As of Dec. 8, the San Jose Sharks lead the NHL in man games lost due to injury.

As of Dec. 8, the San Jose Sharks lead the NHL in man games lost due to injury.

NHLInjuryViz has this definition for man games lost:

"Man-games lost (MGL) to injury is normally understood to be the total number of times a team has had a player or players unavailable to dress for a game, i.e., a single player missing 10 games builds up 10 MGL; 2 players each missing 5 games also builds up 10 MGL."

As head coach David Quinn ruled out Ryan Carpenter and Nico Sturm for the next two games, San Jose's number will continue to rise. 

Logan Couture has missed the entire season with an injury. Ty Emberson, Matt Benning, and Oskar Lindblom are also on IR. Mikael Granlund missed six games at the start of the season, adding to the high total. 

The Sharks have lost centers throughout the season, and Luke Kunin has filled that role when he is not injured. Kunin just returned from a five-game absence. 

"He's smart. He's physical. He's played center before," Quinn said about Kunin. "He's played wing for a long stretch year over the last few years. He's got the ability to play both, which is a valuable asset."

Filip Zadina, Jan Rutta, and Nikita Okhotiuk have all missed some time this season. Don't forget Tomas Hertl missed one game due to kidney stone surgery. Alexander Barabanov has missed 18 games this season with a broken finger.

Mario Ferraro felt the Sharks could've beaten the Vegas Golden Knights had they had a full lineup.

"When we lost those guys, it doesn't help us, but I don't think we have to change anything in terms of the way that we are playing," Ferraro said postgame. "We already felt good. I think if we had Duclair in the lineup for the full 60 minutes, Who knows? Maybe could have helped us out in overtime [or] get a lead and regulation. I thought we battled well throughout the game despite the injuries that we had."

San Jose is 6-2-2 in its last ten games despite the injuries. Their run of form has Quinn starting to look at the standings. 

"I'm not gonna lie; for the first four weeks, I never looked at nhl.com," Quinn joked after the Sharks beat the Winnipeg Jets. "I've started to peek a little bit."

The Sharks sit in seventh place in the Pacific Divison and are eight points out of the second wild-card spot, which is crazy given the start of the season. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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