OTTAWA — Alex Wennberg is out of the San Jose Sharks’ line-up.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said before the contest at the Ottawa Senators that there was a game-time decision, which was revealed to be Wennberg’s absence tonight because of an upper-body injury.
There’s no indication yet of the severity of the injury or when it was suffered. Wennberg completed Saturday night’s 4-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens with no obvious issues.
In Wennberg’s place, Philipp Kurashev will center Pavol Regenda and Kiefer Sherwood at the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Wennberg has been a workhorse for the San Jose Sharks this season, arguably their second-most important skater after Macklin Celebrini. The Sharks’ clear-cut second-line center, Wennberg (20:37) is second among Sharks forwards in ice-time after Celebrini (21:19). He’s also on the top unit of the power play and penalty kill.
He’s second on San Jose with 30 assists, third with 43 points, and leads all forwards with 79 blocks.
Per Stathletes, he’s fourth among NHL forwards with 155 Turnovers Forced.
The San Jose Sharks will miss Wennberg on both sides of the ice, for as long as he’s out.
That said, being able to slide Olympian Kurashev, scratched for the last two games, into such an important role speaks to the Sharks’ improved depth this season. Not every team has a forward like the Swiss center-winger in reserve.