SAN JOSE – Alexander Barabanov's season and possibly his San Jose Sharks career appear to be over as there remains no sign of the winger getting back on the ice with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
Barabanov was injured blocking a shot in the Sharks' game against the Dallas Stars on March 26. He was seen in a protective walking boot after the game and two days later, Sharks coach David Quinn announced that Barabanov was week to week.
Quinn agreed the odds are against Barabanov, who had just 13 points in 46 games this season, from returning this month. The Sharks' season ends on April 18 with a game in Calgary against the Flames.
"We missed him for sure," Quinn said. "He's a guy that we had last year and was a good player for us. Just seemed like right from the get-go, anytime things started going well for him, he got hurt.
"Unfortunately, that's sports. That can happen. It can happen to anybody and this happens to be the year it happens to him. Unfortunately, it's happened to a few too many guys for us this year."
If Barabanov, a pending unrestricted free agent, does not return to San Jose next season, he will finish his four-year Sharks tenure with 106 points in 193 games since April 26, 2021. That makes him the fifth-highest scoring Sharks in that time, behind Tomas Hertl (174), Erik Karlsson (140), Timo Meier (132), and Logan Couture (128).
Barabanov first came to the Sharks on April 12, 2021, in a trade with Toronto that sent forward Antti Suomela to the Maple Leafs.
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