Potentially needing to clear a roster spot for some soon-to-be healthy players, the San Jose Sharks on Sunday placed veteran defenseman Nick Leddy on waivers.

Leddy, 34, is one of seven defensemen on San Jose’s active roster. But the Sharks, who are already carrying the maximum 23 players, were soon going to be facing a roster crunch with defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Shakir Mukhamadullin both nearing a return from their respective upper-body injuries.

Desharnais has been on injured reserve since Dec. 1, and Mukhamadullin was placed on IR on Jan. 6.

Desharnais and Mukhamadullin both practiced with the Sharks on Sunday in South Florida, and Desharnais could be in the Sharks’ lineup for their road game against the Florida Panthers on Monday.

Due to an early-season injury and numerous healthy scratches, Leddy has played in just 19 of the Sharks’ 47 games so far this season, including Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, Leddy had an assist in 17:27 of ice time.

Leddy was in the lineup for the Sharks’ first seven games of the season before he sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of the team’s game against the New York Rangers on Oct. 23. Leddy missed the next 11 games and after his return on Nov. 15 in Seattle, but after that game against the Kraken, Leddy only dressed in 11 more games for San Jose.

Leddy, now in his 16th NHL season, was a first round draft choice by Chicago in 2009 and played four seasons with the Blackhawks from 2010 to 2014, winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2013.

Leddy, who has played in 1,061 games in his NHL career, was placed on waivers by the St. Louis Blues on July 2 and claimed by the Sharks the next day.  Leddy is in the final year of a four-year, $16 million contract he signed with the Blues in July 2022.

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