Alex Stalock to miss most of the season
Sharks goalie prospect Alex Stalock suffered a season ending injury in Februarywhile playing in an AHL game (I posted about that here). He underwent surgery and might have been ready for training camp this season. Well, that’s out the window.
According to an interview with the Duluth News Tribune (Stalock is from Minnesota and played his college hockey at Minnesota-Duluth), he’s been told that he won’t be able to start on-ice training until next February, a year since he suffered his nerve injury. And that’s only training that he could start.
The best-case scenario is that he plays about 15 games for Worcester this season. Next season, he’ll play full-time in the AHL once Antero Niittymaki’s contract is up. Thomas Greiss, who signed a two-year contract last month, would then go to the NHL to back up Antti Niemi. Greiss is projected to start for Worcester this season until Stalock is ready to get back between the pipes. But with Niittymaki’s very shaky injury history, Greiss may be forced into NHL backup duty.
The Sharks have a very good group of goaltending prospects in a rather weak farm system. Stalock was probably the best of the bunch, and this really hurts not only his development, but the Sharks’ goaltending depth as well. Had Stalock stayed healthy, the Sharks probably wouldn’t have re-signed Greiss.
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