Maturing baby Sharks primed to compete for Pacific Division title

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ

The 2026-2027 San Jose Sharks enter the season with legitimate playoff aspirations for the first time in nearly a decade. The last time San Jose made the playoffs was in the 2018-2019 season, when they lost the Western Conference Finals to the St. Louis Blues in six games. Last season’s Sharks battled until the final week of the season for a playoff berth, eventually falling four points shy and narrowly missing the postseason. Macklin Celebrini, the new face of the franchise, will be relied upon to make sure that this season will bring playoff hockey back to San Jose.

Celebrini was the first overall pick by San Jose in the 2024 NHL draft, following a scintillating season at Boston University. As a freshman, Celebrini led the Terriers with 32 goals and 32 assists in 38 games, leading BU to the 2024 Frozen Four before being eliminated by Denver in the semifinals. He become just the fourth freshman in history to win the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top college hockey player each season since 1981. After being drafted by the Sharks, Celebrini turned pro for the 2024-2025 season.

His rookie season saw him score 25 goals and contribute 38 assists for 63 total points in 70 games, finishing with a -31 +/- rating on a Sharks team that had the worst record in the game. They scored the fewest goals in the NHL, and managed to allow the most in the league as well, but Celebrini managed to be a bright light, leading the club in points and finishing third in the league in Calder Trophy voting, given to the best rookie in the NHL.

Celebrini certainly raised the level of his play in his second season, finishing fourth in the league in goals (45) and points 115, dragging the Sharks to within a whisker of the playoffs on the strength of his efforts. After his breakout season, San Jose signed the 20-year-old Vancouver native to a five-year $94 million extension that will begin after the upcoming season, which made Celebrini the highest paid player in the game ($18.8 million average annual value) at the time.

Still, Celebrini will need some help to take the team to the next level. He had nearly twice as many goals and points as the next best scorer on the roster, center Will Smith, who will be asked to shoulder an increased offensive role this season. Smith, who was drafted out of Boston College with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, has been sharing a line with Celebrini intermittently during their two seasons in San Jose. Despite having been bitter rivals in college, the two have become fast friends as Sharks, and will be sharing a home for the upcoming season.

Celebrini and Smith figure to have additional scoring punch during the upcoming season. Top prospect Michael Misa, the second overall pick in 2025, debuted for San Jose last season, scoring nine goals with 12 assists in 45 games as a 19-year-old, and will be expected to take a step forward this season. Ivar Stenberg, taken with the second overall pick in 2026, could also see action in the NHL after starring in Sweden’s top league as an 18-year-old last season. Both Misa and Stenberg have very high ceilings, and may well end up being major parts of a very young and talented Sharks roster. Considering that Celebrini, Smith, Misa and Stenberg are all 20 or younger, the goal scoring future for the franchise would appear to be in good hands.

The defense in San Jose has been a weakness for the past few seasons, which forced General Manager Mike Grier to make some uncomfortably large investments on that side of the ice. To bolster his blue line corps, Grier traded to acquire Darnell Nurse, 31, in a deal with the Oilers. Nurse comes with a huge contract obligation: $9.25 million average annual value through the 2029-2030 season, making him a very expensive player for the production on offense (7 goals, 17 assists last year). Nurse did lead Edmonton with 167 blocked shots and 137 hits, but was a -12 for the season. In additional to Nurse, Grier added 32-year-old Jacob Truba on a four-year, $33 million deal to likely form the top defensive pair with Nurse, giving the team two veterans who like to block shots and play physical hockey.

Holdovers Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson will also factor into the defensive group for the Sharks. Orlov, 34, played all 82 games for San Jose, but tallied only 3 goals while being -28 on the year in +/- rating, the worst figure among Sharks defensemen. Dickinson, 20, was the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, and may well end up being their best blue liner by the end of the season if he’s able to fulfill the promise his draft pedigree suggests. Even with progression from Dickinson and stabilizing years from Nurse and Trouba, the Sharks figure to allow their share of goals this season.

Perhaps the largest X-Factor in the coming season for the Sharks is the goaltending situation. Their top goalie prospect, Yaroslav Askarov, was acquired from Nashville after having been the 11th overall selection in the 2020 NHL draft by the Predators. After the 2023-2024 season, Askarov demanded a trade from Nashville, and San Jose was grateful to win the bidding war to bring him to California. Given his first chance to be the #1 goalie, Askarov was excellent during the first few months of the season, but tailed off badly in the second half. Still only 24, Askarov has the potential to be a difference maker in net for the Sharks, and could be a breakout star for the franchise this season.

Playing in the Pacific Division affords the Sharks a less arduous path to the playoffs than their Western Conference foes vying for a postseason berth in the Central Division. Last season the top three teams in the West were all Central Division members (Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota), and the Pacific Division winning Vegas Golden Knights would have been a distant fourth in the Central with their 95 points. Given that there is continued parity expected this season in the Pacific, the Sharks may well be able to qualify for the playoffs without dramatic gains in performance, though coach Ryan Warsofsky has every right to expect that his young team will improve this upcoming season.

For the first time in nearly a decade, Sharks fans have a dynamic team to root for, built around a young superstar who may also be the face of the NHL before long. Celebrini and his talented young teammates should put the puck in the net frequently this season. If the upgrades to the defense prove stout and if Askarov develops into the star the organization hoped he’d be when they traded for him, San Jose could win the Pacific Division and make a deep run through the playoffs. The future is indeed very bright for the Sharks, a statement that is far more fact that fiction.

The Sharks open the regular season with an October 1st matchup against the Florida Panthers at HP Pavilion.