The San Jose Sharks season was cut short Sunday evening as the upstart Vegas Golden Knights won Game Six. As the Sharks held their locker room clean out day Tuesday, the extent of their injuries became known.
Veteran forward Joe Thornton, who hadn’t appeared in a game since January 23rd after leaving with a knee injury, announced he tore his MCL and ACL in his right knee.
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Joe Thornton discusses his injury, future #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/F2wLuBdzeH
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 8, 2018
Thornton underwent arthroscopic surgery in late January and though there was no return date set, he had begun skating in Sharks practices and warm-up skates. Thornton tore the same ligaments in his left knee near the end of the Sharks 2016-17 season and played during the first round injured.
Joe Thornton injures his knee right before the 3rd period ended. Went straight to the dressing room, did not start the overtime period. pic.twitter.com/yqDZov5Err
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) January 24, 2018
At age 38, Thornton is one of the oldest active NHL players. He made it clear he would like to return to the Sharks on another one-year deal with a pay cut. Asked if he would take a pay cut to stay in San Jose, Thornton told the Mercury News, “absolutely, yeah. There’s enough money around for everybody.”
A month before Thornton’s injury, he concussed TJ Oshie with a buttcheck to the head. Thornton later answered to his hit and fought Tom Wilson. Oshie missed 6 games with concussion symptoms.
Sharks forward and former Capital Joel Ward, who missed thirty games during the regular season with a shoulder injury and did not appear in the postseason, figures his time is up in San Jose. A pending unrestricted free agent, Ward will potentially look for a new home team over the summer.
Joel Ward says his “time is up” in San Jose. But he still wants to play #SJSharks
— Paul Gackle (@GackleReport) May 8, 2018
Trade deadline acquisition Evander Kane played through the second round with a separated shoulder and MCL trouble.
Evander Kane tells me he had a separated shoulder, and earlier an MCL injury #SJSharks
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) May 7, 2018
Kane had four points (three goals, one assist) in the Sharks first round against the Ducks, but was held to only one point against Vegas.
Other injuries included Brent Burns suffering from a neck/back issue and Joonas Donskoi with hip and foot injuries.
Joe Pavelski dealt with a broken finger and wrist problems earlier in the season. When asked if he had any injuries at the end of the season, Pavelski shrugged and told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic he was fine.
Wrist, broken finger. I asked him if he was dealing with anything at the end of this season and he just kind of shrugged and said he was fine. https://t.co/9yuLodKffu
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) May 8, 2018
The Sharks enter the offseason with five UFAs and three RFAs, running into contract issues similar to the Capitals last summer.
Headline photo: @TSN_Official
