Kirsch Decommits From UMass
- Sharks prospect Christian Kirsch has decommitted from UMass and his recruitment process has reopened, reports Brad Elliott Schlossmann of the Grand Forks Herald (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2024 and he spent last season in the USHL before coming to OHL Kitchener this season. With them, he has a 2.54 GAA and a .900 SV% in 18 games.
San Jose Sharks Reassign Pavol Regenda, Set To Activate Jeff Skinner
The San Jose Sharks announced today that forward Pavol Regenda has been reassigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky told the media, including San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, that veteran forward Jeff Skinner will be activated off of injured reserve and dressed for the Sharks’ game Friday in Dallas against the Stars.
Regenda was recalled on Monday when the Sharks placed Vincent Desharnais on injured reserve. He ended up playing in both of the Sharks’ games during his time on their NHL roster, and he found a way to make his mark in each.
Regenda scored a power play goal early in the Sharks’ Monday win over the Utah Mammoth. Regenda scored a similar goal late in the Sharks’ 7-1 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. Regenda averaged 12:43 time on ice per game in this two-game recall, although just 8:56 of that average came at even strength. Regenda averaged nearly four minutes per game on the power play.
While Regenda would surely have liked for his recall to extend a little bit longer, it’s hard to classify his most recent stay on the NHL roster as anything other than a success due to his goal-scoring. The 25-year-old has been a productive AHL player since crossing the Atlantic to sign with the Anaheim Ducks in 2022.
The former Slovak Extraliga star has scored 107 points in 195 career AHL games, a 40-point 72-game scoring pace. Standing 6’3″, 219 pounds, Regenda offers size and some scoring touch in a depth role, which is likely why he was counted on as a sporadic call-up option during his time with the Ducks.
Regenda signed with San Jose this past summer as a Group Six unrestricted free agent, and got a hefty $400K guarantee on his contract. While he’ll now return to making his $350K AHL salary, this recall not only provided Regenda with a brief pay bump, but it also helped him pave the way for more extensive (and lucrative) stays on the NHL roster down the line.
What appears to have cost Regenda his spot on San Jose’s NHL roster is the return of Skinner from IR. Skinner, 33, is playing out a one-year, $3MM deal with the Sharks. He scored 16 goals and 29 points in 72 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season, and currently has seven points in 17 games this season.
Skinner has been out since Nov. 13 with a lower-body injury, an injury that cost him the chance to play in 10 games. When he returns to the lineup, he’ll play on the third line alongside Collin Graf and Ty Dellandrea, and should likely step into Regenda’s vacated power play role as well.
Photos courtesy of David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Capitals’ Justin Sourdif, John Carlson Out With Injury
The Washington Capitals declared forward Justin Sourdif and defenseman John Carlson as out just minutes before Wendseday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Sourdif was a game-time decision and missed warmups. He has a lower-body injury sustained late in Tuesday’s win over Los Angeles. Carlson took warmups but was ultimately forced out by an upper-body injury.
The Capitals returned Nic Down to the lineup in Sourdif’s absence. Dowd was activated off of injured reserve earlier in the day after missing the last eight games with a lower-body injury. He scored five points in 19 games before sustaining the injury. Chisholm has one point, two penalty minutes, and a plus-one in 10 games. He has operated as Washington’s extra defender all year, after posting 12 points and a minus-five in 66 games with the Minnesota Wild last season.
Sourdif is in the midst of a four-game scoring drought after posting four points in four games in mid-November. Even in that slump, he has earned upwards of 17 and 18 minutes of ice time in recent games. He’s beginning to carve out a prominent role in the Capitals’ bottom-six after joining the team in a summer trade that sent a second-round and sixth-round pick back to the Florida Panthers.
Even at 36, Carlson has remained a star defender for the Capitals. He has 23 points in 26 games this season, tied with Jakob Chychrun for most on the blue-line. Carlson has also recorded a plus-10, 38 blocked shots, and 59 shots on goal. He and Chychrun give Washington two strong offensive-defensemen on two different pairings – a big part of what’s earned the Capitals the fourth-most goals (91) in the NHL this season.
