This is a positive Will Smith injury update?<\/p>\n
San Jose Hockey Now spotted Smith without a sling in the San Jose Sharks locker room this afternoon.<\/p>\n
Smith had been seen with a sling for his right arm on Monday in Los Gatos and on Tuesday after the Sharks\u2019 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames.<\/p>\n
Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev were injured during San Jose\u2019s 6-5 OT victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Both were placed on IR, meaning they\u2019ll miss a minimum of one week, the entirety of the Sharks\u2019 current homestand. They\u2019re next eligible to play on Dec. 23 at the Vegas Golden Knights.<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky, when asked to rule out surgery for Smith on back-to-back days earlier this week, has repeated, \u201cWe\u2019re gonna re-assess it on Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hopefully, Smith spending some time out of his sling is a good sign that he\u2019s avoided worst-case scenarios for his upper-body injury. Kurashev has already been labeled week-to-week, whereas Smith is still awaiting another evaluation.<\/p>\n
Also worth noting, Smith\u2019s stall was moved in the San Jose Sharks locker room. Winger Igor Chernyshov, who was called up in part to take Smith\u2019s place, is occupying what was Smith\u2019s stall next to William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli. Meanwhile, Smith is now next to Yaroslav Askarov, where Chernyshov was originally.<\/p>\n
Also, Kurashev doesn\u2019t have a stall in the room right now.<\/p>\n
Reading the tea leaves?<\/p>\n
Also, Smith’s stall was moved next to Askarov’s. Chernyshov was there previously.<\/p>\n
Maybe more noteworthy to me, Smith still has a stall in Sharks locker room, while Kurashev does not. That COULD be a signal of a longer-term injury vs. a shorter-term one. The locker room has\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t