appear under duress when he left the ice before the scrimmages began.

“He’ll be fine,” Warsofsky said, adding that he expects Celebrini to practice Wednesday.

BENNING UPDATE: Defenseman Matt Benning, who had hip surgery in December, practiced again Tuesday and is on track to play in a preseason game, Warsofsky said.

CARLSSON UPDATE: Defenseman Lucas Carlsson, signed to a two-year, two-way contract by the Sharks in July, is still recovering from offseason surgery for an unspecified lower-body injury. Asked if Carlsson, 27, will be ready for the start of the Barracuda’s camp next month, Warsofsky could not say for sure. Carlsson has played in 60 NHL games in his six previous seasons of North American pro hockey.

OTHER INJURIES: Defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov remained off the ice through the fifth straight day of training camp. Vlasic is dealing with an upper-body ailment, and Mukhamadullin and Askarov have lower-body injuries.

The Sharks have been mum about when the three injured players might be able to return, only labeling them as day-to-day. Captain Logan Couture (osteitis pubis) will start the season on IR.

ON THE MEND: Forward Igor Chernyshov, selected 33rd overall by the Sharks in June — two months before he underwent a Latarjet Procedure (shoulder repair surgery) — is in San Jose but remains out long-term, Warsofsky said.