It’s been a hard season for all involved.

But amid the carnage, the Sharks appear to have found another piece to build around. A big piece.

Winger Klim Kostin scored again Monday in the Sharks’ 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken at SAP Center, giving him eight points in 12 games since he came to San Jose on March 8 in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings.

Kostin, at 6-foot-4 and 232 pounds, is the Sharks’ largest player and fits right into general manager Mike Grier’s stated intention of building a team that’s hard to play against and in the opposition’s face. Certainly, Kostin hasn’t been afraid to throw his weight around, with 12 hits in his last six games.

“He’s a big player. He makes plays, he’s physical, he’s good around the net,” Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs said of Kostin. “Plays with a little bit of an edge, which is fun to see. He’s fit in pretty seamlessly.

“He (has some) stink to his game and a bit of snarl, and we like that.”

“I (don’t) really like big hits. I (don’t) really like to hurt guys,” the soft-spoken Kostin said. “But when the game goes that way, we’ve got to answer.”

Kostin had five hits Monday in a sometimes chippy affair with the Kraken. But he’s also showing the type of skill that made him a St. Louis Blues first-round draft pick in 2017.

After being used mostly as a fourth-liner thus far in his NHL career, Kostin is flourishing in a bigger role, as he’s playing with Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund on the Sharks’ top line.

In the second period Monday, Kostin showed his soft hands with a deft deflection of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot that got past Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, bringing the Sharks to within one.

“He’s a hockey player,” Sharks coach David Quinn said of Kostin. “He’s got poise with the puck. He’s not afraid to make a play. If he can’t make a play, he protects it. So there’s a lot to like about him.

“He’s a first-round talent and is making the most of his opportunity.”

Kostin, 25, certainly welcomed a change of scenery after he sat out eight of nine Red Wings games before the trade deadline – even if it was to the NHL’s last-place team.

“Playing with guys like (Granlund and Zetterlund), obviously you’re going to have some points, some goals, and some assists because they’re good players,” Kostn said. “I just feel alive again and enjoying hockey with the Sharks.

“Just want to pay back the coaching (staff for their) trust.”

Why do you feel alive, Kostin was asked.

“Ice time,” Kostin deadpanned, as he’s averaged nearly 15 minutes per game with the Sharks compared to 8:43 with the Red Wings.

“I really hope I can stay here and be a big part of the team,” he added. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here, enjoying the guys, enjoying the staff and everyone on the team.”

Kostin has one more year left on his contract that carries an average annual value of $2 million. He’s one of nine players on the Sharks’ roster right now who are 25 years old or younger.

Up front are William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, Filip Zadina, Zetterlund, and Givani Smith, and the young crowd on the back end includes Mario Ferraro, Calen Addison, and Henry Thrun. More prospects are in the pipeline.

Kostin diagnosed perfectly what the Sharks (17-49-8) need going forward.

“We have a lot of young guys so we’re missing a few, I would say, superstars that we need, like experienced guys,” Kostin said. “We’re building for next season.”

It’ll be a challenge for the rebuilding Sharks to bring in an established superstar for next season. Those kinds of players likely need to be drafted.

But if the Sharks win the NHL Draft Lottery, they will select Macklin Celebrini, a centerman who has drawn comparisons to former Chicago Blackhawks great Jonathan Toews.

In the meantime, Kostin appears to be a player the Sharks would like to have around for a while and be a part of the solution.

“I think his best hockey is ahead of him, for sure,” Quinn said. “He’s got eight games here to finish strong, but it’s going to be a big, big summer for him because I think if he does the things he needs to do and should do this summer, he can make a big jump.”

It proved costly, as the Seattle Kraken most of their damage in the first 20 minutes and handed the Sharks a 4-2 loss before an announced crowd of 11,559 at SAP Center.

The Sharks, coming off a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, allowed goals to Matty Beniers, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Shane Wright and never recovered, as they lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

“You have to be engaged physically if you’re going to give yourself a chance, and we weren’t anything like that in the first 20 minutes,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “It got better in the last 40, but not to the level that we need it to be.”

Monday’s game represented a chance for the Sharks to win back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 22 and 23, when they beat the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers to extend their then-winning streak to three games.

