Knyzhov gets new deal from Sharks after return from injuries that cost him nearly 2 years

Nikolai Knyzhov has played only nine games for the Sharks this season, but that was enough for San Jose to give him an extension and a raise.

The 25-year-old forward signed a two-year contract Wednesday that will keep him in San Jose through the 2024-25 season.

Knyzhov missed all of last season and much of this year with a string of lower-body injuries, returning to the Sharks earlier this month for his first game since May 2021.

In his rookie year of 2020-21, Knyzhov shined for the struggling Sharks, earning time alongside star defenseman Erik Karlsson. After that breakout season, he underwent two sports hernia surgeries and an adductor repair and suffered from a bone infection along the way, missing last season. In offseason training last summer, he then his right Achilles tendon.

He has played this season on a two-way deal worth $850,000, according to CapFriendly.com, and scheduled to be a restricted free agent this offseason. Instead, Knyzhov will earn $1.1 million next season and $1.4 million in the second year before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025.

Knyzhov has played 68 career games at the NHL level since signing with the Sharks in July 2019, with three career goals and eight assists. He has recorded one assist in 13 games for the Barracuda of the AHL this season since returning to play for that club Jan. 25.