Could Shakir Mukhamadullin be out for a while?
On Wednesday, San Jose Barracuda head coach John McCarthy disclosed that his star defenseman is dealing with an upper-body injury.
The top San Jose Sharks prospect hasn’t played since Feb. 15.
Tonight, after the Barracuda’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Abbotsford Canucks, McCarthy shared that Mukhamadullin’s timeline was week-to-week.
That’s bad news for a Cuda squad desperately trying to stay in the Pacific Division race. Despite improved play recently – the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate has a 6-4-2 record since Jan. 24 – they’re still 11 points out of a playoff spot.
Good news? A source suggested to San Jose Hockey Now that Mukhamadullin’s injury might be on the shorter side of week-to-week. We’ll see.
Mukhamadullin is tied with Leon Gawanke, who went back to Germany, for the team lead among defensemen with 27 points.
At least the Barracuda have Jacob MacDonald, who led AHL defensemen in goals in 2017-18 and 2019-20 – David Quinn told San Jose Hockey Now that part of the reason why the San Jose Sharks sent MacDonald down earlier this week was to take on Mukhamadullin’s offensive load.
There’s another piece of the Barracuda offensive puzzle still missing though, and with no obvious replacement: Danil Gushchin, 37 points in 39 games, has been out since Jan. 26 with an upper-body injury.
McCarthy said today that Gushchin is still, unfortunately, on a week-to-week timeline.
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