SAN JOSE — Philipp Kurashev is considered week to week with an upper-body injury, and coach Ryan Warsofsky would not rule out the possibility of surgery for Will Smith as the Sharks start to navigate their way forward — at least for now — without two of their top-scoring wingers.

Warsofsky said Smith, who appeared to sustain an upper-body injury in the third period of Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, will sit out this week and be reevaluated by the Sharks’ medical staff on Monday. Asked if there was a possibility that Smith would need surgery, Warsofsky said, “I don’t think we’re there yet.”

In the second period of Saturday’s game, which the Sharks came back to win 6-5 in overtime after they fell behind 5-1, Kurashev crashed hard into the end boards in the Penguins’ zone. He skated to the Sharks’ bench, where he remained momentarily, before he walked back to the team’s dressing room at PPG Paints Arena.

Smith, 20, was hurt with 16:30 left in the third period, as he was hit into the boards by defenseman Parker Wotherspoon in the Penguins’ zone. Smith immediately began to skate off the ice and threw off one of his gloves, clutching his right arm, before he reached the bench and went to the team’s room for medical care.

Smith, 20, and Kurashev, 26, were placed on injured reserve on Monday. Smith entered this week as the Sharks’ second-leading scorer with 29 points in 33 games. Kurashev has 15 points in 31 games this season.

“Two playmakers that obviously have contributed a lot to our scoring and playmaking,” Sharks center Macklin Celebrini said. “You can’t really replace those guys, but I think we have enough guys in here that can produce and create offense.”

“Disappointing, but that’s life in the NHL right now,” Warsofsky said. “There are a lot of injuries around the league, and we’re no different. So, it’ll be a good opportunity for some guys to step up and play some prominent minutes.”

One of those players is Igor Chernyshov, who, along with Ethan Cardwell, was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL. Chernyshov will make his NHL debut on Tuesday, starting the game on the top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf, as the Sharks face the Calgary Flames to begin a three-game homestand.

Chernyshov, one of the Sharks’ top prospects, leads the Barracuda with 23 points in 25 games, and Cardwell has nine points in 14 games.

Chernyshov, who is the third player from the Sharks’ 2024 draft class to play in the NHL, following first-round picks Celebrini and defenseman Sam Dickinson, said he was stunned to get the news from Barracuda coach John McCarthy that he was going to the big club.

“He said, ‘The Sharks called (you) up,” said Chernyshov, who was taken in the second round, 33rd overall, last year. “I was shocked and so happy.”

Cardwell will begin the game on the third line with fellow winger Jeff Skinner, who is playing his 1,100th NHL game, and center Ty Dellandrea.

Cardwell played four games with the Sharks from Nov. 2-8 and scored in a 6-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 5. After he was returned to the Barracuda, Cardwell, 23, missed five games from Nov. 21-29 with an injury.

“So I was a little bit disappointed to come right down and have that happen,” Cardwell said. “Get my legs back under me, and then get back up here. Now I want to make the most of this opportunity.”

The Sharks will also be without forward Adam Gaudette on Tuesday, as he’s considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Gaudette skated on Tuesday morning and could be an option to play Thursday against the Dallas Stars.

“I think we’re all kind of feeling like we’re missing a whole line of our team,” Celebrini said of the injuries to Smith, Kurashev, and Gaudette. “So we’ve got to kind of pick it up.”

The Sharks (16-14-3) have won three of their last four games and entered Tuesday in the Western Conference’s second and final wild card spot with 35 points.

WARSOFSKY ON MISA

Sharks center Michael Misa skated again on Tuesday morning, and now it’s a matter of when he’ll be loaned to Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Championship.

Misa is still listed on the NHL’s media website as being on the Sharks’ injured reserve list. However, Warsofsky reiterated Tuesday that the 18-year-old’s right ankle injury, which he sustained on Nov. 5, is entirely healed.

So why keep Misa in San Jose rather than send him to the Canadian National Junior Team’s camp?

“It gives us a few more days with him,” Warsofsky said. “He obviously was nicked up. He’s missed some time. Gives (him) more time with our strength coaches, with our resources here, and then he’ll join Team Canada here shortly.”