SAD NEWS: Nashville Veteran Bids farewell to team in tears as he Joins his dream team.

Sharks acquire forward Egor Afanasyev from Nashville Predators.

San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Mike Grier announced today that the club has acquired forward Egor Afanasyev from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Ozzy Wiesblatt.

Afanasyev, 23, led the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) with 54 points and 27 goals and finished third on the club with 27 assists in 56 games during the 2023-24 season. He recorded his first professional hat trick Nov. 8 vs. Toronto and finished the regular season with 14 multi-point efforts, including a career-high four points Apr. 17 vs. Manitoba. He added nine points (five goals, four assists) in 15 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs, finishing third on the team in postseason goals, and tallied a hat trick with three goals May 22 at Grand Rapids. Additionally, he skated in two games with the Nashville Predators in 2023-24, Feb. 13 vs. New Jersey and Feb. 15 vs. Dallas.

The forward made his NHL debut on March 11, 2023, and finished the 2022-23 campaign with one goal in 17 NHL games, coming Apr. 10 at Calgary. In the AHL that same season, Afanasyev tallied 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 57 regular season contests and had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 16 playoff games. In his first professional season in 2021-22, Afanasyev totaled 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 74 games.

He spent the 2020-21 season on loan with CSKA Moskva of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and appeared in 16 games, finishing his run with the club with six points (two goals, four assists). He also competed in two games in the VHL and four games in the MHL that year.

Prior to his professional career, Afanasyev played one season with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), notching 67 points (31 goals, 36 assists) in 62 games in 2019-20, and spent the two seasons prior with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL), earning USHL Third All-Star Team honors in 2018-19 after tallying 62 points (27 goals, 35 assists) in 58 games.

In international play, Afanasyev represented Russia at the 2021 World Junior Championship and finished the tournament with five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games.

The six-foot-four, 211-pound Tver, Russia native was selected by Nashville in the 2019 NHL Draft (second round, 45^th overall).

Wiesblatt, 22, spent most of the last two seasons with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL and finished with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 34 games in 2023-24 and 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 45 games in 2022-23. He played in 16 regular season games and 15 postseason contests while on loan to Milwaukee to conclude the 2023-24 season, totaling 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in those 31 games.

Wiesblatt spent his junior career with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL), helping the club win a league title in 2018-19. He concluded his stint with the team with 179 points (58 goals, 121 assists) in 195 career WHL games.