Overview
- Both forwards exited Saturday’s 6-5 overtime win in Pittsburgh, with Will Smith leaving after a hit from Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and Philipp Kurashev departing earlier with an apparent upper-body issue.
- Head coach Ryan Warsofsky had no postgame updates, and the club indicated the earliest formal information would come after Sunday’s day off.
- Dr. Harjas Grewal offered an external assessment that Smith likely sustained a separated shoulder and could be week-to-week, though this is not an official team diagnosis.
- Smith, the 2023 No. 4 pick, has 12 goals and 29 points in 33 games and has become a key scorer alongside Macklin Celebrini, making any absence significant for San Jose.
- Kurashev has 15 points in 31 games in a bounce-back season, while around the league the Kings said Phillip Danault’s scratch was illness-related, the Flyers expect Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York back soon, and the Stars list Adam Erne as day-to-day.