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Nico Sturm

Sharks Activate Nico Sturm Off IR

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The Sharks will welcome back one of their regular centers (and best trade chips) to their lineup tonight.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Nico Sturm has been activated off injured reserve.  San Jose had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made.

The 29-year-old has been out for a little more than a month due to a lower-body injury.  So far this season, Sturm has been relatively quiet offensively, notching just 11 points in 41 games.  After recording a career-high 26 points in his first season with San Jose, Sturm has only recorded 24 points in the two years since then combined.

However, he has won over 63% of his faceoffs, the second straight season over that mark.  That will be particularly intriguing to quite a few contenders looking to shore up their center depth and help their fortunes at the dot as he is one of the top rentals available on the draw.  The last time Sturm was in this situation back in 2022, he wound up being moved to Colorado and won a Stanley Cup with the Avs.

Sturm is in the final season of a three-year deal that carries a $2MM price tag, a cap charge that a lot of playoff teams should be able to fit in.  That’s particularly noteworthy since the Sharks have maxed out their retention slots so they are unable to pay down that cap charge.  As long as Sturm can show that there are no lingering effects from the injury, he should have several trade suitors between now and the March 7th trade deadline.

Sharks Notes: Rentals, Sturm, Kostin, Rutta, Dellandrea, Granlund

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The Sharks are expected to once again be sellers in advance of March 7th’s trade deadline with the team well out of the playoff picture.  This is around the time of year where teams will often start talking about extensions with players they want to keep.  That doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment for San Jose as GM Mike Grier told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that while he has a sense of what his pending free agents are looking for, there haven’t been any negotiations with them and is unsure if there will be any before the deadline.

Their UFA crop includes veteran centers Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm, winger Luke Kunin, plus defensemen Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta.  If they are going to try to move them, they won’t be able to retain any salary, however, as their three retention slots have already been used.  However, Grier indicated that he’s not too worried about that as he feels interested teams will either have or be able to open up the cap room to add any of those players to the point where retention wouldn’t necessarily have been needed.

More from San Jose:

  • It looks as if there won’t be much help on the horizon on the injury front. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now notes (Twitter link) that Sturm, winger Klim Kostin, and Rutta are all unlikely to play until after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.  Speculatively, getting those players into some game action will be needed if they have any hopes of moving them before the deadline.  They should, however, get center Ty Dellandrea back sooner.  Peng mentions that Dellandrea skated today as he works his way back from an upper-body injury that landed him on IR last week.
  • Granlund missed practice today due to illness, relays Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link). He’ll accompany the team on their trip to Seattle but isn’t a lock to suit up.  After putting up 60 points in 69 games last season, Granlund is scoring at a similar clip this year with 44 points in 51 games, leading the team in assists and points.

Sharks Claim Walker Duehr Off Waivers From Flames

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Jan. 22: The Sharks plucked Duehr off the wire from the Flames on Wednesday, Friedman reports. He’ll provide a likely temporary bottom-six presence for San Jose with Tyler Toffoli, Nico Sturm and Klim Kostin currently sidelined with injuries. The Sharks don’t have an open roster spot, however, and will need to make a corresponding transaction. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that move will be placing Sturm, who missed Tuesday’s loss to the Predators with a lower-body injury, on IR.

Jan. 21: The Flames placed winger Walker Duehr on waivers Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll presumably head to AHL Calgary if he clears.

Duehr, 27, hits the wire for the second time this season. After making the opening night roster last season, he failed to do so in 2024-25 and cleared without incident near the end of training camp.

The 6’3″, 205-lb righty responded by notching 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points through 20 AHL games. That earned him a recall back to the Flames in early December as they needed a replacement for Justin Kirkland, who underwent season-ending ACL surgery.

Duehr appeared in 10 consecutive games for the Flames to begin his call-up, which was interrupted on a few occasions by paper transactions to extend his temporary waiver exemption. The number of days he’d spent on the roster no longer mattered once he played his 10th game, though.

Since that run of 10 straight, he’s been scratched four times in the Flames’ last 10. On the whole, the South Dakota native only contributed one assist with a minus-six rating.

Given Duehr’s underwhelming offensive performance, limited ice time and his team-worst -12.2 relative CF% at even strength, today’s demotion is unsurprising. The South Dakota native has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 84 games with Calgary since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2021.

