Adin Hill might not be able to return this season; Kevin Labanc is likely to be shut down.
San Jose Sharks goalie Adin Hill is making progress from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out of action for most of the last three months but it remains unclear whether he will be able to return this season – or if he’ll be back with the team at all.
Hill, who hasn’t played since March 12, has recently been able to ramp up the intensity of his off-ice workouts, coach Bob Boughner said Saturday before the Sharks played the Canucks in Vancouver, but is still not skating.
Hill is not with the Sharks on their five-game road trip that continues Tuesday in Nashville and ends April 17 in Minnesota. After the trip, the Sharks will only have seven games remaining – not leaving much time for Hill to play again before a long offseason begins.
“Just a matter of when he can get back on that ice and feel good,” Boughner said of Hill. “By the time we get back from the road trip, there’s not a lot of hockey left.”
Hill, along with a 2022 seventh-round draft pick, was acquired last July from the Arizona Coyotes for a 2022 second-round pick and goalie Josef Korenar. He was signed to a two-year, $4.35 million contract shortly afterward, becoming part of a new Sharks goaltending tandem with James Reimer.
Hill has a 10-11-1 record, a .906 save percentage with a 2.66 goals-against average in 25 games. But his 29-save shutout of the Los Angeles Kings on March 12 has been his only appearance since he entered in relief of Reimer against Tampa Bay on Jan. 22, when he was first injured.
“It shows you that there’s some great hockey in him and that he’s a good young goalie. Now it’s just a matter of staying healthy,” Boughner said. “You feel bad for a player that’s trying to establish himself as a number one (goalie) in this league and he’s dealing with injuries.”
The Sharks on March 21 acquired goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and a fifth-round pick this year from the Minnesota Wild for defenseman Jake Middleton. Kahkonen, who is starting Saturday in Vancouver, is a pending restricted free agent and is seen by the Sharks as a goalie that’s just starting to come into his own.
Sharks interim general manager Joe Will said after the trade deadline that the team will likely not keep three goalies next season. Reimer, 34, is enjoying a good season and is easily the most experienced goalie of the group, so that leaves Hill’s long-term future with the Sharks as being a bit murky. Both Hill and Kahkonen will turn 26 before the start of next season.
“Like a lot of other things that we have, things will be fluid in the summer,” Will said last month. “At (the goalie) position, our group of forwards and our group of defensemen, there will be changes.
“I don’t know exactly what they are, but we’ll determine that by, number one, by watching players over the next quarter of the season, and number two with opportunities that we may have in the summer.”
After Tuesday, the Sharks play Chicago, Dallas, and Minnesota on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively, before they return home to play Columbus on April 19.
LABANC LIKELY TO BE SHUT DOWN: Boughner reiterated Saturday that forward Kevin Labanc’s season is likely over. Labanc is nearly fully recovered from the shoulder surgery he had in December, but Boughner has said with the team well out of the playoff picture, the organization and its medical staff do not want to risk him getting re-injured before the offseason.
“We haven’t made anything official,” Boughner said, “it’s just, time’s not on his side.”
Labanc still has two years left on his four-year, $18.9 million deal he signed in Oct. 2020.
REIMER FEELING BETTER: Reimer, injured in the third period of Thursday’s loss to the Calgary Flames when Logan Couture fell on top of him in the Sharks’ crease, felt better Friday, Boughner said. Reimer backed up Kahkonen for Saturday’s game.
LEONARD EXPECTED BACK: Boughner said forward John Leonard, injured in Tuesday’s game with the Edmonton Oilers when he blocked an Evan Bouchard shot with the inside of his left foot, was on crutches Friday but is expected to be available to play again before the season ends April 29.
Boughner said nothing is broken with Leonard and that he is unable to place any weight on his foot yet. “So it’s going to be a little bit of a process with him, but I expect him to be back.”
