SAN JOSE – Before this year’s San Jose Sharks training camp, forward Carson Wetsch was perhaps best known — at least around this area — as being a childhood friend of Macklin Celebrini.
But Wetsch made a name for himself in recent days, particularly in the eyes of Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky.
“Every single day, he has gotten better and more comfortable, as I would think he would say,” Warsofsky said this week of Wetsch. (“He’s) playing with the puck more, the game’s slowing down for him a little bit, completely locked in (during) video meetings.
“Guys are asked to answer (questions), and he’s ready with the answer, and he pays attention. Not only does he pay attention in here, he goes out there and he does it right.”
Wetsch, selected 82nd overall by the Sharks last year, 81 spots behind fellow North Vancouver native Celebrini, dressed for his first career NHL preseason game on Friday and had two hits and one blocked shot in 10:21 of ice time as he skated on the Sharks’ fourth line.
“Obviously, the pace is a lot higher than he’s used to,” Warsofsky said. “The guys are bigger, stronger, though he’s trying to do the right things. Good learning experience.”
Playing toward his no-nonsense identity, Wetsch got into a scuffle in San Jose’s 2-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center.
Wetsch tangled with Joe Fleming late in the third period after he felt the Golden Knights winger tried to knee Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea. Fleming dropped his gloves and started punching Wetsch, but the Sharks wound up with a power play.
“Guy was running around all game, went after one of my linemates,” Wetsch said. “It’s just in my nature to do something like that. Just exchanged a few words with him. I guess he wanted to go there. I asked like 10 seconds before, but he didn’t do anything, and then all of a sudden he drops them.
“Just a scuffle. Not really going to take that when it comes down to doing that stuff to my teammates.”
Does it ever drive you crazy,
Just how fast the night changes? pic.twitter.com/Y9tJhVz1y9
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) July 4, 2024
The Sharks have drafted 14 players in the first three rounds over the last four years, stockpiling their pipeline with skilled forwards, defensemen, and goalies.
Wetsch had 52 points in 68 regular-season games last season with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. But he also brings a different element than most other players the Sharks have drafted, as evidenced by the six fights he had in 2024-25, to go with the seven he had the year before.
The day he was drafted in June 2024, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Wetsch said, “I’d say I’m a pretty entertaining guy to watch. I kind of do it all. I fight, I lay hits, I can scorch. A little bit of everything.”
The physicality was apparent on Friday.
“That’s a big part of (my game),” he said afterward, “that physicality and that grit.”
As of Friday, Wetsch, 19, was among only a handful of teenagers not named Celebrini still in Sharks camp. That list includes forwards 18-year-olds Michael Misa and Haoxi (Simon) Wang, both drafted this year, and 19-year-olds Igor Chernyshov and Sam Dickinson.
Wang is injured, and Chernyshov is expected to be assigned to the AHL’s Barracuda before the Sharks’ regular season begins. The Sharks resume camp on Sunday.
Couple North Vancouver guys getting ready pic.twitter.com/Kv2BKjDwYn
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) September 18, 2025
Wetsch, a third-round pick, has some maturity beyond his years.
“Just in the way he plays, he’s really already a pro, and the way he takes care of himself, he’s probably years above some guys at that age,” Warsofsky said. “So he’s got a bright future.”
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Wetsch, at some point, will be returned to the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, who acquired him in May from the Hitmen in advance of a potentially deep playoff run in the spring. Wetsch had five points in 11 playoff games with the Hitmen last season.
But before the CHL playoffs, Wetsch, along with Misa and Dickinson, could have a chance to play for Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Championships in Minnesota. The roster will be stacked with top prospects, but the confidence Wetsch gained from having an impressive camp with the Sharks should be of some benefit.
“The skill level here is unbelievable,” Wetsch said of Sharks camp. “The (WHL doesn’t) really compare to it, so going back with that confidence and just playing against that skill level for two to three weeks here is really going to help me this season.”