Earlier today, beat writer for the San Jose Sharks, Max Miller, shared a few injury updates from the team. According to head coach Ryan Warsofsky, defensemen Jack Thompson and Lucas Carlsson, as well as forward Egor Afanasyev, all skated with the rehab group today and are close to returning.
The former two won’t have any impact on the Sharks’ roster upon their return, as neither blueliner cracked San Jose’s opening night roster out of camp. Still, Thompson would likely be a top recall candidate if the Sharks run into any early injury trouble on the blue line, given he scored four goals and 10 points in 31 games for the team last season, averaging 15:47 of ice time per game.
Afanasyev is more of a question mark. He’s in his first year back in the North American professional circuit after spending one season with the KHL’s CSKA Moskva, scoring seven goals and 21 points in 53 games. Given that he’s on the regular injured reserve as opposed to the non-roster injured reserve, it stands to reason that Afanasyev will join the Sharks when healthy. Still, despite the rebuilding nature of the roster, San Jose doesn’t have a ton of places to put him unless he takes a fourth-line role.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Already missing Dylan Samberg for the first month of the regular season, the Winnipeg Jets could be without another piece from their blue line. In today’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, according to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, defenseman Haydn Fleury sustained a lower-body injury and didn’t return for the third period. Later in the afternoon, Murat Ates of The Athletic provided added context to Fleury’s injury, indicating that he took a puck off the side of his kneecap.
- Despite getting the win against the Calgary Flames, the St. Louis Blues were missing a forward in this afternoon’s matchup. Before the drop of the puck, Lou Korac of The Hockey News reported that Alexey Toropchenko is dealing with upper-body and lower-body soreness, causing his absence. Considering the type of injury, there is no reason to expect any long-term issues.
Hell of an entertaining game tonight, Between San Jose, And Anaheim.