A pending unrestricted free agent, the Flames may have an interest in keeping Duehr around on a two-way extension, considering his strong AHL production. However, given his poor NHL showing over the past few weeks, the chances of him replicating a one-way deal like he’s had for the past two seasons are slim.

Duehr’s bottom-six spot looks to go to recent call-up Rory Kerins, who’s earned his keep with four assists through his first four NHL games. Kerins, 22, was added back to the roster today after being sent down over the weekend to bank cap space, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.

Nico Sturm Expecting To Be Traded By San Jose Before Deadline

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In a recent interview with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, San Jose Sharks’ centerman Nico Sturm spoke candidly about his future with the organization. Sturm made it clear that if the Sharks do not offer him a contract extension in the coming weeks, he expects to be on another team’s roster by the trade deadline.

If his ice time this season is any indication, the Sharks aren’t expected to offer Sturm an extension anytime soon. Sturm scored 19 goals and 39 points in 137 games averaging 14:42 of ice time with San Jose throughout the first two years of the three-year, $6MM pact he signed with the team in the summer of 2022. He became a valuable fourth-line center who consistently won faceoffs and was a focal piece of an eighth-ranked penalty kill during his first year with the club.

Due to his removal from the penalty kill this season, Sturm’s average time on ice has plummeted to only 9:49 per game which is the lowest of his career by a large margin. The lack of ice time won’t impact Sturm’s leadership or professionalism as Pashelka quoted him saying, “I haven’t sulked about my ice time. I’ve done my job, and I’m going to continue to do that, and put my best foot forward, put my faith in my game, and hope that there’s going to be a team out there that wants me in the future, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

Sturm isn’t a stranger to being a trade deadline rental having been acquired by the eventual 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. The veteran center still carries a lot of value in the faceoff dot and potentially on the penalty kill or a contending team given he’s currently leading the NHL in faceoff percentage (63.3%) of those that have taken more than 100 faceoffs.

Even if the Sharks could retain salary on the remaining $2MM of Sturm’s contract they shouldn’t expect anything more than a mid-round pick in return. According to MoneyPuck, the Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames, and Avalanche are all contending teams this year near or at the bottom in team faceoff percentage. Given his efficiency in the dot, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of these teams acquire Sturm before March 7th.

San Jose Sharks Activate Nico Sturm, Reassign Jack Thompson

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The San Jose Sharks will see the return of a bottom-six center before their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. The organization announced they activated forward Nico Sturm from the injured reserve and reassigned defenseman Jack Thompson to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, in a corresponding roster move.

Sturm hasn’t factored into a game since the Sharks’ November 14th loss to the New York Rangers. He left the game with an apparent upper-body injury and was placed on the team’s injured reserve a few days later on November 18th. He rejoined the team for practice yesterday morning and was seen centering the fourth line between Klim Kostin and Ty Dellandrea.

The former Stanley Cup champion is in his third year with the Sharks organization after signing a three-year, $6MM contract with the club in 2022. He’s seen his ice time dip to 9:50 a game on average with the influx of forward talent to San Jose and has collected three goals and six points through 18 games this season.

The reassignment of Thompson is confusing on paper given the young defenseman has scored two goals and five points in 13 games for the Sharks this season from the blue line. He’s tied for third on the team in scoring amongst defensemen with veteran Cody Ceci and appeared to be a solid introduction into the team’s top-four.

Still, Thompson is only in his third professional season and could use more seasoning in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHL talent. He played in 16 games for the Barracuda last season after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored one goal and nine points with a -13 rating.

West Notes: Kaprizov, Sturm, Kings

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Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov has reportedly not suffered a serious injury and will be evaluated over the next few days (as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). The news comes after the 27-year-old sat out last night’s game against the Calgary Flames due to a lower-body injury. Kaprizov had an MRI that revealed no major issues, which is good news for a Wild team that have caught many by surprise this season.

