San Jose Sharks rookie forward Will Smith was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, meaning he’ll have to miss the remainder of the team’s road trip.
The transaction appeared on the rosters page of the NHL’s media website.
Smith will sit out the Sharks’ games against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday and the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. The Sharks have activated Barclay Goodrow off IR to take Smith’s spot on the 23-man roster, and he’ll be available to play against the Hurricanes in the fifth game of a six-game trip.
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Smith can be activated as early as Friday. The Sharks play the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday to start a three-game homestand.
Smith had been considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury as he was scratched from the Sharks’ 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday. It was not immediately clear when Smith was injured, but on Thursday, he was hit by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Conor Geekie in the first period. Smith finished the game but did not practice the next day.
In 24 games this season, Smith has 11 points, which was tied for sixth-most among all NHL rookies before Tuesday’s games.
Goodrow was placed on IR on Nov. 28, a day after he absorbed a high hit from Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig. He had been skating with the team recently. Goodrow has two goals in 25 games this season but is averaging 14:46 in ice time per game and is one of the Sharks’ leading penalty killers.
Forward Nikolai Kovalenko and goalie Alexandar Georgiev, both acquired from Colorado on Monday in a trade that sent Mackenzie Blackwood to the playoff-contending Avalanche, joined the Sharks in Raleigh, N.C., before Tuesday’s game and are available to play against the Hurricanes. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, though, told reporters that goalie Vitek Vanecek would be starting against Carolina. Vanecek is making his first appearance since Thursday, when he allowed five goals on 12 shots in the opening period of San Jose’s 8-1 loss to the Lightning.
Forward Klim Kostin was reportedly hit with a shot during the Sharks’ morning skate, forcing him to leave the ice in discomfort. Warsofsky told reporters after the skate that Kostin was being evaluated, leaving his status for Tuesday’s game in question.
Please check back for updates to this story.