SAN JOSE – So, when will the San Jose Sharks actually be good again?
The Sharks, of course, face numerous questions as they begin training camp on Thursday. But the only one that really matters, especially after finishing at the bottom of the NHL standings the last two years, is when they’ll be able to compete for a playoff spot again after a six-year postseason drought.
While the playoffs will probably be out of reach, considering the 44-point gap they have to make up, the Sharks are certainly optimistic they’ll have a better record than the 20-50-12 mark they posted last season. Looking at the roster, a case can be made that every player who was ushered out of San Jose in the offseason was replaced by someone of greater ability.
Out are goalie Alexandar Georgiev, defensemen Henry Thrun, Jan Rutta, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and forwards Noah Gregor, Klim Kostin, and Nikolai Kovalenko. New are goalies, Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic, defensemen Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg, and Nick Leddy, and forwards Jeff Skinner, Philipp Kurashev, Adam Gaudette, and Ryan Reaves.
That doesn’t include prospects like forward Michael Misa and defenseman Sam Dickinson, who want to knock the door down and begin their professional careers.
“You’ve got to earn your ice time, you’ve got to earn your roster spot, you’ve got to earn all of these things,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in July. “We’re starting to get to that point where nothing’s going to be given to anyone and they’re going to really, truly have to go out there and earn their position.”
Here are five questions for the Sharks entering training camp (besides the obvious):
CAN THE KIDS MAKE THE TEAM?: Misa and Dickinson were among the Sharks’ prospects who performed well at the Rookie Faceoff in Anaheim last week. But don’t overreact. The caliber of that event was nowhere close to an NHL regular-season game.
Misa and Dickinson now have to show during camp that they’re ready to make the jump from junior. If they do not make the Sharks roster, they will have to return to the CHL.
For the ultra-skilled Misa, that means playing at an NHL pace and showing he can be responsible on the defensive end. For the smooth-skating Dickinson, it comes down to making the right reads, playing with poise, and making sound decisions with the puck.
There’s also a question as to whether Jack Thompson or Egor Afanasyev, players no longer waiver-exempt, can make the 23-man roster. Thompson would likely have to beat out Dickinson, and Afanasyev might have to outperform Misa, Carl Grundstrom, and Collin Graf to make the team.
There have been questions about the Sharks’ roster and the NHL’s 50-contract limit. As it stands, the Sharks have 49 contracts, but there is some nuance to that number. Some players’ deals are slide eligible and therefore can be excluded from the 50-contract limit.
Simply put, if both Misa and Dickinson show they’re ready to play a full NHL season, the Sharks will make room for them.
WILL THE SHARKS NAME A CAPTAIN?: Logan Couture served as the Sharks’ captain for six seasons but announced in April that a nagging groin/pelvic area injury would prevent him from playing again. That, of course, prompted speculation about whether the Sharks would name a captain for the 2025-26 season.
Grier was non-committal when asked about it after the end of last season, but the Sharks do have quality candidates. Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg, and Barclay Goodrow are all respected veterans, and Mario Ferraro has been an alternate captain since the 2021-2022 season. Macklin Celebrini will wear the ‘C’ one day, but is now too soon, considering he’s just 19?
Toffoli feels like an obvious choice, if there is one, as he’s signed through 2027-28 and has already been an older brother-like figure to Celebrini, Misa, and Will Smith. Meanwhile, Wennberg and Ferraro are both pending unrestricted free agents who could be elsewhere next season. Do the Sharks want to go through this again next fall?
CAN THE SHARKS GEL DURING CAMP? The roster upheaval seemingly never ends in San Jose, and this year’s Sharks roster features seven new players, not including prospects like Misa and Dickinson. It sounds like coach speak, but the Sharks need every practice and game to get on the same page schematically to help avoid the disastrous starts they’ve had in recent years.
That the Sharks returned their entire coaching staff from last season should be of some benefit. Ryan Warsofsky is running his second camp and will not have to introduce new concepts to his returning players, but will have to put together mostly new lines and defense pairs.
The Sharks went to a more conservative 1-1-3 alignment in the second half of last season to cut down on the amount of quality scoring chances against. If the Sharks keep that same approach, Warsofsky will need buy-in from everybody so they can give themselves a chance at a better start.
WHO PLAYS CENTER BEHIND CELEBRINI?: The Sharks envision Smith as a centerman. Smith sees himself as a centerman. But the question is whether the 20-year-old out of Boston College will be a center once the regular season begins.
If the Sharks have the big picture in mind and are willing to let Smith take some lumps and grow into the position, then it’s a possibility. But in the short term, Warsofsky might opt for Wennberg, who is perhaps less dynamic on offense than Smith but is more advanced as a two-way center.
Playing mainly as a winger, Smith was terrific in the second half of last season with 32 points in his final 42 games. Therefore, it might be tempting to put Smith right back on a line with Celebrini and Toffoli and let them develop into a true top line.
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Other center options for the Sharks include Misa, Goodrow, Kurashev, Gaudette, and Ty Dellandrea. Can either Filip Bystedt or Zack Ostapchuk make a push? They’ll need great camps as both remain waivers-exempt.
DOES A TOP DEFENSE PAIR EMERGE?: Last offseason, the Sharks acquired both Cody Ceci and Jake Walman via trade and basically designated them as their top defense pair right from the start of camp. Might the same thing happen this season, with newcomers Orlov and Klingberg given that designation?
Not so fast. Keep in mind that Shakir Mukhamadullin might have been the Sharks’ best defenseman right before his shoulder was injured in March, and that if Leddy is healthy, he could return to the 22-minute per night form he showed in 2023-24 with St. Louis.
Finding the most effective defense pairs to start the season might take some time as Warsofsky determines who he trusts the most in high-leverage situations. But he has more options in that regard than last season.