SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: San Jose Sharks' Luke Kunin (11) waits for a face-off against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period of their preseason game at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The San Jose Sharks on Saturday placed forward Luke Kunin on injured reserve and defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov on waivers.
Kunin, 25, played on Thursday when the Sharks lost 3-0 to the Boston Bruins, but missed Friday’s game with the New Jersey Devils, a 6-3 San Jose win, with what was described as an upper-body injury.
Kunin, who has seven points in 23 games this season, is the fifth Sharks player presently on injured reserve, joining forwards Filip Zadina, Alexander Barabanov, and Oskar Lindblom, and defenseman Jan Rutta.
Knyzhov, 25, has played just 10 times this season as he’s been a healthy scratch for 13 games, including the last five. NHL teams have 24 hours to claim Knyzhov but if he clears, he will be assigned to the Barracuda, the Sharks’ AHL affiliate.
In 81 career games with the Sharks, Knyzhov has 12 points and is averaging 16:33 of ice time per game. Knyzhov missed close to two full seasons with a litany of injuries, most recently a torn right Achilles tendon in Aug. 2022.
After surgery, rehab, and a conditioning stint in the AHL, Knyzhov returned to the NHL on March 6, playing his first game for the Sharks since May 12, 2021. He is in the first year of a two-year, $2.5 million contract he signed with the Sharks on March 29.
However, the Sharks, since the start of the season, claimed Ty Emberson off waivers from the New York Rangers and acquired Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild, creating a glut on the blue line with eight defensemen on the active roster and another on IR in Rutta. Jacob MacDonald, listed as a defenseman, is playing as a forward right now, and scored two goals against New Jersey.
Emberson is on the Sharks’ top defense pair with Mario Ferraro and Addison has four assists in 12 games with San Jose, averaging 19:26 in ice time per game.
Zadina, Barabanov, and Rutta are all on the Sharks’ road trip, which continues Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers.
Coach David Quinn mentioned before the Sharks left for their road trip that the team was hoping to get Barabanov, out with a broken finger, back sometime on the road trip that continues with games against the New York Islanders on Tuesday and the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The Sharks finish the trip on Dec. 10 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kunin was averaging 15:25 in ice time per game and his five goals are tied for second-most on the team. He scored the winning goal on Monday when the Sharks beat the Washington Capitals.
The Sharks are 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka