Sharks right winger Joel Ward has undergone successful surgery, the team announced. In their press release, GM Doug Wilson notes that the veteran had the choice to have the procedure done or opt for rehab instead but clearly he opted to go under the knife.
Ward battled with this issue throughout the season which could very well be a contributing factor to his offensive decline. In 2015-16, his first season in San Jose, the 36 year old scored 21 goals while adding 22 assists; his 43 points coming in as the second best output of his career. However, he only tallied 28 points (10-19-29) this season in 78 games.
Ward is expected to make a full recovery and will be ready to suit up once training camp gets underway in September.
Other notes from around the league:
- After it was reported earlier this week that Kelly Buchberger is a candidate to join the Islanders’ coaching staff, Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports that former NHL center Scott Gomez is also under consideration for a role on head coach Doug Weight’s staff. Gomez retired back in early September after an NHL career that spanned over 1,000 games. Staple speculates that the 37 year old could potentially be tasked to work on a power play unit that ranked 28th in the league this season with a 14.9% success rate. Gomez is no stranger to power play success as 255 of his 756 career points came with the man advantage.
- The Blues are set to have several notable forwards left unprotected in next month’s expansion draft and Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests in a reader chat (fifth panel) that winger Ryan Reaves is worthy of the final protection slot, even if that means exposing a more productive forward like David Perron. He notes that secondary scoring is typically easier to find in free agency than a forward like Reaves, who took some strides forward offensively this year, setting a career high in points. Rutherford adds Dmitrij Jaskin as another candidate to get the last protected spot up front despite only scoring once in 51 games in 2016-17.