Sharks Activate Will Smith, Place Klim Kostin On IR

12/14/2024 05:51 PM

The San Jose Sharks have placed winger Klim Kostin on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Kostin left San Jose’s Thursday night win over St. Louis in the second period, after a scrum in the corner with a few Blues players. He didn’t appear to get hurt in the altercation, and no word on his official injury has come out. Kostin was a game-time decision for San Jose’s Tuesday loss to Carolina, after blocking a shot with his foot at practice – though he was ultimately able to play. It’s not clear if that lower-body injury is connected to this IR placement.

In a corresponding move, San Jose has activated top young forward William Smith off of IR. Smith spent the last four days on IR with an upper-body injury. He is expected to step right back into the Sharks’ lineup when they host Utah on Saturday. Smith hasn’t played since December 5th, but scored an impressive seven points in six games leading up to his injury. He’s up to 11 points through 24 games this season, after starting the year with no scoring in his first eight NHL games.

Swapping Kostin and Smith may be a jarring change in style, but it should be a seamless lineup change. Kostin earned a promotion to the third line in late November. He’s averaged over 13 minutes of ice time in six games since – a hefty step from his eight-minute-average in San Jose’s first 14 games. With Kostin now headed for the shelf, and newcomer Nikolai Kovalenko expected to round out the top-six next to Macklin Celebrini, the third-line wing will be a natural landing spot for the young Smith. The Sharks have averaged just 2.00 goals-per-game through five games in the month of December – setting Smith up to be an impactful sparkplug, if he can rediscover the scoring hot streak he was on before injury.