Sharks re-sign forward to one-year contract

The San Jose Sharks have retained forward Ethan Cardwell, signing the 23-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, the team announced on Thursday. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Cardwell spent most of the 2025-26 season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he recorded 15 points on seven goals and eight assists in 24 games during his third year with the club. Before his season ended because of an upper-body injury that required surgery in February, he was tied for 10th in scoring among Barracuda players. He also produced a three-game point streak from Jan. 10-17, collecting three goals and two assists while posting two multi-point performances during that stretch.

The Oshawa, Ontario, native also appeared in seven NHL games with the Sharks last season after receiving his first recall of the year on Nov. 2 against the Detroit Red Wings. He scored his only NHL goal of the season on Nov. 5 against the Seattle Kraken. Both of Cardwell’s career NHL goals have come against the Kraken.

Across two NHL seasons, Cardwell has played 13 games with the Sharks, amassing two goals. At the AHL level, he has accumulated 106 points, including 41 goals and 65 assists, in 158 career games with the Barracuda.

San Jose selected the 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. At the time, he was playing on loan with Surahammars IF in Sweden’s HockeyEttan, where he totaled nine goals and 27 points in 18 games with a plus-10 rating. He later returned to the OHL and finished his junior career with the Barrie Colts after also spending time with the Saginaw Spirit. Across his final two OHL seasons with Barrie, Cardwell compiled 66 goals and 148 points in 111 games, along with a plus-43 rating.

Since turning professional, Cardwell has developed into a productive scorer with the Barracuda. He garnered 43 points in 71 games during his rookie AHL season before improving to 48 points in 63 contests the following year. The new contract gives him another opportunity to continue his development within the Sharks organization after his 2025-26 campaign was cut short by injury.