Sharks Lose Alex Wennberg Week-to-Week Just as Things Were Looking Up

The San Jose Sharks are actually playing decent hockey this October, which means the universe immediately had to intervene.

Center Alex Wennberg is officially out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, according to Daily Faceoff.

"Daily Faceoff reported Wennberg is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury."

He missed Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens after initially being called day-to-day. Now, the timeline has stretched, leaving San Jose with a massive hole in the middle of their lineup.

Wennberg has not exactly been lighting the lamp this season, posting zero goals and three assists through 10 games. But he eats up around 18 to 20 minutes of ice time a night, taking tough defensive assignments and grinding out faceoffs.

Losing a guy who plays 20 minutes a night without scoring is like losing the load-bearing drywall in your living room. It isn't pretty to look at, but the whole house starts creaking the second it is gone.

The Sharks are sitting at 5-4-1, which is basically a parade-worthy start by their recent standards. Without Wennberg taking heavy defensive shifts, San Jose's center depth is going to get tested hard. Bettors looking at Sharks team totals or opponent center props need to factor in that missing defensive anchor.

San Jose hits the ice next against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday before heading to play the Boston Bruins on Saturday. We will see exactly how fast a surprisingly competent Sharks team unravels when they have to shuffle their entire middle six to cover the gap.