The San Jose Sharks have activated defenseman Radim Simek off of injured reserve. Simek hasn’t seen the ice in 2023 yet for the Sharks, so with this activation, he’ll get his chance to return to coach David Quinn’s lineup.
The 30-year-old Czech blueliner has appeared in nearly 200 career NHL games and has seen the ice 31 times for the Sharks this season. He’s registered two points in that span, averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time per game. Within those fifteen-or-so minutes typically comes around a minute of shorthanded ice time per game.
Simek has been with the Sharks organization since 2017-18, the season when he was plucked from the Czech Extraliga after having an extremely successful final two seasons with Bili Tygri Liberec. He’s dealt with quite a few injuries during his time in the Bay Area, and while he’s certainly not been bad when he’s been healthy the lack of consistent availability has been a lingering issue throughout his career in North America.
The Sharks currently have Scott Harrington, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mario Ferraro, and Jacob MacDonald in the lineup as left-shot blueliners, so it’s not immediately clear where Simek fits in the lineup picture just yet. But getting him back into game shape after a relatively lengthy injury is certainly a positive development for the Sharks.