The Sharks are getting Alexander Wennberg back tonight, and that means Filip Bystedt is headed back to the AHL.
San Jose assigned Bystedt to the San Jose Barracuda earlier this morning, a move that was expected once Wennberg told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he would be activated from injured reserve this evening. Wennberg has been out since October 19 after suffering an upper-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 32-year-old center is in his third season with the Sharks after signing a three-year, $18MM extension with the club last January. His return comes after a 10-game absence, which will be his longest stretch out of the lineup since joining the Bay Area team.
Wennberg’s production has been uneven so far this season. Before the injury, he had three assists in nine games and was sitting at a minus-3 rating while skating in San Jose’s top six.
Last season, he put up 10 goals and 35 points in 77 games with a minus-21 rating, averaging 18:51 of ice time per night. The year before that, he posted 18 goals and 55 points in 80 games with a minus-25 rating and logged more than 20 minutes a game.
He’s set to slot back into the second-line center role tonight against the New York Islanders, lining up between Mason Marchment and Kiefer Sherwood.
For Bystedt, the demotion sends him back to AHL San Jose after his first NHL look. The former first-round pick finished his five-game call-up without a point, recorded a minus-3 rating, and averaged 9:49 of ice time per game. He had started the season well with the Barracuda, scoring four goals and eight points in his first eight games, and will now try to build on that once he’s back with the AHL club.
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