San Jose Sharks Activate Nico Sturm, Reassign Jack Thompson

The San Jose Sharks will see the return of a bottom-six center before their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. The organization announced they activated forward Nico Sturm from the injured reserve and reassigned defenseman Jack Thompson to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, in a corresponding roster move.

Sturm hasn’t factored into a game since the Sharks’ November 14th loss to the New York Rangers. He left the game with an apparent upper-body injury and was placed on the team’s injured reserve a few days later on November 18th. He rejoined the team for practice yesterday morning and was seen centering the fourth line between Klim Kostin and Ty Dellandrea.

The former Stanley Cup champion is in his third year with the Sharks organization after signing a three-year, $6MM contract with the club in 2022. He’s seen his ice time dip to 9:50 a game on average with the influx of forward talent to San Jose and has collected three goals and six points through 18 games this season.

The reassignment of Thompson is confusing on paper given the young defenseman has scored two goals and five points in 13 games for the Sharks this season from the blue line. He’s tied for third on the team in scoring amongst defensemen with veteran Cody Ceci and appeared to be a solid introduction into the team’s top-four.

Still, Thompson is only in his third professional season and could use more seasoning in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHL talent. He played in 16 games for the Barracuda last season after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored one goal and nine points with a -13 rating.