Sharks defenseman, last year's top rookie, won't play this season
Injured Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov will not play for the rest of the season, coach Bob Boughner said Saturday, and might not be ready to be a full participant when training camp opens this fall.
Knyzhov, the Sharks' top rookie in 2020-2021, has not played at all this season as he's bothered by a litany of lower-body ailments, including issues with his groin, a sports hernia, and later an infection that kept him mostly stationary for weeks, Boughner said.
The good news for Knyzhov, Boughner said, is that it appears the worst is now behind him, although, as of now, there appears to be no timeline for him to start skating again.
The Sharks (26-27-8) have 21 games remaining, starting with Sunday's game with the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center. Their last game of the regular season is April 29 in Seattle.
“There no chance of him coming back,” this season, Boughner said. “He's progressed in his rehab and everything else, but he's not ready to play and I don't see him playing for us this season. But there are some positive signs there.”
Knyzhov, 23, played all 56 games for the Sharks last season as a rookie and evolved into a top-four defenseman, slotting next to Erik Karlsson for the second half of the year.
Knyzhov was projected to be in that role again this season, although the sports hernia problem he dealt with at the end of last year forced him to miss the World Championships after he had been selected to play for Team Russia. He had surgery in May after the end of the regular season.
Boughner said Knyzhov's health issues cropped up again later in the summer and when he came to camp, “it was getting worse instead of better.”
Knyzhov did not take part in the team's training camp as he tried to rehab the injury. However, with the issue not getting any better, he had surgery in October and it was thought at the time that he would miss approximately eightto-10 weeks.
However, Boughner said Knyzhov's recovery from surgery had severe complications.
“With surgery came some setbacks and with some infections,” Boughner said. “The poor guy, I think he was on an IV for a couple of months, trying to just clear the infection out of his system. So it basically took all his progress and put it back to zero.”
Boughner said the Sharks will likely have to take it slow with Knyzhov when they open training camp in September, adding that he's “got a big summer ahead of him.”
Knyzhov, a pending restricted free agent, has spent previous offseasons training in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“The good thing is he does have a good skate in Scottsdale in the summer and he is with pros, so he'll be out there on the ice with those guys,” Boughner said of Knyzhov. “But getting contact and getting into a game situation, it's going to be probably a slower process. But I don't doubt that if he keeps working hard, he's going to be in great shape.”
With Knyzhov out, Jacob Middleton was placed alongside Karlsson and has been a top-four defenseman for the Sharks all season, averaging around 19 minutes of ice time per game.
“It's one of those things where you hope he bounces back,” Middleton said of Knyzhov. “For a guy like him, I do think he is going to bounce back fine, even through this adversity.”
Still, Knyzhov's injury, as well as those later this season to Karlsson (forearm) and Mario Ferraro (leg) tested the Sharks' organizational depth on defense. Karlsson returned last week and Ferraro is still hoping to play again this season after his surgery to repair a fractured lower left fibula.
Knyzhov's injury “hurt us a lot. I truly believe that,” Boughner said. “If you look back on our year, not having him start the season and basically penciled in as a top-four as Karlsson's partner, that really affected our team.
“We've already talked about the (Evander Kane) thing and beat that to death, but you take him and you take (Knyzhov) out and then you start losing guys like (Karlsson) for 15 games and Mario for 25-30 games, we did a good job with (Jaycob Megna and Nicolas Meloche) and guys coming in.
“Our depth guys have really shown what they can do. (Middleton) stepping his game up, but (Knyzhov) is a big part of our corps here.”