San Jose Sharks Assign Michael Misa On Conditioning Loan
The San Jose Sharks are close to returning this past summer’s second-overall pick to the active roster. The Sharks announced they’ve placed Michael Misa on the team’s long-term injured reserve, and have assigned him to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda on a conditioning stint.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that Misa will return to the Sharks’ lineup by the end of the conditioning loan, though it is a workaround to the current rules regarding CHL-drafted 18-year-olds playing in the AHL. If the Sharks were to activate Misa and reassign him, he would have to play for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit instead of the Barracuda.
After scoring 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games for the Spirit last season, there’s little development available for Misa in the OHL. Still, considering how sheltered he was during his first few games in the NHL, and the subsequent lower-body injury that’s kept him sidelined since early November, sticking the rest of the year out in the NHL may not be the best avenue for his development, either.
Regardless, aside from Macklin Celebrini, it’s par for the course in how San Jose has treated their top prospects at the NHL level. Last season, in the first month of the season, Will Smith had registered only two goals through his first nine games, averaging 13:32 of ice time per night. That’s eerily similar to Misa, who’s scored one goal and three points in seven games, managing an ATOI of 11:44.
Smith’s usage had dramatically changed by the end of the season, as the former fourth-overall pick scored five goals and eight points in nine games, averaging 20:44 of action. There’s no guarantee that they’ll do the same with Misa, though it’s confirmation that the Sharks have been slowplaying their upper-level prospects throughout the course of a season.
Despite the open debate on whether Misa is better suited in the OHL or sheltered NHL minutes, it’s objectively better that he’s healthy and back to playing in some capacity. Given that he placed him on LTIR beforehand, the Sharks will now have six days or three games, whichever is longer, to make a longer-term decision on Misa’s immediate future. Additionally, they can request an extension on the conditioning stint that would allow them nine days or five games.
Sharks’ Vincent Desharnais Week-To-Week, Pavol Regenda Recalled
12/2: Vincent Desharnais will be out week-to-week, per Max Miller, San Jose Beat Reporter with the upper-body injury. He has missed the last three games, and the IR placement is retroactive to his last appearance on Nov. 26.
12/1: The Sharks announced Monday they’ve placed defenseman Desharnais on injured reserve and recalled winger Pavol Regenda from AHL San Jose in a corresponding move. Their active roster remains full.
The 29-year-old stay-at-home righty is arguably having the best season of his four-year NHL career. He’s only got two assists through 20 games but has been San Jose’s second-best shutdown defender behind Mario Ferraro, posting a +1 rating and a 2.12 GA/60 at 5-on-5. That second mark is third-best on the team overall among qualified skaters. He also ranks sixth in shots against per 60 (29.17), fourth in expected goals against per 60 (2.45), and second in scoring chances against per 60 (25.17).
Desharnais features alongside Ferraro on the Sharks’ top penalty kill and has spent most of his time at even-strength in third-pairing duties sheltering rookie Sam Dickinson. They’ve been the Sharks’ best pairing at controlling expected goals with a 56.9 xGF% at 5-on-5. He’s a notable loss if he’s to miss significant time, particularly as the Sharks have cooled off to the tune of a 4-5-0 record in their last nine games.
Regenda comes up to ensure the Sharks have 12 forwards for tonight against Utah. He could make his Sharks debut if Adam Gaudette, who Max Miller of NHL.com reports is questionable due to illness, can’t go. Regenda, 26 next week, was acquired from the Ducks in exchange for Justin Bailey midway through last season but played out the year in the AHL after his pickup. Anaheim initially brought him over as an undrafted free agent out of Slovakia in 2022 and, while he could have tested Group VI unrestricted free agency last summer, opted to return to San Jose on a two-way deal.
