Sharks forward taking leave of absence

“Out of respect to Nico’s privacy, the organization will not have any further comment,” the team said in a statement.

Sturm, 28, has two assists in 17 games this season with the Sharks. Last year with San Jose, Sturm had 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 74 games.

In 223 career NHL games, the German forward has 34 goals and 33 assists for 67 points across six NHL seasons with the Sharks, the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild.

Growing up in Germany, he moved to the United States at 19 to play in the North American Hockey League. After two seasons with the Corpus Christi IceRays and the Austin Bruins, he was selected by the Tri-City Storm in the 2015 USHL Entry Draft. He played 57 games with the club in 2015-16, scoring 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points.

He went on to play college hockey with Clarkson University, hitting career highs in 2018-19 by scoring 14 goals and 31 assists for 45 points in 39 games.

He was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward twice while in college, a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year in 2019, as well as being named to the 2019 ECAC First-Team All-League selection.