Notable changes and incorporations
There was no area that Sharks management did not touch the intention of improving. But in general terms the arrival of three players will have a solid impact 2025-26. One of those new faces is that of the Russian defense Dmitry Orlov, who after two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes comes to contribute his 13 -year experience in the NHL. We must add the John Klingberg defense, after the Swedish was reborn in 2024-25 with the Edmonton Oilers after a successful hip operation. The offensive highlights the arrival of his partner like Jeff Skinner, for a long time Buffalo Sabres player, and the young striker Philipp Kurashev. In terms of hardening the alignment, San Jose will have both Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reeves.
Key players
Macklin Celebrini: Since the Sharks took the young Canadian striker as the first 2024 NHL draft selection, there was a feeling that this boy was going to become something very special and it was. Celebrini had a spectacular rookie season, with 63 points (25 goals and 38 assists) in 70 games, establishing a new brand for rookie in the history of the franchise. Freeze talent is and with only 19 years, it seems that only sky is the limit for the great hope of the Californian club.
Tyler Toffoli: Just for the fourth season in his 13 years in the NHL, the veteran beat the 30 goals with the three tens of times that the lamp lit in 2024-25, one of the best seasons in the Toffoli race, in which he was seen enjoying the game and, probably what he enjoyed most, was to live and become a kind of mentor for both the mentor Smith In 2025-26 the weight of the offensive should not fall on the Canadian veteran, but a solid contribution is expected from its part.
William Eklund: although he does not receive the same reflectors such as Celebrini, Smith and Toffoli, the young Swedish striker played an important role for the Sharks last campaign, because with his 41 assists he became the ‘PlayMaker’ of the team. With the reinforcements for the coming campaign, adding evident depth in the alignment, he excites that he can further exploit his potential and help a collective improvement to the club.
Strengths
For a team that has only won 93 of the last 328 games (covering the four most recent seasons), it is truly difficult to talk about strengths. Perhaps, even if that is not tangible, it would be necessary to mention that several of their stars are players who do not exceed 22 years and that in the end they can become figures beyond Sap Pavilion.
Areas to improve
In that tenor of strengths, there are many areas to improve for Sharks. Although perhaps the most obvious is referring to two statistics not only revealing, but explain why the team has been sunk in the lower part of the standings. With an average of 2.54 goals scored by meeting and 3.78 scores tolerated per game, San Jose was the team with both the worst offensive and with the worst defensive. From there everything that the team can and should improve is derived.
Main prospects
The San Jose Sharks have a considerable amount of first -level prospects, highlighting the strikers Michael Misa and Will Smith, who are expected to be ready for a full season in the NHL. We must also add the defenses Sam Dickinson and Filip Bystedt, the Igor Chernyshov striker and other players such as Quentin Musty and Collin Graf. The team’s prospect system is considered one of the best of hockey, with multiple prospects that are outlined with good potential to become an impact players in the NHL.
The team will advance to the playoffs yes …
Probably the playoffs and Sharks words do not coincide in the same statement at the end of the season in 2025-26, but going from winning 20 to 30 games can be a challenging goal and the one that the Californians can aspire with congruence because to qualify for the postseason they will still have to spend some years, at least a couple, because thinking about it for the next one is not realistic.
