San Jose Sharks’ head coach David Quinn said forward Mikael Granlund is getting better and could return next week, according to Bay Arena News Group’s Curtis Pashelka.
Granlund was injured last Tuesday during the Sharks’ game against the Chicago Blackhawks and was ruled as being out “week-to-week.” However, the 31-year-old forward appears to have avoided surgery, and as Quinn said, may be available before the All-Star break.
“He’s getting better,” Quinn said. “I think we dodged a bullet.”
Through 38 games this season, Granlund has five goals and 24 assists for 29 points. He ranks second on the team in points behind Tomas Hertl’s 30 (13 goals and 17 assists).
Granlund is currently in his 12th NHL season and first with the Sharks. Through 788 career games with the Sharks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Nashville Predators and the Minnesota Wild, the native of Oulu, Finland has 150 goals and 363 assists for 513 points.
He scored a career-high 69 points (26 goals and 43 assists) in 2016-17 with the Wild, whom drafted Granlund with the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
The Sharks have a 10-31-4 record through 45 games, last in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division and dead last in the entire league. The team is 1-8-1 in their last 10 games and have lost three straight. Their next game is Saturday as they host one of their California rivals, the Anaheim Ducks, followed by a Monday night matchup against their other in-state rival, the Los Angeles Kings.
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