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Injury Bug Plagues Sharks As Questions Surround Lineup Against Wild

max miller
·2 min read

The injury bug has hit the San Jose Sharks hard, as multiple players are causing lineup questions for head coach Ryan Warsofsky.

Jake Walman could return from an eight-game absence after he was injured on Dec. 21 against the Edmonton Oilers. The No. 1 defenseman has been skating with the club for the last week.

Walman leads all Sharks d-men in points with 25 (five goals, 20 assists). The former Detroit Red Wings skater joked about how he suffered his injury.

“From chasing around Connor [McDavid] all night,” Walman joked. “It's a fast game. You want to be able to move well at your full potential. [I'm] feeling good now."

Klim Kostin suffered a lower-body injury against the Utah Hockey Club last night and won’t play. Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said the forward is day-to-day until more is known.

Alexander Wennberg won’t play tonight due to an illness.

The San Jose Sharks could be getting some help at the center position with Nico Sturm deemed a game-time call. Sturm has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury.

Carl Grundstrom could also play tonight. With Walman and Grundstrom on injured reserve, two players will need to be placed on IR to open spots.

If Nikolai Kovalenko, who is out with an injury tonight, and Klim Kostin go on IR, here’s what I project to be the Sharks line combinations to be:

Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund

Graf-Celebrini-Toffoli

Goodrow-Kunin-Smith

Grundstrom-Sturm-Dellandrea

Thrun-Ceci

Ferraro-Liljegren

Walman-Rutta

Askarov

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