Heading into training camp, San Jose Sharks prospect Quentin Musty looked ready to compete for a bottom-six role. At the Rookie Faceoff, his game seemed much different than what we had seen from him in the past and if he kept up that style of play, he could've snuck into a spot on the opening night roster.
Then, in the second game of the aforementioned Rookie Faceoff, Musty took a puck to the face that will keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future. As Max Miller of NHL.com reported, Musty will be out for "months":
While Musty's injury isn't going to take him out of the running for ever earning an NHL job, at 21 years of age, he'll have more opportunities, it could possibly help some of his competition.
Players like Carson Wetsch and Andre Gasseau are going to be competing for same spot as Musty, and the Sharks aren't going to have many forward spots open up over the next few years. Once Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, Tyler Toffoli and Adam Gaudette depart the organization and the Sharks find their replacements, there will be very little movement in the Sharks' forward group for years to come.
Musty's injury also means that he'll miss significant development time for the second time in three years. During the 2024-25 season, he famously missed quite a bit of time at the Ontario Hockey League level when didn't want to return to the Sudbury Wolves and attempted to hold out for a trade that never came.
If either Wetsch, Gasseau, or even someone else like Ethan Cardwell are able to jump Musty in the Sharks' long-term depth chart, it desperately hurts his chances of ever breaking into their roster on a full-time basis. This injury doesn't mean that he has no chance of ever making it, but it certainly could make things much more difficult to do so.
