SAN JOSE — The whole idea behind relocating the Sharks’ AHL franchise from Worcester, Mass to San Jose was simplifying the process of moving players between the development league and the NHL.

But when the injury bug hit the Sharks last week, the team’s first two recalls of the 2015-16 season — Nikolay Goldobin and Bryan Lerg — had to fly all the way across the country to the East Coast to join the big club in New Jersey and New York.

Fortunately for the Sharks, the Barracuda’s move to San Jose finally paid off with some easy player movement on Wednesday.

After returning home from a four-game road trip to the East Coast, the Sharks went to work on the transaction wire, reassigning defenseman Dylan DeMelo and forwards Goldobin and Lerg to the Barracuda on Wednesday, while recalling defenseman Mirco Mueller and forward Micheal Haley.

Mueller, who earned a roster spot with the Sharks out of training camp last season, said he benefited from playing three games with the Barracuda.

“Just in general, getting more responsibility than a young guy does up here [in the NHL] helps. Just playing a bunch, power play, a lot of ice time five-on-five,” Mueller said. “There are some good players there, too, in the AHL. It’s been the right call for me, just long term getting some game time in and now I’m ready for tomorrow.”

Last season, Mueller suited up for 22 of the Sharks first 24 games before sitting out 41 of their remaining 58 contests because of his participation in the World Junior Championships, a broken thumb and inconsistent play.

By the end of the season, Mueller’s development appeared to have been hindered by all the time that he’d spent up in the press box instead of on the ice.

After getting cut from the big team following training camp this year, Mueller quickly realized that the move could help his game.

“Obviously, you’re disappointed not making the team when you did last year or the year before. Once a couple hours went by, I knew I could be back up any day,” Mueller said. “I just played my game, and got a lot of ice time on the power play, too. That helped me getting back into game shape. I hadn’t played a game in a long time since I broke my thumb. It was really good getting back into it.”

Head coach Peter DeBoer suggested the key to Mueller’s success in the NHL is developing confidence in his world-class skating ability. Oftentimes last season, Mueller would hesitate to bring the puck up the ice, looking to pass rather than beating his man to the line.

“Mirco’s biggest asset is his feet,” DeBoer said, adding: “He’s such a good skater to be more aggressive on the ice, because he has the ability to recover. That’s one of the things we sent him back to work on. Hopefully, we see some of that.”

Mueller’s left-handed shot should also compliment Matt Tennyson’s game. Tennyson is a right-handed defenseman, and so is DeMelo, who was his partner on Monday, so pairing up a lefty with a righty makes sense for the young blue liners.

“In a perfect world you love left-right setups on all three units,” DeBoer said. “I’m a big believer in it helps you move pucks that way. It’s not realistic that you’re always going to have that ability. You’re not going to take a lesser player because of their shot, for the most part. But it’s definitely an advantage.”

Haley Gives Sharks A Physical Presence Against Kings: After collecting six points in three games with the Barracuda, Haley received a call up on Wednesday, taking Lerg’s spot in the middle of the Sharks fourth line.

While Haley has been melting the ice on the Barracuda’s top line, he’ll be performing a different role when the Sharks take on the Los Angeles Kings at the SAP Center on Thursday.

“The difference is smarter plays,” Haley said. “When you’re in the fourth line role, you don’t want to turn the puck over. We want to play behind their D and force turnovers the other way — that’s the only difference. Down there, I can try and make a play, hold onto the puck a little longer, whereas here, it’ll be get it behind their D and we’ll start a forecheck.”

After a rough-and-tumble season opener against the Kings on Oct. 7, which produced a pair of fights, a questionable hit by Dustin Brown on Logan Couture and a match penalty to Milan Lucic, Haley’s physicality should be an asset.

And that’s the type of hockey the 29-year-old forward likes to play.

“Obviously, playing against a Western Conference team you know it’s going to be a rough game, that’s fine with me,” Haley said. “That’s how I play, always have. I’d like to keep their D honest and try and get some turnovers.”