San Jose Sharks place forward on IR and a defenseman on waivers

The San Jose Sharks have placed forward Luke Kunin on injured reserve and defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov on waivers.

Kunin played on Thursday when the Sharks lost 3-0 to the Boston Bruins, but missed Friday’s game with the New Jersey Devils, a 6-3 San Jose win, with what was described as an upper-body injury.

Kunin, who has seven points in 23 games this season, is the fifth Sharks player presently on injured reserve, joining forwards Filip Zadina, Alexander Barabanov, and Oskar Lindblom, and defenseman Jan Rutta.

Zadina, Barabanov, and Rutta are all on the Sharks’ road trip, which continues Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers.

Coach David Quinn mentioned before the Sharks left for their road trip that the team was hoping to get Barabanov, out with a broken finger, back sometime on the road trip that continues with games against the New York Islanders on Tuesday and the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The Sharks finish the trip Dec. 10 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Kunin was averaging 15:25 in ice time per game and his five goals are tied for second-most on the team. He scored the winning goal on Monday when the Sharks beat the Washington Capitals.

The Sharks are 3-1-1 in their last five games.