SAN JOSE — San Jose Sharks centerman Mikael Granlund’s health is improving after he suffered an upper-body injury last week but coach David Quinn said he’s in no hurry to bring the veteran forward back into the lineup.
Granlund was injured in the third period of the Sharks’ game on Jan. 16 game in Chicago as he absorbed a shoulder-to-shoulder hit from Blackhawks forward MacKenzie Entwistle. Tuesday, Granlund was back on the ice for the first time since the injury as he did some light skating and shooting with a small group of teammates.
“I think he was just testing it out, see how he felt,” Quinn said. “He said he felt pretty good.”
Still, Quinn feels it’s not practical for Granlund, on injured reserve, to rush back just to get in one or two games when he can take his time and continue to let his injury heal during the extended break.
After Tuesday’s game with the New York Rangers, the Sharks host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 30. They then wrap up their pre-NHL All-Star Game schedule on Jan. 31 in Anaheim, with their first game after the break coming on Feb. 14 in Winnipeg.
“He’s got an opportunity to get three full weeks without missing any hockey games. You don’t get that opportunity very often,” Quinn said. “So unless (Granlund’s) begging me and telling me ‘Hey, I’m 100% fine,’ I don’t see the point in it. But we’re not there yet.”
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Left unsaid was that the Sharks were also 12-31-4 on the season before Tuesday’s game, 23 points back of a playoff spot.
Granlund has been one of the Sharks’ biggest offensive catalysts this season as he’s second on the team behind Tomas Hertl with 29 points in 38 games. In games in which he’s scored at least a point, San Jose is a more respectable 8-10-1.
Right after Granlund went on injured reserve, the Sharks activated both Logan Couture and Nico Sturm and is 2-0-0 with those two back in the lineup, having beaten Anaheim 5-3 on Saturday and Los Angeles 4-3 in a shootout on Monday.
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