Since being acquired by the Sharks, the 6’4″, 212-lb Regenda has a 12-20–32 scoring line in 55 AHL appearances, including seven points in 19 games this year. He has 19 games of NHL experience, all with Anaheim, but hasn’t seen the top level since March 2024. He has one career goal with a pair of assists alongside a -4 rating. He’s not much more than a fourth-line plug-in call-up option but provides a physical edge should the Sharks need one.
Latest On Alexander Wennberg
- San Jose beat reporter Max Miller updated that center Alexander Wennberg sustained an upper-body injury in last night’s win over Utah, and he will be questionable for tomorrow against Washington. Wennberg, 31, was brought in by San Jose to hold down a second line center spot at a favorable $5MM. Now, a pending UFA, he could be an eventual trade target in the Sharks’ player recycling strategy of sorts, which has paid off consistently. The Swede has 13 points in 27 games, not yet missing a contest this season.
Sharks Recall Vincent Iorio From Conditioning Loan
Defenseman Vincent Iorio is once again available to suit up for the Sharks after spending the last two weeks with AHL San Jose on a conditioning loan, the team announced. Since players on conditioning loans still count against the active roster, no corresponding move is required.
It hardly comes as a surprise. Yesterday marked two weeks since San Jose announced Iorio’s conditioning loan, the maximum length for the maneuver. Iorio is a new face to the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Capitals in October. He made Washington’s opening night roster out of concern that the club would lose him on waivers during the preseason rush if they decided to sneak him through then. After scratching him for their first four games, the Caps attempted to sneak Iorio through waivers, but their plan failed.
The intrigue from a team on the rise, lacking young right-shot defenders, was more than understandable. The 6’4″, 220-lb rearguard was a second-round pick in 2021 and had been knocking on the door of an everyday role with the Capitals until a disappointing campaign last year with AHL Hershey delayed his emergence. Still, he’s struggled to find a regular role with the Sharks. He suited up in six straight contests after being claimed, but didn’t put together a great body of work with a -3 rating and three shots in 16:20 of average time on ice. The Sharks were outscored 6-2 with Iorio on the ice at 5-on-5, although his 43.4 CF% at even strength was a respectable fourth among San Jose defenders behind Sam Dickinson, Dmitry Orlov, and Vincent Desharnais.
The conditioning stint looks to have done good things for Iorio’s confidence after the tumultuous start to the campaign. He rattled off seven assists and a +7 rating in six appearances with the Barracuda. He now looks to re-emerge on a crowded Sharks blue line that includes nine names on the active roster.
Sabres, Alexandar Georgiev Terminate Contract
Nov. 24: Georgiev cleared unconditional waivers, per Friedman, meaning he’s had his contract with Buffalo terminated and is free to sign with Spartak.
Nov. 23: Insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared this afternoon that Sabres goaltender Alexander Georgiev has been waived with the intent of contract termination. Georgiev is set to move on to Russia and join Spartak of the KHL.
Georgiev was waived last month, then cleared and joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans. There, the Sabres affiliate had a wealth of goaltending, arguably at a legitimate NHL level, with Devon Levi alongside Georgiev, as well as prospect Topias Leinonen. Before the season, Buffalo had significant question marks in net with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen banged up, and the respectable but not exactly standout Alex Lyon tasked with holding things down.
As it has turned out, Lyon has performed steadily, and waiver pickup Colten Ellis has also exceeded expectations. There was no real path forward for Georgiev in the organization. The Bulgarian native played in two games for Rochester, both ending in losses with a 3.57 GAA. He now seems to be in greener pastures, joining a solid Spartak club, which has needed help in net, where he will be a star at the KHL level.
Originally undrafted out of the Finnish Liiga, an unusual path for most Russian players, Georgiev made an impression with the Rangers, who signed him in 2017. Making his NHL debut in 2018, Georgiev has the distinction of serving as backup for franchise icon Hendrik Lundqvist in his final season as a Ranger, gradually taking a higher workload. With the emergence of star Igor Shesterkin, though, Georgiev’s future in New York became uncertain.
