Sharks Have Reasons for Optimism & Pessimism Heading Into 2025-26

All three are breakout candidates this season in different ways. Celebrini and Smith have a rookie season under their belts and get a full offseason as professionals, no longer worrying about the transition to the NHL. Smith, in particular, looks to continue the momentum he gained at the end of last season. He appeared in 74 games and registered just 14 points in the first 37 but 31 points in the last 37. Meanwhile, Eklund improved his production by 13 points last season compared to the previous season. Now he has a new contract and an increased leadership role, but as a 22-year-old, he still has room to grow.

Those players might be the Sharks’ most notable, but they’re far from the only young guys who can make major career gains this season. On the blue line, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Luca Cagnoni hope to cement their spots with the team rather than bouncing back and forth between the NHL and the American Hockey League (AHL). Sam Dickinson is probably too good to stay in juniors but isn’t eligible for the AHL, and might get his first NHL opportunity as a result. In net, Yaroslav Askarov should make far more than the 13 NHL appearances he made last season if he can stay healthy.

The Sharks have one of the NHL’s best prospect pools, and this season is a pivotal year for many of them. All of them have to seize the opportunity they’re being given.

Sharks’ Veterans and Defense Are Uncertain

While the Sharks’ young players should improve and make the team exciting to watch, other aspects of their roster are a lot more concerning. Their veteran presence isn’t as strong as last season’s, and they haven’t made major improvements to their defense.

In the case of the former, the Sharks dealt a number of critical veterans at the trade deadline, and they’re largely counting on young players to replace their on-ice contributions. This makes sense from a roster-building standpoint, but the impact in the locker room remains to be seen. Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg are good leaders, but they can’t make up for the absence of Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Jake Walman all on their own. Of course, having skilled veterans impacts winning as well. The Sharks had a .333 points percentage prior to the Granlund trade — not great, but quite a bit better than the .286 they posted after the trade.

For the latter, the defense consists mostly of inexperienced players and placeholders who can fill roster spots until those up-and-comers are ready to fully take over. The Sharks allowed the most goals in the NHL last season, and while Dmitry Orlov is a good signing, they didn’t exactly overhaul their blue line. A bad defense is tough for a goalie to backstop, especially a young one like Askarov, whom the Sharks want to accelerate and has already seen the difficulty of playing goalie in that situation.

The Sharks are in a difficult position with their defense and veterans. They haven’t built up their blue line as quickly as they’ve built up their forwards, but they want their roster to be heavy on young players. That combination puts them in an awkward spot with a poor defense and a veteran group that isn’t as thorough as it should be, and it gives them legitimate reasons to feel concerned about the coming season.

Sharks Need to Take Strides This Season

The Sharks don’t have to make the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the season to be a success, but they do need to show that their rebuild is making progress. They need to start by eclipsing some bare minimum benchmarks, such as not finishing last in the NHL or not having the most goals allowed and fewest goals scored in the same season. If their young players improve as anticipated, they’ll have a better chance of doing so, but their poor defense and lack of strong veterans could easily counteract that growth. Simply put, their season outlook includes a lot of uncertainty. The good news is that uncertainty is an improvement on the last two seasons, where they went in knowing how bad they’d be.