It’s American Thanksgiving today, and in this most important test of the NHL era, the San Jose Sharks have more to be thankful for than they’ve seen in recent years. Let’s look at a few key points that help tell the story of the Sharks’ development so far – and suggest where the team can go from here.
Young players are not broke
Over those last few seasons, the Sharks have slowly brought in younger and better players, and this year has been their biggest jump yet. Macklin jamerini built in his rookie season to show that he is close to accident to become the top nhl NHL forward at 19 years old. Smith would have posted almost half of the goals from all past seasons over a quarter of a season. William Eklund didn’t do the same, but he’s having a good time defensively. Collin Graf is being transformed into a potential penalty killer, and Shakir Mukhamadullin is finally showing that he can be a full-time NHL threat.
All of the above actors had already played sharks in previous seasons, but they added some fun new bits. Sam Dickinson certainly made some rookie mistakes, but he’s learning how to be solid, reliable in his first professional season. Michael Misa’s campaign has been limited by injury, but the Sharks’ solid play without him has created excitement for his eventual return. Add in all the players in their program who haven’t made it to the NHL yet, combined with their clear ability to develop prospects, and the future in San Jose hasn’t been this far in a long time.
The Sharks are proving that they will have a lot to offer in the future with both their height and Blues. But that can’t even discuss the success they’ve had in the third-place team.
An extension of Juuse Saros
In the summer of 2024, goaltender Juuse Saros signed an eight-year extension with Nashville Parnyama. That surprised yaroslav Askarov, who was expected to be the team’s long-term goalie in the future. Not seeing his way to the first permanent job in Nashville, he requested a trade outside the organization.
His decision to plead the move was a huge risk, but it allowed the Sharks to get their most exciting prospect in years. After 13 NHL games in 2024-25, where he had both and made big careers, he has been in the big leagues of this season all along.
Following a disappointing October, he put together the best month of his professional career in November. He allowed two or fewer goals in seven of nine appearances while coming in clutch in 3 overtime wins and a shutout win. He learns to play very well, he waits for the movement of the puck to put himself in a good position. His athleticism allows him to cover mistakes, either his own or by the defense in front of him. Although his attempts to play the puck still turn out to be adventurous from time to time, he got at least a little with those decisions.
Askarov will need to sustain this level of play for more than a month, but he gives the Sharks something they haven’t had in a long time: hope for a net future. As a franchise navigates through years of controversy or a promising prospect pool, they put a lot of consistent goalies on their roster. Finally, there are those who do not create that feeling and provide a consistent stretch of the best.
Some teams ‘need the help of Defensensen
The Blue Shark line isn’t currently one of their strongest units, but they have a more pressing problem – they simply have too many Defensensen. They will probably need to trade one to reduce congestion.
Related: Sharks are nearing their potential but have room for improvement
Good News? Combining teams is always looking to make a win-now moves to strengthen their lineups. Whether through injuries or bad injuries, teams will need to bring in new defensemen at one point or another. The Carolina Hurricanes already have their troubles this season, for example, but they won’t be the only ones. When that time comes, sharks should be ready to make more calls.
If the Sharks do trade for a blueliner — likely one of the more experienced defensemen — they’ll get a lot of upside. The trade would give more playing time to Dickinson and Mukhamadullin and allow them to grow a lot. They also freed up the contract store with MISA if they decide to keep him in San Jose past his ninth straight season.
The Sharks have spent the last few years as sellers rather than buyers in trading situations. They hope that this is not the case for a long time, but in this particular situation, we are working to our advantage.
The sharks are at their best in years
The Sharks still have a long way to go. With a 6-0 loss last night to the Colorado Avalanche, they are not at a level where they can keep up with the highest caliber of teams right now. But they have made huge improvements over several seasons. They have promising young skaters in front and defense, the best young goalies they have had in more than twenty years, and they can think about trading as a way to free up space for those players. That may not add to the contention of the title so far, but it gives many reasons to be grateful in ways they haven’t seen in previous tributes.