Even after the slow start, the Sharks only trailed 3-2 going into the third period.

With the Sharks down by two, Mikael Granlund controlled the puck behind the Seattle net and sent it back to the point for Calen Addison. The puck then found its way over to Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who fired the puck toward Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer.

The shot was tipped by Klim Kostin past Grubauer, giving him his seventh goal of the season and his fourth since he came to the Sharks on March 8 from the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Radim Simek.

“All year, I think our resilience is something that we pride ourselves on,” Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs said. “Being able to climb back and never say die and keep fighting.”

The Sharks turned the puck over in their own zone, and after he found a soft spot in the Sharks’ end, Beniers took a pass from Bjorkstrand and fired it past Mackenzie Blackwood for a 1-0 Kraken lead.

Bjorkstrand and Wright also scored in the first period for the Kraken, goals sandwiched around a power play marker by Fabian Zetterlund at the 14:19 mark.

Blackwood, making his fourth straight start, made seven saves in the first period and eight more in the second. He finished with 29 saves.

Blackwood had to be terrific in the first period in the Sharks’ last two games as well, as the skaters in front of him could not generate many offensive opportunities. In the first period of both games, they were outchanced, per Natural Stat Trick, 22-5.

“There’s a pattern going on now where we’ve gotten off to bad starts the last three games,” Quinn said. “We have to do a better job of being ready to go at the drop of the puck. You don’t have much of a chance in this league when you’re only playing 40 minutes.”

San Jose lost 3-1 to the Wild, but beat the Blues 4-0, improving as both games went on.

“You don’t want to give up a goal 29 seconds into a game,” Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs said. “It’s not the way you want to start, it doesn’t set the tone well. Obviously, we’re going to have to be better about that moving forward and correct that.”

The other three recalls were goalie Devin Cooley, forward Thomas Bordeleau, and forward/defenseman Jacob MacDonald.

Studnicka, 25, will not play Monday night when the Sharks host the Seattle Kraken, as he flew from Calgary to San Diego with the Barracuda earlier in the day. He is expected to join the Sharks for their practice on Tuesday.

Studnicka played in nine games for the Sharks after he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 15. He did not score but averaged 11:05 in ice time as the Sharks at the time were dealing with injuries to Logan Couture, Nico Sturm, and Ryan Carpenter.

The Sharks are also short centermen now.

Couture is out for the season with a groin injury and Luke Kunin, more of a natural winger, has been playing as the team’s second-line center in recent games after William Eklund was moved back to the wing. Former Sharks No. 1 center Tomas Hertl was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 8.

Studnicka, a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, had 14 points in 27 games with the Barracuda since he was assigned back to the AHL on Jan. 5.  For his NHL career, Studnicka has 16 points in 99 games.

The Sharks can still make emergency recalls from the Barracuda if injuries or illnesses drop the club below 12 available forwards, six available defensemen, or two goalies.

Earlier Monday, the Sharks announced that 2022 first-round draft pick Filip Bystedt, a center, is being reassigned to the Barracuda from Linkoping of the Swedish Hockey League. Bystedt was expected to join the Barracuda on Monday.

The Sharks right now have four players on their roster who are 23 years old or younger. Asked if other younger players in the organization might get a look at the NHL level, Sharks coach David Quinn said, “We’re limited with our call-ups. So we’re going to be a little bit challenged from that end of it. But we’ve got young guys here, and if we could, I’m sure there’d be more. But we are limited to what we can do.”

After Monday, the Sharks (17-48-8) have eight games left, as their current homestand continues with games against Los Angeles on Thursday, St. Louis on Saturday, Arizona on Sunday and Calgary on April 9.

The Sharks announced Monday that the 20-year-old Bystedt has been assigned to the San Jose Barracuda after he spent this season with Linkoping HC of the Swedish Hockey League. Linkoping’s season ended last week, clearing the way for Bystedt to come to the U.S.

Bystedt was expected to join the Barracuda later Monday, but it is unclear when he’ll play in his first AHL game. The team next plays Wednesday in San Diego, followed by games at Coachella Valley and Ontario on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

“It’s valuable anytime you get a chance to come over here at the end of the year and play hockey when you’re coming from Europe,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “There’s an awful lot to it — not just the hockey aspect of it — but the familiarity. So when training camp starts next year, he’s not wondering, ‘Where do I go’ and ‘Who’s who?’ That all matters.

