SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks placed center Tomas Hertl on injured reserve Monday, according to the NHL’s media site.
Hertl was battling a lower-body ailment that caused him to miss the Sharks’ last two games at the end of last month, against the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 30 and the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 31.
Hertl appeared to be hurt midway through the second period of the Sharks’ Jan. 27 game against Buffalo. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound centerman came across the offensive blue line with the puck before he was hip-checked by Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Hertl attended the NHL All-Star festivities from Feb. 1-3 in Toronto and at less than full strength, played in the 3-on-3 tournament that saw his team with captain Connor McDavid make the final but lose to a team captained by Auston Matthews.
Hertl leads the Sharks with 15 goals and 34 points in 48 games.
The Sharks were looking forward to having a full complement of centermen available to them for the first time this season, as Hertl, Logan Couture, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm have all had to miss at least some time this season.
Hertl and Couture, though, did not practice Sunday when Sharks coach David Quinn labeled them as day-to-day.
It was not immediately unclear as to when Couture would be able to return to practice as he was dealing with soreness related to the injury he had, osteitis pubis, throughout the first half of the season. He returned to the Sharks’ lineup on Jan. 20 for a game against the Anaheim Ducks, and played in six straight games last month before the NHL All-Star break.
The Sharks have five other players on IR at the moment — forwards Mikael Granlund and Givani Smith and defensemen Mario Ferraro, Henry Thrun, and Matt Benning.
Granlund, Smith, Ferraro, and Thrun all practiced Sunday and appear to be nearing a return. Benning is expected to miss the remainder of the season after he had hip surgery in December.
The Sharks are practicing again this morning, and are scheduled to practice again on Tuesday before they fly to Winnipeg to take on the Jets on Wednesday. The Sharks then complete the two-game jaunt to Western Canada with a game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Please check back for updates to this story.
