SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks have been hit with another injury to a key player as forward Tyler Toffoli will be out for Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers — and likely longer — with a lower-body ailment.
Toffoli left the Sharks’ game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday after the first period and did not return, while San Jose went on to lose 5-0 before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.
Toffoli, now in his second season with the Sharks, is the team’s third-leading scorer with 44 points, including 18 goals, in 67 games. He plays on the Sharks’ top power play unit and is eighth among all San Jose forwards in average time on ice (15:17).
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Friday that Toffoli, 33, was being evaluated and that he might have some clarification on the winger’s outlook on Saturday.
“Veteran guy, right? He’s been around a long time, seen a lot of playoff hockey, and in these kinds of moments, he can really help your group move forward,” Warsofsky said of Toffoli, a veteran of 957 NHL games who won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. “So we’re going to miss him for a little bit here. But I think we have some guys that can fill in and help out, and he’ll still be around.”
For Friday’s practice at SAP Center, Warsofsky had Philipp Kurashev join the Sharks’ top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Kurashev, with 20 points in 41 games this season, was a healthy scratch for the Sharks’ last two games, including their 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to get (Kurashev) going and kind of give him a clean slate, get him up there with (Celebrini),” Warsofsky said.
Toffoli, who led the Sharks with 30 goals last season, has played a key leadership role on a team that features several players under 23.
“A veteran presence,” Sharks center Macklin Celebrini said of Toffoli. “Especially over the last two years, how close we’ve gotten with him. His leadership, just the way he talks. He’s always there for you if you want to ask him questions. Even on the ice. He plays hard. He can score from anywhere, and he’s really dangerous.”
The Sharks right now are also dealing with injuries to No. 1 goalie Yaroslav Askarov (lower body), winger Igor Chernyshov (upper body), and center Ty Dellandrea (lower body).
Askarov and Chernyshov both skated apart from the Sharks on Friday, but it remains unclear when either player might begin practicing with the team. For the second straight day, Dellandrea skated with the Sharks while wearing an orange non-contact jersey. He remains week-to-week, Warsofsky said.
Vincent Desharnais, who played on the Sharks’ top defense pair alongside Dmitry Orlov against the Sabres, also missed Friday’s practice with an upper-body injury, and his availability for Saturday will be determined closer to game time.
The injuries come at a delicate time for the Sharks, who have lost three straight games and entered Friday in 11th place in the Western Conference with 70 points, two points behind the Kings for the second wild-card spot. The Sharks are also one point behind both the Seattle Kraken and the Nashville Predators.
The Sharks, feeling more pressure than usual, have collected just six of a possible 16 points over their last eight games. In that time, they’ve averaged four goals allowed per game, fourth-most in the NHL, and have scored just 2.63 per game, 25th-best in the league.
After Saturday, the Sharks will have 14 games remaining, starting with a three-game road trip next week with stops in Nashville, St. Louis, and Columbus.
“I think we just need to regroup a little bit,” said Celebrini, who leads the Sharks with 95 points but has been held off the scoresheet the last two games. “Try less, stop gripping the stick a little too tight. It’s tough with where we are. There’s (four) teams within (two points) of one another, so it’s tough to take that mindset. But we’ve got to grip the stick a little less and just play.”
SHERWOOD ON TOCCHET
Sharks winger Kiefer Sherwood has cited Rick Tocchet as a major influence on his career while the two were both with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2024-25 season. Sherwood was in his first season with the Canucks after signing a two-year deal with the team, and Tocchet, now in his first year as the Flyers’ head coach, was in what would be his third and final season in Vancouver.
Tocchet stepped down as the Canucks’ coach on April 29, 2025, after he reportedly turned down a lucrative contract extension offer from the team. He was hired by the Flyers on May 14.
Sherwood flourished under Tocchet, establishing new career highs with 78 games played, 19 goals, and 40 points.
“Players, coaches, everyone, they’ve got to do what’s best for them,” Sherwood said, when asked about Tocchet’s departure from Vancouver. “It’s such a business sometimes, and you never know what goes on through people’s wants and needs and kind of personal ambitions.
“He obviously wanted to continue to grow his Philly legacy or whatever, so you can’t really fault a guy … if you have, I don’t want to say leverage, but just a time that you can kind of control a little bit of your future to do that, it’s a business, obviously, and he’s earned the right to to be where he wants.”
