{"id":188117,"date":"2026-02-22T01:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/188117\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T01:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:01:09","slug":"san-jose-sharks-nick-leddy-faces-uncertainty-as-he-returns-to-nhl-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/188117\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ Nick Leddy faces uncertainty as he returns to NHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2013 Nick Leddy is back in the NHL<\/a> with the San Jose Sharks, but it remains unclear as to when \u2013 or where \u2013 the veteran defenseman will play his next game.<\/a><\/p>\n

Now back practicing with the Sharks since he was recalled from the Barracuda<\/a> on Wednesday, Leddy\u2019s playing career is somewhat in limbo, with a return to the AHL, a move to another team, or remaining on San Jose\u2019s NHL roster<\/a> all possibilities in the coming days and weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cControl what I can control,\u201d Leddy, a 16-year NHL veteran and Stanley Cup champion, said Saturday of his approach to the uncertainty. \u201cThere are some things that are completely out of my hands. You never know what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claimed by San Jose<\/a> in July after he was placed on waivers by the St. Louis Blues, Leddy has had a tumultuous season so far in the Sharks organization.<\/p>\n

Leddy started off as a top-four defenseman with the Sharks, averaging close to 21 minutes of ice time per game, before he sustained an upper-body injury<\/a> in an Oct. 23 game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Leddy returned in mid-November, but struggled to keep a spot in the lineup, dressing in only 12 of 31 games before he was placed on waivers<\/a> by the Sharks on Jan. 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cInjuries are kind of death,\u201d Leddy said. \u201cVery unfortunate, but it is a part of the game. It all goes back to controlling what I can control: my mindset, being in a good head space, and learning from every experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leddy, 34, was assigned to the Barracuda on Jan. 19, but he never played a game for the AHL affiliate, a decision that Leddy said was between himself and Sharks general manager Mike Grier.<\/p>\n

Asked if he\u2019s now open to playing for the Barracuda, should he be sent down again, Leddy said he\u2019s \u201cbeen thinking about that. Haven\u2019t really come up with a plan just yet, but we\u2019ll be coming up with one soon. I don\u2019t know. I think that\u2019s up to me and (Grier) to talk about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to play hockey, too. So, we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complicating matters for Leddy was that the Sharks, at times, were carrying nine defensemen on the active roster and wanted to give younger blueliners opportunities to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been around long enough where you can kind of see the writing on the wall, and talks with (Grier) and my agent (Pat Brisson) were happening,\u201d Leddy said. \u201cSo (being waived) wasn\u2019t truly out of the blue. Obviously, it stings a little bit, but it\u2019s the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sharks, at the moment, do not have a pressing need to create an opening on the 23-man roster. Center Filip Bystedt, promoted from the Barracuda at the same time as Leddy, can be reassigned to the AHL once the Sharks want to activate Ryan Reaves from injured reserve. But forward Ty Dellandrea, San Jose\u2019s only other player on IR, is still considered weeks away from a return from a lower-body ailment.<\/p>\n

As long as they have enough salary cap space, NHL teams can expand their rosters beyond 23 players after the March 6 trade deadline. Leddy can be kept on the Sharks roster, as his deal carries a $4 million cap hit, and the team, per PuckPedia<\/a>, will have over $10.6 million in cap space available by deadline day.<\/p>\n

The Sharks also have four other defensemen, besides Leddy, who are pending unrestricted free agents and could be traded. If one or more of the Sharks\u2019 pending UFAs, like Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, Vincent Desharnais, or John Klingberg, are traded, that could open the door for Leddy to return to the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know,\u201d Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cThe trade deadline\u2019s coming up, things change very quickly. An injury there, injury here, next thing you know, you\u2019re back in the top four, six, whatever it might be. So he\u2019s got to control what he can control and just be ready for practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sharks and Jeff Skinner on Feb. 16 mutually agreed to terminate<\/a> the remainder of his one-year, $3 million contract, allowing the veteran winger to sign with any other team. Skinner remains a free agent.<\/p>\n

Leddy\u2019s cap hit is likely too much for other teams to absorb in a trade, but a new deal with a smaller cap hit would be easier to swallow. Asked if terminating his contract is something he has or would consider, Leddy said that decision \u201cis up to (Grier), and my agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s hard to comment on that now, with so many moving parts and a lot of things going on. The focus is here. The focus is on trying to win games here and getting to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leddy, with 420 points in 1,061 career NHL games, firmly believes he can still play at the highest level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to play in the NHL, that\u2019s the ultimate goal,\u201d Leddy said. \u201cAgain, that\u2019s not always up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2013 Nick Leddy is back in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks, but it remains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,401,402,181,404,182,88,90,89,98,198,403,200,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-188117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-inside-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-pm-report","15":"tag-san-jose","16":"tag-san-jose-headlines","17":"tag-san-jose-news","18":"tag-san-jose-sharks","19":"tag-santa-clara-county","20":"tag-sharks-alert","21":"tag-south-bay","22":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}