Rookie forward Will Smith has an upper-body injury and won’t play Saturday when the San Jose Sharks face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.
Smith, who has 11 points in 24 games this season, is taken into account day-to-day. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday he didn't know exactly when Smith was injured, only that it happened near the top of a recent game.
If Smith hasn't dressed for games to date this season, it's since the Sharks have given him so-called “development days,” implemented partly to scale back the 19-year-old's risk of injury. However, before Saturday, Smith had played seven consecutive games from November 23 through Thursday, collecting three goals and 4 assists.
After playing the Panthers, the Sharks face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday and finish their road trip on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.
With Smith out, rookie Ethan Cardwell, who sat out the last two games, will return to the Sharks' lineup. Warsofsky wouldn't say where Cardwell will play. Smith had played on a line with Mikael Granlund and Klim Kostin.
The Sharks are also making a change on defense: Henry Thrun replaces Jack Thompson.
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood will start for the Sharks, who wish to bounce back from an 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
With Marc-Edouard Vlasic nearing his return from an upper-body injury that has kept him out because the start of coaching camp, the Sharks can have to make a roster decision soon on what to do with Thompson.
Thompson made his first appearance for the Sharks on Thursday since their Nov. 23 game against the Buffalo Sabres. He had 17:47 of ice time against the Lightning and was on the ice for 3 goals against, with Alexander Wennberg scoring the Sharks' only goal.
Perhaps the Sharks' easiest option — assuming there are not any more injuries (Barclay Goodrow stays on injured reserve) until Vlasic is activated — is to return Thompson to the AHL, because the 22-year-old stays exempt from waivers.
Still, with somewhat more experience and improvement, Thompson appears to have the potential to turn out to be a full-time, every-game defenseman.
“He’s taken steps in that direction,” Warsofsky said of Thompson. “I think he’s gotten better defensively this year. He plays with more tailbacks below the top of the circle and in the defensive zone. For me it's his ability to move the puck. There is an opportunity to move pucks there. He needs to be more consistent with it.”
Regarding Vlasic, Warsofsky said: “We are getting closer and closer to him coming to an ice hockey game here and being available for us. We’ll probably get through the weekend and go from there.”
Originally published:
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