“I know it may not strike people as being part of the adjustment process, but it really is. The familiarity not only on the ice but away from the rink, his month plus here will go a long way for next year and him being comfortable when he gets here.”

Bystedt, chosen 27th overall in 2022, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Sharks on July 12, 2023. He was eligible to play for the Barracuda all season, but general manager Mike Grier said in August that the organization felt Bystedt’s development would be best served by remaining in Sweden.

Unless Bystedt plays 10 NHL games this season, which he will not, his contract will slide until next season and he’ll still have three years left on the deal.

William Eklund, who also spent most of his 19-year-old year in his native Sweden, said the experience Bystedt will gain now should help in the long run.

“He’s going to be good down in the middle,” Eklund said of Bystedt, “and I feel like he’s going to be even better on the small surface because he can use his body even more.

“He’ll obviously use his big frame to be able to play around the net. I feel like he’s a good puck handler. If he can keep playing like that and always be a threat around the net, he’s going to be a really good player.”

Bystedt, 20, had 17 points in 47 games for Linkoping and in four SHL playoff games, had one goal and one assist). For the season, he ranked seventh among under-20 skaters in the SHL points and was sixth in goals.

Bystedt helped Sweden win a silver medal at the 2024 World Juniors, as he had three goals and one assist in seven games.

“He’s very impressive,” Quinn said of Bystedt, who attended the team’s development camp last summer. “He’s got the size, he’s got the poise. There’s a lot to like about him.”

In 2022-23, Bystedt was named the SHL’s Rookie of the Year after finishing third among under-20 skaters in points, behind Leo Carlsson (Anaheim Ducks) and Marco Kasper (Detroit Red Wings prospect).

Bystedt will be the first player from the Sharks’ 2022 draft class, which also includes forward Cameron Lund (Northeastern), and defensemen Mattias Havelid (Linkoping) and Jake Furlong (Halifax) to play in a North American professional game.

There is a chance for Furlong to also join the Barracuda if Halifax loses its first-round QMJHL playoff series against Acadie-Bathurst. Halifax is down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

That’s what happened Saturday night as Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund, and Luke Kunin all scored second-period goals and Mackenzie Blackwood had 36 saves to earn his second shutout of the season as the Sharks posted a 4-0 win over the host St. Louis Blues.

Blackwood, who made 11 saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, earned his first victory since Feb. 15 as the Sharks snapped a nine-game losing streak and significantly dented St. Louis’ playoff hopes.

The Blues (39-31-4), who were booed off the ice at Enterprise Center, remained five points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Blues, which also lost to the Sharks in San Jose on Nov. 16, now have just eight games remaining.

“I don’t think we think too much about,” being a spoiler, Kunin said. “Just worry about ourselves, our own game, and go out and try to win and compete every night.”

The win kept the Sharks (17-48-8) seven points back of Chicago for 31st place in the NHL’s overall standings, as the Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 earlier Saturday.

Chicago has eight games remaining and the Sharks have nine, starting with Monday’s home date with the Seattle Kraken. That starts a five-game homestand in which the Sharks face both the Kings and the Blues again, presenting more opportunities to play spoiler.

“I think we’re more just focused on what’s going on in our own locker room,” Blackwood said. “As long as we’re playing the right way and building towards something, we’re happy.”

Zadina’s goal, his 13th of the season, came off an individual effort as he stole the puck from Zack Bolduc in the corner to the left of the Blues net. He then took a stride to give himself some space before he turned around and fired a shot past St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer at the 8:30 mark of the second period.

After Granlund scored his 12th of the season just 3:35 later, putting in a rebound after a Fabian Zetterlund shot, Kunin gave the Sharks some added insurance in his return to his hometown.

After a Sharks’ dump-in by Henry Thrun, the rolling puck came through the slot in the Blues’ zone, got past Justin Bailey, but came right to Kunin, who beat Hofer high blocker side for his ninth goal of the season. Kunin, 26, is from Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and had several family members in attendance.

