San Jose Sharks’ Nikolai Knyzhov starts conditioning loan, nears return to games

San Jose Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov, who hasn’t played a game in 20 months due to a litany of injuries and subsequent surgeries, is now on a long-term injury conditioning loan with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL.

Knyzhov, for now, is practicing with the Barracuda as he continues to ramp up his strength and conditioning after he had surgery in August to repair a torn right Achilles tendon.

Knyzhov told this news organization last week that he felt he was ready to play again. He could potentially dress in AHL games this week, but the organization will not move ahead until everyone is comfortable, a source indicated.

This week, the Barracuda plays Wednesday and Friday in Henderson, Nevada, and Saturday in Bakersfield.

Knyzhov was skating with the Sharks earlier this month and remained in San Jose to continue to skate as the NHL team left for an eight-day road trip that ends Saturday in Pittsburgh.

“It just feels like everything’s coming back,” Knyzhov said last week. “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.”

Knyzhov, whose last game at any level came on May 12, 2021, is on the Sharks’ long-term injured reserve list. On a long-term injury conditioning loan, a player remains on LTIR and off the team’s 23-man roster, with his salary not counting toward the cap. Knyzhov is on a one-year contract that carries a cap hit of $850,000.

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 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.

“I don’t really think about it,” Knyzhov said of his injuries. “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 Sharks lost their first two games on the road trip, falling 5-3 to Columbus on Saturday and 4-0 to Boston on Sunday. They play the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday before they face the Penguins on Saturday.