Interesting news out of San Jose as the NHL’s Sharks have loaned former Silvertips defenseman Mirco Mueller to Switzerland for the World Junior Hockey Championships.
World Juniors-eligible NHL players aren’t always loaned to their national teams for the tournament. The way it usually works is if an underage player isn’t getting a regular shift with his NHL team, there’s a good chance he’ll be loaned out for World Juniors so he can get some ice time. But if the player is getting somewhat regular playing time, his NHL team isn’t interested in losing him for three weeks.
Therefore, Mueller being loaned to Switzerland indicates his current status with the Sharks. One look at his game log confirms that as Mueller has been a healthy scratch in six of the past nine games, so you could see this coming.
But all of that presents a question:
@NickHPatterson With Mueller going to World Jrs, &healthy scratch in 6 of past 9, plus SJ carrying 8 D-men…any chance they send him back?
— Nick Paredes (@npthree) December 19, 2014
Mueller is still eligible to be returned to Everett. At 19 years old he’s ineligible to play in the minors, so if the Sharks decide he isn’t going to play enough for San Jose and needs more ice time, Everett is the only option. It doesn’t happen often that an NHL a player is returned to juniors this late in the season, because by this point they’ve already burned the first year of their entry-level contract. But it does happen — Matt Dumba was reassigned to Portland following World Juniors last season.
Mueller has the added complication of being an import. Everett already has its two import roster spots filled by Russian forwards Nikita Scherbak and Ivan Nikolishin. Portland found itself in this situation with Nino Niederreiter several years back, and the way it was framed then was that if Niederreiter was returned after the trade deadline, the Winterhawks could keep three Euros. Niederreiter ended up staying in the NHL, so the rule was never tested. This season’s trade deadline is Jan. 10, less than a week after World Juniors ends. So if the rule is still the same — I have no idea if it is — then it’s possible the Tips could end up with Mueller without having to get rid of one of the Russians.
But what are the chances of all this happening?
@npthree I wouldn’t count on it, but it certainly makes one think, doesn’t it?
— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) December 19, 2014
I doubt Mueller gets sent back. There’s no hints or suggestions out of San Jose that it might happen. I haven’t heard any chatter around the Tips in that regard. I would be surprised if Mueller was reassigned, but I was surprised when Mueller stuck in the NHL in the first place.
If nothing else, it gives us something to keep our minds occupied during the WHL’s Christmas break.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