“You always try to shoot those rollers. You don’t know how they’re going to come off,” Kunin said. “Always pretty cool to get one with a lot of friends and family in the building.”

Jan Rutta scored an empty netter for the Sharks at the 16:47 mark of the third period to end the Blues’ remote hopes of a comeback.

The Blues are being booed off the ice. #stlblues

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 31, 2024

The second period was a disaster for the Blues, who mustered just three shots, including ones in the first 18 minutes of the period. That led to some boos from the home crowd at the end of the second period as the Blues retreated to the locker room.

“All the things we were doing well in previous games, as far as getting out of our zone on breakouts, we were just not doing any of that,” Kunin said. “Talked it over there after the first and it got a lot better there the rest of the game.”

Blackwood was also solid for the Sharks on Thursday, making 29 saves in San Jose’s 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

“It’s really a carbon copy of what happened (in Minnesota),” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “I thought we were on our heels in the first period and (Blackwood) stood tall, gave us a chance. We got our wits about us and played a much better second period and were opportunistic with our chances.”

Blackwood’s first period Saturday kept the Sharks in the game, as he made stops on six high-danger chances, including ones on Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. His shutout was the 10th of his career.

“Obviously the guys were battling hard, pushing and skating right to the end,” Blackwood said. “(Thursday night) didn’t really go our way. We played hard but we didn’t get the bounces and tonight we did. So it’s nice to be rewarded for that.”

What happened with the Devils this season, though, is not Vanecek’s favorite topic.

“It’s a tough question. They changed a little bit (their) defense. It’s hard to answer this question,” said Vanecek, who the Sharks acquired on March 8 for Kaapo Kahkonen. “I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about New Jersey anymore. I’m in San Jose right now.”

Vanecek, who had a .890 save percentage in 32 games this season behind that leaky Devils defense, likely won’t play for the Sharks until the fall as he rehabilitates a lower-body injury he suffered in February.

Whenever Vanecek is healthy, though, he’ll be with a Sharks team that has to solve its own massive defensive issues.

Going into Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, the Sharks had allowed a league-high 197 goals during 5-on-5 play and were the only NHL team that had allowed more than four goals per game overall.

Last season, the Sharks allowed 220 goals during 5-on-5 play, the third-worst mark in the NHL.

This isn’t necessarily just on the goalies. The Sharks, per moneypuck.com, had also allowed 192 high-danger shots against this season, more than any other team, and their goaltending has been better this season than it was last year.

Per NHL Edge stats, the Sharks spend 44.8% percent of the time at even-strength in the defensive end, well above the league average of 40.7%.

Before the Vanecek trade, San Jose’s team save percentage was .891, with both Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood having solid underlying numbers. Last year, the team save percentage was .881, the worst in the NHL.

The Sharks want to take a step forward and have a better season next year, and it probably has to start with defense.

“Our biggest problem is really puck management in a lot of ways,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “We have a hard time ending plays, which can really cause you trouble. Those are two areas, puck management, and ending plays, that can improve from our end of it and make us a better defensive team.”

The Sharks just finished a three-game homestand in which they were outscored 12-5 during 5-on-5 play. Still, before the wheels fell off, they were tied or leading in two of the three games going into the third period.

For the season, and before Saturday, the Sharks were only 14-12-6 when leading or tied after two periods. That speaks to puck management — and game management.

“They don’t beat themselves,” defenseman Jan Rutta said when asked what the Sharks can learn from recent opponents like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars.

“That’s been the case a lot of times this year when either we played a good game or we had leads, and a lot of times, we just find a way to beat ourselves. Those teams, they make you earn every win and every puck, and I think that’s something we can definitely take from them.”

Also, do the Sharks have the right personnel to make vast improvements on the defensive side?

Getting both center Logan Couture (groin) and defenseman Matt Benning (hip surgery) back healthy next season figures to help, although Couture’s ability to return to 100%, and stay there, is a bit of a question mark.

Better two-way mindsets from the forward group would not hurt, and it’s fair to say the Sharks want to get bigger and more physical on the back end.

Right now, on the blue line, Rutta, Benning, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mario Ferraro, and Kyle Burroughs are all under contract for next season. Henry Thrun, Calen Addison, and Ty Emberson, all still finding their way, are set to become restricted free agents.