Kaprizov appeared to be injured in Thursday’s game against the Oilers when he collided with Edmonton forward Drake Caggiula. He left the game briefly but did return to action and finished out the third period. Kaprizov has been dominant this season, registering 13 goals and 21 assists in 19 games thus far with a +16 plus/minus. The Wild currently sit in second place in the Central Division with a 13-3-4 record.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now is reporting that forward Nico Sturm has rejoined the San Jose Sharks as a regular participant in practice. Sturm was placed on injured reserve back on November 18th with an upper-body injury and hasn’t played since November 14th against the New York Rangers. The 29-year-old played less than eight minutes a game in each of his last three appearances for the Sharks and has averaged a career-low 9:50 of ice time per game this season. Despite the nearly five-minute drop-in average ice time, as well as very difficult deployment, Sturm is having one of his finer offensive seasons with three goals and three assists in 18 games.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have reversed yesterday’s roster transaction as netminder Erik Portillo has been recalled from the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate the Ontario Reign while goaltender Pheonix Copley has been sent back down. The Kings made the opposite move yesterday, recalling Copley and demoting Portillo. Copley served as starter David Rittich’s backup yesterday against the Seattle Kraken while Portillo was rock solid for the Reign last night, stopping 33 of 34 shots to pick up the win after not playing for a week.

Sharks Recall Yaroslav Askarov

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The Sharks announced Monday that they’ve recalled top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov from AHL San Jose. The team placed center Nico Sturm on injured reserve to open up a roster spot.

Askarov was expected to compete for an NHL job out of training camp after being acquired in a blockbuster swap with the Predators in August. A lower-body injury sustained over the offseason threw a wrench into those plans, though. Since Askarov didn’t get on the ice with San Jose until the beginning of October, they kept their veteran tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Vítek Vaněček intact while loaning the 22-year-old to their AHL affiliate.

If the 2020 11th-overall pick’s desire for NHL time wasn’t apparent when he requested a trade out of Nashville, it’s crystal clear now after his impeccable start in the AHL. He’s been among the league’s best netminders with a 1.92 GAA, .939 SV%, two shutouts, and a 6-3-0 record in nine appearances behind one of the AHL’s worst teams over the past few seasons. His play has fuelled the Barracuda to a 93-point pace, which would be their second-best record in franchise history since their inception in 2015.

It’s a marked improvement on his already strong numbers with AHL Milwaukee while in the Predators’ system. He started 40-plus games in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns with matching .911 save percentages, earning himself a pair of All-Star Game nods. It only translated into two NHL starts and one relief appearance with Nashville during that time, posting a 2.58 GAA and .914 SV% with a 1-1-0 record.

Askarov is expected to back up Blackwood tonight against the Red Wings. His recall comes after Vaněček sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period against the Penguins on Saturday and did not return after the intermission.

While Blackwood has been strong for the Sharks this year with a .914 SV% and 4.7 GSAA in 11 appearances, Vaněček’s .899 SV% and -0.5 GSAA in 10 games have solidified him as the weak link in San Jose’s tandem thus far. If he’s out long enough for Askarov to get some game action, there’s a small but visible opening for him to steal the No. 2 job behind Blackwood and potentially push the pending UFA Vaněček to the waiver wire or force San Jose to carry three goalies.

Meanwhile, Sturm lands on IR after missing Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. His placement is retroactive to Nov. 14, so he’ll miss at least two more games but is eligible to return for Thursday’s road tilt against the Blues. The German pivot has averaged just 9:50 per game this season but is still tied for seventh on the Sharks in scoring with six points (3 G, 3 A) in 18 games.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

West Notes: Eriksson Ek, Brodin, Walman, Sturm, Vanecek

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The Minnesota Wild received some unfortunate injury news yesterday with the announcement Mats Zuccarello would miss the next three to four weeks with a lower-body injury. It’s not all bad news on the injury front in the Wild organization as Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin should return to practice on Monday.

Eriksson Ek left Minnesota’s game against the Montreal Canadiens after only 3:43 of ice time. Despite a short clip of him in obvious discomfort while skating off the ice, there wasn’t any video evidence of what led to Eriksson Ek’s injury. Frederick Gaudreau has seemingly taken Eriksson Ek’s spot down the middle of the team’s second line for tonight’s matchup against the Dallas Stars.

Brodin has missed the last two games for the Wild with an upper-body injury with his most recent contest coming this past Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks. Brodin has been fairly injury-prone the last several years as he hasn’t played in more than 70 games since the 2021-22 NHL season.

