The defenseman was placed on injured reserve Monday. He was injured in the second period while racing for the puck with Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall during a 3-1 loss Saturday.
San Jose (24-23-6) is scheduled to conclude its regular season April 29.
"His spirits are down. I know he was down after the game last night," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Sunday before a 3-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at home. "It's a tough injury with only two months go on the season."
Ferraro has scored 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 48 games this season and leads the Sharks in hits (101) and blocked shots (127). He is averaging 23:19 of ice time per game, second on San Jose behind defenseman Brent Burns (26:22).
"There's nobody in this room that loves to come to the rink and play more and be around the guys and do something he loves to do more than Mario," Boughner said. "I think that really is tough on him. He plays hard and he's stayed, for the most part over his first few years, pretty healthy for a guy who goes through the wall every night. So it's a setback. There's no sugarcoating it."
Nicolas Meloche replaced Ferraro against Seattle. He had two hits and one blocked shot in 18:58.
The Sharks recalled defenseman
Santeri Hatakka
from San Jose of the American Hockey League on Monday.
"His energy, people feed off of it," Boughner said of Ferraro. "We're going miss his physicality, we're going to miss intensity. But I always say it when someone gets hurt, it's an opportunity for someone else."
NHL.com independent correspondent Chelena Goldman contributed to this report