But after a season like this, it’s hard to imagine the group staying exactly the same.

So how much change will general manager Mike Grier make as he continues to reshape the roster, and how many of those moves will be made with team defense in mind?

“Defending is a mindset and a mentality,” Quinn said. “It’s learning how to defend at this level. Some guys have to defend differently than others. If you’re 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, 180 pounds, you can’t defend the way a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder does.”

It would appear right now that the Sharks will have a goalie tandem of Vanecek and Blackwood for the start of next season. Quinn and his staff would like to see the goalie group take another step forward, but that will only be possible if the Sharks improve in their end.

“What I see is a rebuild, and for sure, it’s a hard thing,” Vanecek said of the Sharks. “But I think they’re going to go in good direction. It’s going to be good.”

Once again, the third period proved to be the Sharks’ undoing, although this wasn’t a case where they were badly outplayed.

The Sharks allowed an even-strength goal to Matt Boldy just 18 seconds into the third period and were unable to find the equalizer in a 3-1 loss to the Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

An aggressive Wild forecheck after the period’s opening faceoff at center ice created a turnover in the Sharks’ zone.

After the puck came toward the front of the Sharks’ net, Kirill Kaprizov had his shot attempt blocked by Kyle Burroughs, but the puck came straight to Boldy, who was open to score his 25th of the season past Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.

Ryan Hartman scored an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left in the third period to seal the win for Minnesota, which has now lost just once in regulation time in its last 11 games (7-1-3) to keep its faint playoff hopes alive.

Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks and Blackwood finished with 29 saves as San Jose’s record since February’s NHL all-star break fell to 2-16-3. The Sharks had 17 shots in the third period but could not beat Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson a second time.

In third periods and overtime in the nine-game skid, the Sharks have now been outscored 22-1.

Overall, during this most recent losing streak, the Sharks have been outscored 44-20, but Thursday’s effort was one they could potentially build on for Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

“It was a good effort,” Blackwood said. “It’s frustrating because they’re playing hard, playing the right way. The first period didn’t go our way, but I thought they responded well and deserved better than that.”

Badly outplayed in the first period, the Sharks (16-48-8) played with a lot more passion and energy in the second and scored the tying goal at the 9:26 mark.

Taking advantage of a bad Minnesota line change, Granlund took a long pass from Jan Rutta and skated into the Wild’s zone on a Sharks 3-on-1.

Granlund tried to send a centering pass to William Eklund, but the puck hit the stick of defenseman Declan Chisholm and came right back to him, where Granlund batted it past Gustavsson for his 11th goal of the season.

The Sharks looked flat and uninspired from the start, as they were thoroughly outworked by the Wild and outshot 15-1 in the first period. Of Blackwood’s 14 saves, 10 came on the penalty kill, as the Sharks took two minor penalties and were mainly on their heels for the first 20 minutes.

San Jose’s only first-period shot on goal came at the 3:41 mark off the stick of Burroughs.

“I actually thought we were doing some good things physically. But I really felt mentally we were out of it,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “Didn’t really get the mental effort that we did with our physical effort, and the penalties didn’t help us.

“We certainly were fortunate to get out of that period only 1-0.”

The Sharks’ allowed the game’s first goal at the 16:01 mark of the first as they looked somewhat confused in their own end. That allowed Joel Eriksson Ek to get behind the Sharks defense, as he skated between Rutta and Luke Kunin before he took a pass from Kirill Kaprizov and beat Blackwood for his 30th goal of the season.

Instead of the Sharks game being televised on NBC Sports California, the game, which starts at 5 p.m. (PDT), will be on NBC Sports California Plus.

The Oakland A’s season-opening game against the Cleveland Guardians will air on NBC Sports California, starting at 7 p.m.

Here’s where to find NBC Sports California-Plus on various providers.

XFINITY: 105 (Standard definition); 780 (High definition)

AT&T U-Verse: 768 (SD); 1768 (HD)

DirecTV: 698-1 (SD/HD)

Astound: 38 (SD)

Streaming: NBC Sports App

The Sharks’ April 9 game vs. the Calgary Flames will also air on NBC Sports California Plus.

