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Report: Sharks’ Hertl could be sidelined for ‘weeks’

San Jose Sharks v Arizona Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 01: Tomas Hertl #48 of the San Jose Sharks in action during the third period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on November 1, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Sharks 3-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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After missing their game against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night, it is likely that the San Jose Sharks will be without one of their top forwards, Tomas Hertl, for an extended period of time.

Hertl was injured during the Sharks’ game on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues when he was involved in a collision with Jori Lehtera.

He exited the game after playing just 10 minutes.

While the Sharks are not yet sure if the injury will require surgery (he had an MRI over the weekend) CSN’s Kevin Kurz reports it is still an injury that could result in Hertl missing “weeks, not days.”

The concern for the Sharks and Hertl is that it is believed to be an injury to the same knee that he has already injured multiple times in his brief career, including in the Stanley Cup Final this past spring.

That injury kept him out for the remainder of the series and was a huge blow to the Sharks after he had been arguably their best player over the first two games.

When it comes to his point production this season Hertl has been off to a bit of a slow start (four goals, five assists) in 17 games. That is mostly due to a recent scoring slump that saw him record just a single assist over the past seven games.

But while the scoring had slumped recently he has been the Sharks’ best possession player this season (56 percent corsi), so it’s not like he hasn’t been contributing.

Hertl is coming off of a 2015-16 season that saw him record career highs in goals (21), assists (25), points (46) and shots on goal (202) for the Sharks.