The San Jose Sharks will swap out a pair of injured defensemen through the end of the season. Top defender Mario Ferraro has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, while depth option Jan Rutta will be activated from injured reserve for Friday night’s game, per Jason Gregor of Sports-1440. Ferraro suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. Rutta was also facing a lower-body injury, and has missed San Jose’s last 27 games.
Ferraro’s season will come to a close on the heels of a streak of heavy utilization. He’s appeared in at least 24 minutes of play in six of his last 10 games. That mark raised his season-long average to 21:24 through 78 games. Ferraro recorded five goals, 17 points, and a minus-25 with those minutes. He also led the Sharks defense with 125 blocked shots and 150 hits on the year. His minus-25 was also Ferraro’s highest plus-minus since the 2021-22 seaosn. He had another year of a hard-fought role, and the defense will feel the weight of his absence through their final four games.
Rutta has handled far less of a role through his healthy games this season. He’s recorded eight points, a minus-six, and 28 penalty minutes in 51 games while rotating through a role on San Jose’s bottom pair. His average of 16:57 in ice time is the fewest of any Sharks defender with more than 30 games played. Nonetheless, Rutta will slot back into a role on the Sharks’ bottom two pairings with Ferraro out.