SAN JOSE – A banged-up San Jose Sharks defense corps got some positive news this week as Nick Leddy and Shakir Mukhamadullin, while both on injured reserve with upper-body ailments, are not expected to miss much more time.
Leddy was placed on IR on Tuesday after he was injured during the Sharks’ game against the New York Rangers on Oct. 23. But he and Mukhamadullin were on the ice with the Sharks during their morning skate prior to the team’s game Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center.
Mukhamadullin has been on IR since Oct. 19 and did not travel with the Sharks on their four-game trip. He and Leddy, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, are now considered day-to-day.
The Sharks will have to make some decisions about their defense corps if everyone can get healthy at the same time. On the active roster right now are John Klingberg, Mario Ferraro, Dmitry Orlov, Timothy Liljegren, Vincent Desharnais, Sam Dickinson, and Vincent Iorio.
If Leddy and Mukhamadullin are activated around the same time, and if the Sharks want to keep eight defensemen, they could place Iorio on waivers and try to assign him to the Barracuda. Iorio was claimed off of waivers by the Sharks from the Washington Capitals on Oct. 16.
A Sharks decision also looms regarding Dickinson, who will be playing in his eighth NHL game on Tuesday. If he plays in more than nine NHL games this season, the first year of his entry-level contract will begin, although that might not be a major concern to the Sharks’ front office.
To alleviate the logjam, the Sharks could also trade a defenseman if everyone is healthy. Leddy, Ferraro, Liljegren, Desharnais and Klingberg are pending unrestricted free agents, but Klingberg has a full no-movement clause until Jan. 30, and Leddy has a 16-team no-trade list.
For now, Klingberg was excited to be able to return to the Sharks’ lineup Tuesday after a six-game absence. The Sharks finish the week with home games against the Devils on Thursday, the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, and the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.
Klingberg has missed the last six games after he was injured in the Sharks’ Oct. 14 game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Before his injury, Klingberg had a goal and an assist in three games. He was paired with Mario Ferraro on Tuesday as the Sharks looked for back-to-back wins.
Klingberg was aiming to return for Friday’s game in New Jersey but had what he called a “hiccup” and was unable to play. The Sharks had a team day off Saturday, when Klingberg said the team was unable to find an available sheet of ice, effectively ruling him out of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Wild with no morning skate.
Klingberg reiterated that his absence was not related to his surgically resurfaced hips, a procedure he had done in Dec. 2023.
“It’s been frustrating, for sure, because it’s not the hips. It’s just other stuff that’s been going on,” Klingberg said. “It’s obviously encouraging that it’s not the hips, but we’ll work every day to get better. Build day by day.”
GAUDETTE UPDATE
With Leddy going on IR, the Sharks recalled center Patrick Giles from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The Sharks needed a center after Adam Gaudette was injured in Sunday’s game, a 6-5 win over the Wild on an overtime goal by Macklin Celebrini.
Warsofsky said Gaudette, who had three goals and an assist in his first nine games and is coming off a 19-goal season wth the Ottawa Senators, is still being evaluated but figures to be out longer than Leddy after he took a hit in Sunday’s game. The Sharks will know more about Gaudette’s status on Wednesday.
“He was playing well, especially after moving to the wing,” Warsofsky said of Gaudette’s recent move from center to the wing.
“He was good below the top of the circles, holding onto pucks, putting pucks to the net. A good guy in our dressing room who really helps these younger guys. What he’s done in his career, resurrecting his career here a little bit lately in this last year, and now he’s come here and given us some good minutes. We don’t think (he’ll be out) too long, but we’ll have a better feel (Wednesday).”
LINEUP CHANGE
Giles, who had a goal and an assist in four games with the Barracuda this season, was a healthy scratch Tuesday. Giles had a goal in eight games with the Sharks last season after he was acquired from the Florida Panthers at last season’s trade deadline. … Iorio was a healthy scratch Tuesday after he had played in six straight games for the Sharks following the waiver claim.
Please check back for updates to this story.
