Barabanov Unlikely To Return This Year

Alexander Barabanov is unlikely to return this season.

San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn was asked today if Barabanov, who hasn’t played since Mar. 25 because of an upper-body injury, was trending more in the injury direction of Evgeny Svechnikov or Andreas Johnsson.

Svechnikov hasn’t played since Mar. 16 because of a lower-body injury, and there was some fear that he was done for the season. However, the Russian winger will make his return to the line-up tonight versus the Colorado Avalanche.

“It says a lot about him. He’s worked his ass off to get back to where he’s at,” Quinn recognized. “It would have been easy, it was an injury that you could have said okay, he’s not gonna make it back.”

Johnsson hasn’t played since Mar. 20 after blocking a shot in Edmonton. He hasn’t skated since then.

“Obviously, with each passing day now, a little more than a week to go, it’s gonna be hard for these guys to get back without skating already,” Quinn acknowledged about Johnsson.

The San Jose Sharks have just six games left in their year and will end the regular season on Apr. 13 in Edmonton.

As for Barabanov?

“I think he’s more in the Johnsson camp right now,” the San Jose Sharks bench boss admitted. Barabanov also hasn’t skated since his injury.

It’s a stroke of bad luck for Barabanov, who’s just three points shy of 50, after a career-high of 39 last season.

“He’s had some success this year. Took some strides,” Quinn noted. “So it hurts us, for sure.”

Good news, according to a source, Barabanov’s injury doesn’t appear to be very serious. It shouldn’t hamper the Russian winger’s summer, so expect him ready for training camp this fall.