SAN JOSE – The Sharks reassigned forward Matt Nieto to their AHL affiliate in Worcester on Monday, according to general manager Doug Wilson.
Nieto, 20, has two goals and four assists for six points in 19 games. He was a healthy scratch in each of the last two games, against Tampa Bay on Nov. 21 and New Jersey on Nov. 23.
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According to Wilson, Nieto has fully recovered from a hand injury that he suffered on Oct. 24 in Boston, when he blocked a shot by the Bruins’ Dennis Seidenberg. Although Nieto played the next game in Montreal, he missed the following two games in late October.
Nieto will get a chance to play more minutes and games in the American Hockey League, after some preseason injuries helped open the door for him to make the Sharks’ opening night roster. Last season, Nieto had two goals and four assists in 11 games with Worcester after joining the team late in the season.
Brent Burns returned to the Sharks’ lineup on Nov. 21 after missing 13 games with an upper body injury, while Marty Havlat has lately been skating on the third line with Joe Pavelski, where Nieto had spent the majority of the season before Havlat’s return at the end of October.
