Third Sharks forward is named to an Olympic roster, with one more expected

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks forward Philipp Kurashev on Wednesday was named to Switzerland’s men’s hockey roster for next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy.

Kurashev, 26, is the third Sharks player to be officially named to an Olympic roster after Macklin Celebrini was picked for Canada’s team on Dec. 31 and Alexander Wennberg was named to Sweden’s team on Friday.

Kurashev has 15 points in 31 games for the Sharks this season but has been out with an upper body injury since Dec. 13. He’ll miss his 10th straight game Wednesday when the Sharks play the Kings in Los Angeles, but he is expected to play again before the Olympic break begins in early February.

Kurashev’s selection to the Swiss roster was expected as he is only a few players from the country in the NHL. Kurashev is from Munsingen, Switzerland, and was a fourth-round draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018.

Other NHL players on the Swiss team are goalie Akira Schmid (Vegas), defensemen Roman Josi (Nashville), Janis Moser (Tampa Bay), and Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey), and forwards Kevin Fiala (Los Angeles), Nico Hischier (New Jersey), ex-Shark Timo Meier (New Jersey), Nino Niederreiter (Winnipeg), and Pius Suter (St. Louis).

Kurashev, who has played both center and wing in his NHL career, had 130 points in 317 career regular season games with the Blackhawks before the team opted not to issue him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent after last season. That made him an unrestricted free agent, and he signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Sharks on July 1.

Kurashev has represented Switzerland at the IIHF World Championships four times, including in 2024 when he won a Silver Medal. Kurashev also represented Switzerland at the 2022, 2021, and 2019 World Championships.

The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins on Feb. 11 and the first game for Switzerland, which is in Group A, is the following day against France. Switzerland also plays Celebrini and Canada on Feb. 13 and Czechia on Feb. 15.

Slovakia has yet to officially announce its Olympic roster but Sharks forward Pavol Regenda is expected to be on the 25-man team.

Regenda, 26, has six goals in five games for the Sharks this season, including a hat trick in San Jose’s 7-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and an even strength goal in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.