The San Jose Sharks are set to place winger Egor Afanasyev on injured reserve, per Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka. Pashelka clarified that Afanasyev’s injury is expected to be short-term. The report was seconded by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.
Despite reports of an IR move, the exact nature of Afanasyev’s injury hasn’t been clarified. He sat out of the Sharks’ Saturday loss to the Utah Mammoth, but had a standout performance in the team’s Friday win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Afanasyev scored his first goal, and point, of the preseason in that Friday matchup – his third preseason appearance. He hasn’t skated since. A move to IR would force him out of the lineup for the first two weeks of the NHL season. San Jose could face a decision on the other side of that, with Afanasyev one of many bubble players on the team’s training camp roster.
The 24-year-old winger was set to return to the KHL’s CSKA Moscow for a second year this season, but decided to return to North America when an opportunity to sign with the San Jose Sharks opened up. He played a full season in the KHL last year, marked by nine goals and 25 points in 59 games. That was a surprising dip in scoring after Afanasyev posted an impressive 63 points, split as 32 goals and 31 assists, in 71 games of the 2023-24 AHL season. He hasn’t yet found a way to stick in the NHL despite that hot stick. He scored just one point – a goal – in 19 career appearances with the Nashville Predators, and will get his first chance to play NHL minutes outside of the organization should he stick in the Sharks lineup.