Sharks defenseman, after grueling, injury-filled journey, says he’s ready to play again
SAN JOSE – Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov, out for the last 20 months with a litany of injuries, said he’s ready to play games again, and he might get that opportunity sometime in the next week or so with the Sharks’ top minor league affiliate.
Knyzhov practiced again with the Sharks on Thursday, a day before the team left for a five-game road trip that starts Saturday in Columbus. Knyzhov, though, will remain in San Jose and begin to skate with the Barracuda.
It was unclear as of Thursday if or when Knyzhov would play an AHL game, which would be his first at any level since May 2021. The Barracuda host the San Diego Gulls on Friday, then start a three-game road trip next week, playing in Henderson on Jan. 25 and 27, and Bakersfield on Jan. 28.
Still, Knyzhov has not had any setbacks since he’s been able to take contact in practices on Jan. 9, and he’s continued to ramp up his conditioning in the meantime.
“I’m ready,” Knyzhov said Thursday. “I don’t know about (Friday’s) game if I’m playing or not. I could be in the lineup (next week). We’ll just see. I’m just taking it day by day.”
The 6-foot-3, 222-pound Knyzhov had surgery in early August to repair a torn right Achilles tendon, an injury that typically takes about six months to fully heal. He skated for the first time in early November and has made steady progress over the last two months.
“It just feels like everything’s coming back,” Knyzhov said. “Being around the guys being in-season, it doesn’t feel like summer training. It feels like the games are already going, so you’re trying to get into the lineup as fast as you can.
“I feel like we’ve done a lot in the last few weeks.”
In his one full NHL year in 2020-2021, Knyzhov, a left shot, played in all 56 games and averaged close to 17 minutes of ice time per night for the Sharks as he finished the season as Erik Karlsson’s defense partner. A fluid and effortless skater, Knyzhov, who had added close to 30 pounds to his frame over the last three-plus years, turned into one of the few Sharks’ bright spots during a challenging 21-28-7 season.
Since then, Knyzhov, 24, has needed multiple surgeries, including sports hernia surgery and others involving his adductor muscles. He also had to fight off a bone infection during that time.
Knyzhov, though, doesn’t want to dwell on what’s happened in the past.
“I don’t really think about it,” he said. “If I focus on that, then it sounds like a negative. What I’m trying to (focus on) is, I’m in good shape, I’m competing with the guys and I don’t feel like I missed a day.”
The undrafted Knyzhov was originally signed by the Sharks as a free agent in July 2019. He signed a one-year, one-way contract extension last April and is slated to become a restricted free agent this summer.