The NHL trade deadline passed Wednesday, and Sharks general manager Doug Wilson decided to stand pat.

"There were a couple of players we had been talking about that we didn't know if their teams were going to move them or not, and then they decided not to," Wilson said.

Wilson, who had been in the market for a solid defenseman, acquired Niclas Wallin from the Carolina Hurricanes for that role on Feb. 7 rather than take his chances right at the deadline.

"We knew that if we waited, the price would go up, and I think you saw that reflected today," said Wilson, who characterized the 29 deals that did take place as "adjustments and tweaking."

While the general manager said the lack of activity was a compliment to both the players in the locker room and prospects in Worcester, he also acknowledged that lack of salary-cap space was also a factor.

He also noted that there were significant differences between the current team and the one that was eliminated in the first-round of the playoffs last spring.

"Since the end of last year, we've picked up 12 new players," Wilson said, "so we've had a lot of changes to this point."

So how did players interpret the lack of any deals today?

"It's a message that we have a good team and all the tools to go forward," goalie Evgeni Nabokov said, adding that when things don't go well there won't be outside help, and "we better figure it out in this locker room."

In recent

years, the Sharks have been among the more active teams at the trade deadline. Two years ago, they acquired defenseman Brian Campbell from the Buffalo Sabres and last year picked up forward Travis Moen and defenseman Kent Huskins from the Anaheim Ducks.

  • Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said Wednesday that his recovery from a Jan. 28 knee injury has reached the point that he hopes to be able to start skating again by the end of this week.

    "I'm getting closer and closer," Vlasic said. "I haven't had any problems."

    Vlasic wouldn't put a date on his return to the lineup, but Wilson said he expected the defenseman to see action in 10 or 11 regular-season games before the playoffs begin.

    The knee injury occurred when Vlasic got tied up by the stick of Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.

    "I tried to get out of it, and as I turned, my knee and leg kind of went one way, and I went the other," he said. "It wasn't his fault. It just happened. He didn't even hit me. It's too bad, but things like that happen."

  • The two games were 17 days apart because of the Olympic break, but the Sharks' 4-3 defeat Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils marked the first time all season the team had suffered regulation losses in consecutive games.

    San Jose's final game before the break was a 3-1 loss in Buffalo.

  • Nabokov's goalie mask now sports a new design, one that features Neptune with long flowing hair and beard rising out of the ocean.

    "The first time I saw it, I thought it looked like (Mike) Ricci," the goalie joked.

    Nabokov credited assistant athletic trainer Wes Howard with the new design that also features sharks, and on the protection on the back of his head features the state seal of California.

    "We thought for a while it was time to get something new," Nabokov said, "and Wes came up with this."

    For more on the Sharks, see David Pollak's Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks. Contact him at 408-920-5940.