It had already been known that San Jose Sharks forward Nico Sturm wouldn’t be joining the team on their current road trip against the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche. It appears he could miss a few more games as well. Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that Sturm will be out on a week-to-week basis with an undisclosed injury.
Already suffering from a serious lack of depth at the beginning of the season, Sturm now becomes the sixth current member of the Sharks to hit the injured reserve, even with forwards Filip Zadina and Alexander Barabanov recently returning from their own injuries. Even with so many injuries over the past several weeks, San Jose holds a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games, moving ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks in the league standings.
Nevertheless, the team should be able to effectively weather the hole left by Sturm, as he has not been a primary offensive factor for the team this season. Operating as a bottom-six forward for much of his career, Sturm has two goals and four points in 26 games for the Sharks this season, placing him 17th on the team in scoring.
Other notes:
- Another Western Conference team severely struggling with depth this season, the Blackhawks announced forward Joey Anderson would not return to the ice Sunday night as the team takes on the Vancouver Canucks. Much like the Sharks, Chicago has a total of five players currently on the injured reserve, most notably players such as Andreas Athanasiou, Seth Jones and Taylor Hall.
- Brien Rea of Ballywood Sports Southwest is reporting that the Dallas Stars have released goaltender Joe O’Brien from his tryout agreement with the club, further clouding the future of Dallas’ solution in the crease moving forward. It was always going to be difficult for O’Brien to secure a contract with the Stars, as the Niagara University product failed to secure a save percentage above .885 over 26 games in the NCAA.
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