If the Sharks still held out hopes for a playoff run, Erik Karlsson's broken thumb may have put away any remaining dreams of postseason glory this spring for good.
The team announced on Saturday that Karlsson, who broke his left thumb during Friday's game against the Jets, will require surgery that will keep him out for the remainder of 2019-20.
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This latest blow makes worse an already-bad Sharks season — which saw a head coaching change in December and another major injury when the club lost top-six forward Tomas Hertl for the season. With only 25 games left on San Jose's schedule, the team (25-28-4, 54 points) likely has too high a hill to climb without one of the league's top defensemen. San Jose risks missing the playoffs entirely just one year after making the Western Conference final.
Though Karlsson's 0.71 point per game scoring pace (six goals, 34 assists) only placed him ninth in scoring among all NHL defensemen, he led the Sharks in overall scoring this season and played more minutes on average (24:31) than any San Jose skater save for fellow blue-liner Brent Burns (24:54).
Karlsson is a four-time All-Star and two-time Norris Trophy winner, but his play since joining the Sharks franchise in 2018 has at times left more to be desired. The Swedish defenseman has been derailed by injuries in both of the last two seasons, failing to reach 60 games played in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
According to a release, the Sharks expect Karlsson to recover well in advance of training camp and preseason games for the 2020-21 season.