Forward Will Smith could return to the active roster as soon as Friday when the San Jose Sharks face the Detroit Red Wings on the second leg of a four-game road trip, coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters Thursday morning.

Smith was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice in Washington, D.C., and took part in the team’s morning skate on Thursday prior to its game against the Capitals to begin the road trip.

“Another good day. Won’t play today,” Warsofsky said. “He’ll get some work in this morning with our guys, and then we’ll make a decision in the morning (about playing Friday).”

Smith sustained an upper-body injury in the Sharks’ Dec. 13 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has 29 points in 33 games this season and, before Thursday, was the Sharks’ fourth-leading scorer despite missing the last 12 games. The Sharks are 7-5-0 in his absence.

To activate Smith, who, along with forward Philipp Kurashev, has been on injured reserve since Dec. 15, the Sharks would have to clear a spot on their 23-man roster. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to put center Ty Dellandrea, who sustained a lower-body injury on Jan. 6 in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, on IR.

Dellandrea is considered week-to-week and will be reevaluated before the Olympic break in early February.

The Sharks finish the challenging trip with games against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Monday and the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

NEDELJKOVIC STARTS

Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic will start for the Sharks against the Capitals, perhaps setting up Yaroslav Askarov to start against the Red Wings on Friday.

Nedeljkovic is 2-2-0 with an .867 save percentage in six career games against the Capitals, but is coming off a win over Dallas on Saturday when he made 16 saves in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Stars.

This will be the 200th game, and 177th start, in Nedeljkovic’s nine-year NHL career, in which he has an 81-68-29 record, a .902 save percentage, and a 3.01 goals against average. Nedeljkovic was a second-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014 and was the third of 21 goalies selected that year.

OVECHKIN’S FINAL GAME VS. SHARKS?

Thursday’s game marks the final regular-season meeting between the Sharks and Capitals, and potentially Alex Ovechkin’s last game against San Jose unless the two teams meet in the Stanley Cup Final in June.

Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer with 917 goals, is in the final year of a five-year, $47.5 million contract and has not said whether he’ll return in 2026-27 for a 22nd season. Although Ovechkin turned 40 in September, age hasn’t slowed down his production, as he entered Thursday as the Capitals’ second-leading scorer with 20 goals and 20 assists in 47 games. It’s the 20th time in 21 seasons that he’s scored at least 20 goals.

Ovechkin, before Thursday, had 32 points in 30 career games against the Sharks, the team he grew up cheering for as a child in Moscow.

In the Capitals’ 7-1 win over the Sharks in San Jose on Dec. 3, Ovechkin scored twice and had four shots on goal in 16:33 of ice time.