All Sharks regular season games are carried live on the Sharks Audio Network.

The Sharks enter Thursday on an eight-game losing streak and in last place in the NHL’s overall standings with a 16-47-8 record.

Minnesota, which has lost just one of its last 10 games in regulation time, is trying to keep its faint playoff hopes alive. The Wild (34-28-9) enter Thursday with 77 points, nine points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Sharks lost to the Wild 4-3 on March 3. After tonight, the two teams also play on April 13 in San Jose in the season-series finale.

Barabanov was injured Tuesday as he blocked a shot in the second period of the Sharks’ home game against the Dallas Stars. Barabanov did not play in the third period as the Sharks lost 6-3, marking their eighth straight defeat.

Barabanov, who was spotted wearing a protective boot after Tuesday’s game, did not travel to Minnesota as the Sharks begin a two-game road trip against the Wild on Thursday. San Jose also plays in St. Louis on Saturday night.

Even though the Sharks only have 10 games and three weeks left in the regular season after Thursday, Quinn did not want to rule Barabanov out from returning to the team.

“As far as the rest of the season, hopefully, he can get better this week,” said Quinn, who declined to say whether Barabanov had an X-ray on the injured area. “When we say week-to-week, hopefully, it’s just this week and not the following week.”

Barabanov had 48 points in 67 games with the Sharks last season but was never able to find a rhythm offensively this season, as he has just 13 points in 46 games.

Injuries and illness played a role, as Barabanov broke his finger while blocking a shot in an Oct. 24 game in Florida and missed the next six weeks. He then tested positive for COVID before Christmas and missed two games.

Barabanov appeared to be on his way out of San Jose before the NHL trade deadline on March 8 as he was held out of the Sharks’ lineup for a game the night before against the New York Islanders.

However, with the Sharks retaining salary in the trade that saw Tomas Hertl go to the Vegas Golden Knights, the team was unable to keep any money on their books for any other deals. That reportedly caused a Barabanov trade to the New York Rangers to fall through.

NHL teams are only allowed to retain salary on three players, and the Sharks already had two of those spots taken up in the trades that saw Brent Burns go to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022 and Erik Karlsson go to the Pittsburgh Penguins last year.

Quinn felt Barabanov was playing some of his best hockey of the season after the deadline, as the forward had a goal and two assists in eight games while averaging close to 15 minutes of ice time.

“It was injuries that I think played a major role in (his slow start),” Quinn said, “and then all of a sudden the season starts getting away from you. When you get back in the lineup, you probably get away from doing the things you need to do.

“I really thought he was playing his best hockey before he got hurt.”

Barabanov, who will turn 30 in June, is in the final year of a two-year, $5 million contract. In four NHL seasons, Barabanov has 107 points in 206 games, averaging 16:39 in ice time.

LINEUP CHANGES: Quinn said both Kevin Labanc and Mike Hoffman will return to the Sharks’ lineup Thursday after lengthy absences. They take the places of Barabanov and Jacob MacDonald, who will be a healthy scratch.

Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood will start Thursday’s game.

Hoffman missed eight straight games after he suffered a concussion against the Ottawa Senators on March 9 when he was hit from behind by Brady Tkachuk. Hoffman has been skating regularly with the Sharks in recent days as he’s waited for his symptoms to fully subside.

Labanc, who had just nine points in 41 games before Thursday, had been a healthy scratch for the last four Sharks games. Both he and Hoffman, like Barabanov, are pending UFA’s.

“Obviously, you lose 6-3 and play the way we did, it gave us an opportunity to make a change,” Quinn said. “It’s not so much on what (MacDonald) didn’t do, but, to me, you’ve got to give these guys a chance to get back in and play some hockey that allows them to stay in the lineup.”

For Labanc, Quinn said, that means, “the same stuff we’ve talked about all year long. Consistency, productivity, with or without the puck.”

Labanc said earlier this week he hasn’t had much communication with Quinn about when he might get into the lineup again, adding there’s, “nothing more to elaborate on that.”

“I’m kind of past it. It is what it is,” Labanc said. “We’ve got 12 games left. Do what you can and control you can, on the ice and off the ice. Just support the boys. It’s always fun being in the locker room with these guys. So I’m just enjoying my time with them.”

