While Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson is officially listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, there appears to be some cause for concern. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that the blueliner and San Jose team doctors will be meeting to discuss their options as to how to proceed. That would seem to imply a rehab versus surgery discussion and neither of those are particularly appealing for Karlsson who has been having somewhat of a resurgent season to this point. The 31-year-old has 26 points in 33 games, his best point-per-game average since 2018-19. With San Jose narrowly holding into the final Wild Card spot in the West, losing Karlsson for any notable period of time would make their playoff push a lot tougher.
More from the Pacific:
- Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler has cleared COVID protocol and is set to rejoin Anaheim on their road trip in Boston, relays Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The activation means that Anaheim has just two players remaining that are in the protocol in goaltender Anthony Stolarz and defenseman Josh Manson. As for Fowler, he leads all Ducks defenders in ice time per game at just under 24 minutes a night while chipping in with 20 points in 39 contests so his return will certainly be a welcome one.
- After being listed as being out day-to-day with a non-COVID illness, Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times (Twitter link) that defenseman Jamie Oleksiak is now dealing with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old is logging just shy of 20 minutes a night with the expansion squad while picking up a goal and ten assists in 37 games while tying for the team lead in hits with 105.