Sharks Practice Report: Eklund Has Upper-Body Injury, Will Smith Switches Up Lines

CHICAGO — William Eklund was not on the ice at practice on Wednesday.

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky shared that Eklund has a “little nagging” upper-body injury and is “probably a game-time decision” for Thursday’s tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks.

It’s unclear how long that Eklund has been suffering from this injury.

For what it’s worth, San Jose Hockey Now saw Eklund working out on his own as the Sharks were taking the ice for practice, with no obvious impairments.

In place of Eklund, Danil Gushchin joined the San Jose Sharks’ top line. Also, Will Smith and Alex Wennberg flip-flopped center spots.

This is how the Sharks skated today:

Gushchin-Granlund-Toffoli
Kostin-Wennberg-Zetterlund
Goodrow-W. Smith-Kunin
Grundstrom-Sturm-Dellandrea

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Benning

Winger Givani Smith and defenseman Jack Thompson also rotated in.

Warsofsky didn’t commit to any of these changes for Thursday night’s showdown.

Eklund has just one assist this season, but per Natural Stat Trick, he leads the San Jose Sharks with 13 Scoring Chances.

The Sharks have scored just six goals in three games this season — four on opening night — so they’ll certainly miss Eklund’s offensive prowess.