The growth they’ve seen from three of their younger forwards has to be considered one of the more encouraging developments.

Thomas Bordeleau, William Eklund, and Klim Kostin combined for two goals and two assists Tuesday in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars at SAP Center. It was San Jose’s eighth straight defeat, cementing its status right now as the NHL’s worst team.

But in the 10 games the Sharks have played since the trade deadline when both Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair were shipped to contending teams, Eklund and Bordeleau have six and seven points, respectively, and have also shown they can play a responsible two-way game while providing some needed energy.

Kostin, acquired from the Detroit Red Wings, has seven points in nine games and has found a home on San Jose’s top line with Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund.

Their performances do not overshadow the fact that the Sharks are a dismal 1-7-1 since the March 8 trade deadline, or that they’re 2-15-3 since Feb. 14. But it does provide some hope that Eklund, 21, Bordeleau, 22, and Kostin, 24, can be a part of the solution going forward, with all three under team control for several more years.

“I really like those kids, the way they want to go about their business, how they want to get better every single day,” Sharks alternate captain Mikael Granlund said of Eklund and Bordeleau.

On Kostin, acquired for defenseman Radim Simek, Sharks coach David Quinn said, “I like a lot about Klim. He protects (the puck), he holds it. He’s got a lot of qualities that we like. He’s big, he’s strong. He’s been a good addition for us.”

“I didn’t really know too much about him,” Granlund said of Kostin. “I’ve been really surprised by him. He’s been great for us.”

Eklund has started the last few games as a winger on the Sharks’ fourth line, down from being a second-line center. While some younger players might have pouted about playing a smaller role, Eklund has almost used it as fuel and has had some of his stronger games this month.

Against the Stars, Eklund was moved up to the second line to play with Luke Kunin and Barabanov, and finished with 18:32 of ice time.

“I liked his game,” Quinn said of Eklund. “I thought he kind of continued on the trajectory he was going over the last three or four games, so I thought he deserved an opportunity to move forward here and play with (Barabanov) and (Kunin).”

Bordeleau is the Sharks’ leading goal scorer with five since he was recalled from the AHL on March 6. But that’s not what has impressed Quinn the most about the forward’s play of late.

“He’s playing NHL hockey. It’s not just about points,” Quinn recently said of Bordeleau. “He’s put himself in good positions defensively, managing the puck and not chasing offense.

“He’s playing real big boy hockey. It’s great to see him get rewarded.”

Bordeleau had a tough start to the season and perhaps wasn’t put in the best position to succeed.

The Sharks needed centermen after Logan Couture and Granlund both missed games in October with injuries. But Bordelwau wasn’t quite ready to handle a middle-six center role in the NHL right away, and the Sharks sent him back to the Barracuda and made him a winger.

The move seemed to allow Bordeleau a chance to find out what was going to make him successful as a professional.

“I feel confident out there. I feel good. I’m dialed in,” Bordeleau said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work this year.

“I’m just happy to finally be able to show what I can really do and kind of play more of my style of play a little bit but within the structure and within the system. I’m more comfortable bringing in my game within the all-around game of the NHL. It’s just fun to be a part of that.”

Quinn is excited to see where Bordeleau can take his game from here.

“I get the feeling he’s not doing it because we’re telling him to do it. I get the feeling he’s doing it because he understands ‘OK, this is how I have to play if I’m going to play in the National Hockey League,’” Quinn said. “I think he’s taking pride in it.”

There’s bound to be more roster turnover with the Sharks this offseason, but Kostin, Bordeleau, and Eklund are part of a 25-and-under crowd that the team’s front office hopes to build around as some of the team’s younger prospects come into the organization in the next year or two.

“The young guys, they’ve been buzzing since the deadline,” Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta said. “There’s been more for ice time to go around and you can see how their confidence is growing. That’s exciting to watch.”

NOTE: Barabanov was seen walking in a boot after Tuesday’s game as he was injured while blocking a shot. The severity of the injury was not immediately known, Quinn said, adding that he wasn’t sure whether Barabanov would be able to go on the San Jose’s brief road trip that concludes Saturday in St. Louis.