After the 2021-22 season, Georgiev was dealt to the freshly minted Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche for draft picks in order to replace Darcy Kuemper. Georgiev emerged as a low-stakes, affordable option for a team strong enough up front to make up for any shortcomings in net. Sure enough, Georgiev posted his best season as a pro, leading the NHL with 40 wins and becoming an NHL All-Star.
Unfortunately for Georgiev, despite twice leading the league in wins, all while still remaining under 30 years old, Colorado quickly pulled the plug in 2024-25 amidst his shaky play. While unusual for a team to do so with a former All-Star, it appeared the success was largely driven due to the team in front of him. Georgiev was dealt to the hardcore rebuilding San Jose Sharks, where Colorado brought back Mackenzie Blackwood in return.
In the thick of an aggressive rebuild, getting heavily outshot most nights, Georgiev naturally did not have as much success in San Jose in a role that is especially tough on any goaltender. GM Mike Grier let his contract expire after 2024-25.
Georgiev was signed in September by Buffalo, with an opportunity to re-establish himself as an NHLer; however, with the emergence of other netminders in the organization, doors shut quickly. Still just 29, it is not impossible he could make an NHL return, but for now, Georgiev will likely be eager to return closer to home as a major standout player in the KHL.
Latest On Michael Misa, Jeff Skinner
- San Jose Sharks forwards Michael Misa and Jeff Skinner are inching closer to a return to the ice, Curtis Pashelka of Bay Area News Group reported yesterday. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky told the media yesterday that both Misa and Skinner have resumed skating, and while Skinner is currently ahead of Misa in his recovery, Warsofsky is hopeful both will be back participating in practice by the end of next week. Misa, 18, was the No. 2 overall pick at this most recent NHL Entry Draft, and has three points through seven games this season. Getting healthy and back on the ice is arguably more important for Skinner, who is a pending UFA playing out a one-year, $3MM deal. Skinner, who scored 29 points in 72 games in 2024-25, has seven points in 17 games so far this year.
Sharks’ Jeff Skinner Out Week-To-Week
The San Jose Sharks will continue on without one of their veteran wingers. Jeff Skinner is set to miss about two weeks with aa lower-body injury, head coach Ryan Warsofsky told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Skinner was placed on injured reserve on November 15th, and won’t be eligible to return until November 22nd at the soonest.
Skinner sustained his injury in San Jose’s November 13th loss to the Calgary Flames, after getting tangled up with Flames winger Rory Kerins and tumbling into the boards. He appeared to be in immediate pain and needed help off the ice. Luckily, he avoided the worst of injury, with Warsofsky quiping that San Jose got lucky with Skinner’s timeline.
Skinner has had an up-and-down start to his tenure in San Jose. He started the season with a four-game scoring streak, but followed it with a four-game scoring drought that ended with a healthy scratch on October 26th. Skinner returned from the press box to three points in five games, but was riding a three-game scoring drought prior to his injury. On the year, he has recorded four points, a minus-four, and 29 shots on goal in 16 games.
That’s a far fall for a winger who is only four seasons removed from back-to-back 30-goal seasons, and a career-high 82 points in the Buffalo Sabres’ 2022-23 campaign. His scoring tumbled to 46 points in the following year, then to only 29 points with the Edmonton Oilers last season.
Skinner will need to find a way to spur that scoring when he returns in December. Meanwhile, Warsofsky also shared that 2025 second-overall pick Michael Misa – also week-to-week with a lower-body injury – will take a bit longer to recover per Max Miller of San Jose Hockey Digest. Misa sustained his injury during practice and hadn’t carved out a role in the Sharks’ lineup prior. He has three points through his first seven NHL games. A longer-than-two-weeks designation will put Misa on track to return just before the holiday season – or, just before the 2026 World Junior Championships, which the star prospect wasn’t selected for last season. He would be a true X-factor for Team Canada if San Jose used the tournament to spur Misa’s return from injury.