Slow-starting Sharks winger now out indefinitely with injury

It has been a rough start to the season for the San Jose Sharks as they are winless through the first six games.  They’ve also had a rough start on the injury front with Mikael Granlund injured in the season opener and Logan Couture yet to suit up.  Now, they’re down another key forward as head coach David Quinn told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng that Alexander Barabanov will be out for a while; Peng reports that the winger sustained a broken finger.

The injury occurred near the end of Tuesday’s loss to Florida after a sequence that saw him block a high shot before taking two hits in quick succession.

Barabanov is off to a tough start himself as he has been held off the scoresheet for the first six games of the season, an unexpected outcome considering that he was coming off a career year that saw him record 47 points in 68 games.  The timing of the slow start plus the injury is hardly ideal as the 29-year-old is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

San Jose was carrying 13 forwards on their active roster prior to this news so they don’t necessarily have to make a move; Quinn noted to Peng that they won’t make a recall right away.  For now, Givani Smith figures to slot into the lineup or they could go with seven defenders.  But with Granlund recently suffering a setback in his recovery according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, it stands to reason that the Sharks may want to bring up another forward at some point in the coming days.