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Sharks off-season review: San Jose gets better thanks to some luck and good drafting

Photo credit: X.com/SanJoseSharks

By Ryley Delaney

Sep 16, 2026, 21:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 16, 2026, 19:09 EDT

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The San Jose Sharks are going to be one of the better teams in the National Hockey League sooner rather than later.

After years of contention from the early noughties until the late 2010s, the Sharks bottomed out and were one of the worst teams in the league. Well, that was until last season. After finishing at or near the bottom of the league from 2019-20 until 2024-25, the Sharks missed the 2026 playoffs by just four points.

And they’ve only gotten better this past off-season. Let’s take a look at their major acquisitions and who departed the team.

What major acquisitions did the Sharks make this off-season?

By missing the postseason, the Sharks entered the draft lottery. Despite having just a 10.4 per cent chance to move into the top three, they did just that by landing the second overall pick. With it, they selected Ivan Stenberg, a fantastic piece for the team moving forward.

That was one of two top-10 picks they had, as they also selected Keaton Verhoeff with the ninth-overall selection. Entering the draft, the Edmonton product was viewed as one of the best defencemen available.

Rounding out their draft, they were able to select two more notable defencemen, Ryan Lin with the 21st overall pick, and Alexander Karmanov, a 7-foot-1 Moldovan defenceman later in the draft. This only made their pipeline that much better, as they join youngsters like Macklin Celebrini, Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson, Will Smith, and others.

About a week before the draft, they sent the Edmonton Oilers’ first-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for former Oiler Michael Kesselring and the 27th overall pick. That 27th overall pick was eventually flipped for the 21st overall pick.

Three days before the draft, the Sharks sent youngster William Eklund, as well as two prospects, to the Ottawa Senators for the ninth overall pick, which originally belonged to the Florida Panthers.

The rest of the Sharks’ decision-making was interesting, to say the least. When free agency opened on July 1, the Sharks signed right-shot defenceman Jacob Trouba to a four-year deal worth $8.25 million. It was even more confounding when they absorbed Darnell Nurse’s entire $9.25 million salary, sending prospect Zack Sharp and Shakir Mukhamadullin to the Oilers.

Another veteran was brought in on the front-end as well, as they signed forward Mason Marchment to a five-year deal with an annual cap hit of $6.75 million.

Kesselring was one of a handful of players to re-sign. The most notable of the bunch was Celebrini, who agreed to a five-year deal with an annual cap hit of $18.8 million. Collin Graf and Zack Ostapchuk also re-signed, while Stenberg signed his entry-level contract.

Which key players departed the Sharks this off-season?

The Sharks’ defence core had a bunch of turnovers. Not only did they add Nurse, Trouba, and Kesselring, but Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Mukhamadullin, and Nick Leddy all departed.

Mukhamadullin was sent to the Oilers for Nurse. Klingberg, a former Oiler, just recently announced his retirement, while Desharnais, another former Oiler, signed a four-year deal worth $4.2 million annually with the Washington Capitals. Ferraro signed a three-year deal worth $4 million with the Winnipeg Jets. Nick Leddy played just 31 games last season and remains a free agent.

Another former Oiler, netminder Laurent Brossoit, signed a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with the Anaheim Ducks. Replacing Brossoit in the goaltender depth chart are Eric Comrie and Ilya Samsonov.

The most notable departure by far was Eklund. Drafted seventh overall by the Sharks in 2021, the Swedish forward scored 15 goals and 53 points in 78 games last season, slightly down from his 17 goals and 58 points in 77 games in 2024-25. Stenberg likely replaced him in the lineup, so it’s hard to say that the Sharks got worse.

The Sharks’ 2026-27 outlook

After just missing the postseason in 2025-26, the Sharks are poised to make another attempt at it. Celebrini has emerged as this next generation’s best player, scoring 45 goals and 115 points in 82 games last season. Add young players like Smith, Misa, and Stenberg, as well as veterans like Marchment, Kiefer Sherwood, and Alexander Wennberg, and this forward core is looking pretty darn good.

The Sharks’ main issue in 2025-26 was limiting goals against, as their 292 goals against were the third-highest in the league last season. Their defence on paper is better, with some combination of Trouba, Nurse, Dickinson, Kesselring, Dmitry Orlov, and Luca Cagnoni. That’s a solid core, but with Nurse and Trouba making high AAVs, that could end up hurting the Sharks in the long run.

Between the pipes, Yaroslav Askarov will look to have a much better 2026-27, as the Russian netminder finished the 2025-26 season with a dismal .884 save percentage and 3.60 goals-against average. Alex Nedeljkovic will serve as the backup, while Samsonov and Comrie will be competition for the job.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFOEdmonton, DFOCalgary, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @Ryley__Delaney.

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