Other West notes:

  • The San Jose Sharks got a major boost on the blue line tonight with Jake Walman returning from a five-game absence (X Link). He hasn’t played since the first week of November due to an upper-body injury after scoring at one of the hottest paces of his career. Walman scored seven points in four games before succumbing to the injury.
  • Sticking in San Jose, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported forward Nico Sturm is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Sturm exited the Sharks’ recent matchup against the New York Rangers after 5:27 of ice time after suffering an apparent non-contact injury.
  • It doesn’t end there for the Sharks on the injury front as the team announced netminder Vitek Vanecek is questionable to return to tonight’s contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Vanecek stopped eight of Pittsburgh’s 10 shots from the first period but didn’t return for the second. A recall of goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov could be on the horizon should Vanecek miss a meaningful amount of time.

Injury Notes: Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, Arvidsson, Chytil, Sturm

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The Minnesota Wild are losing a pair of top-six forwards in their game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The organization announced that Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello would not return after the first period due to lower-body injuries.

Zuccarello left tonight’s game with approximately seven minutes left in the first period. He was positioned in front of Montreal’s net when a deflected point shot from defenseman Brock Faber seemingly hit Zuccarello in the groin. He could skate off the ice under his power but was reasonably in plenty of pain.

Eriksson Ek’s injury is a bit more difficult to ascertain. Nothing notable was caught on video regarding the incident leading to the injury but he was seen skating off the ice in some duress. He will exit tonight’s contest after having only managed 3:43 of ice time while Zuccarello only skated in 3:15.

Other injury notes:

  • Jason Gregor of Sportsnet 1440 reported that the Edmonton Oilers would be without forward Viktor Arvidsson against the Nashville Predators tonight. Gregor didn’t allude to any injury concerns for Arvidsson but did say he’s expected to play this weekend. Arvidsson has scored two goals and five points through 16 games in his first season in Alberta.
  • K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil accidentally collided in the second period of tonight’s matchup between the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, the Rangers announced that Chytil wouldn’t return to the game due to an upper-body injury. Chytil was slow to get to his feet and it’s uncertain whether it’s a precautionary move given Chytil’s recent battle with concussions.
  • Chytil wasn’t the only player in tonight’s game to leave the contest. Shortly before Chytil’s injury took place, the Sharks announced Nico Sturm wouldn’t return due to an upper-body injury. Sturm’s injury appears non-contact in nature which could lead to a larger concern from the Sharks. Now in his third year in San Jose, Sturm has already missed 27 games for the Sharks due to injury.

Sharks Officially Activate Logan Couture And Nico Sturm Off IR

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The Sharks will indeed welcome back not just one but two centers tonight when they take on Anaheim.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have activated Logan Couture and Nico Sturm off injured reserve as expected.  To make room on the active roster, center Mikael Granlund and defenseman Ty Emberson have been transferred to IR, moves that were suggested as likely on Friday.

Couture has missed the entire season with what previously had been an undisclosed injury.  Today, he told reporters including Max Miller of The Hockey News that he had been dealing with osteitis pubis.  He twice tried to come back from this already but suffered setbacks each time, resulting in cortisone shots, extended rest, and a different training regimen as the team tried to figure out how to best treat the injury.

The 34-year-old is coming off of one of his best seasons offensively as he recorded 67 points while playing in all 82 games for only the second time of his career.  A 14-year veteran, some have wondered if Couture could be a trade candidate at some point with San Jose clearly in a full-scale rebuild.  He’ll need to demonstrate not only that he is fully healthy but that he is also still capable of producing at a top level as Couture has three years left on his contract after this one with a $8MM cap charge.  The Sharks, meanwhile, only have one salary retention slot remaining through the end of next season.

Nevertheless, his return will be a welcome one for a team whose offense has struggled mightily this season, recording just 89 goals in 45 games, putting the Sharks dead last in the league in that department.  Couture is expected to play alongside Alexander Barabanov and Fabian Zetterlund in his debut.

As for Sturm, the 28-year-old has been out for more than a month after re-aggravating a wrist injury.  He has played in 26 games so far and while he only has two goals and two assists, he’s among the NHL’s leaders in faceoff percentage, checking in at just over 62%.  With faceoffs and penalty killing being elements that teams often try to upgrade before the trade deadline, it’s possible that Sturm, who has one year left after this one at $2MM, could be someone that teams inquire about in the coming weeks.

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