The San Jose Sharks’ prospect pool is loaded, but a lot of eyes have been on young Sam Dickinson. The 11th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft excelled when he returned to juniors after the draft, setting records and showing great promise as an offensive defenseman. The big question for Sharks fans heading into last summer was where the rookie would play in the 2025-26 season. Since the new collective bargaining agreement has not gone into effect yet, the Sharks needed to decide if the ra...
When the San Jose Sharks traded a 2025 fifth-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Vincent Desharnais in March of last year, there wasn’t much to the deal. The idea was that the Sharks had acquired a depth 6/7 defenseman who would fill in when there was an injury. For a fifth-round pick far, far in the future, it wasn’t a hefty price to pay. So it was a surprise when Desharnais proved, midway through the season, to be one of the more reliable and steadfast defensemen within the Shark...
The San Jose Sharks added Nick Leddy to the roster on July 3 when the team claimed the defenseman off waivers. The St. Louis Blues needed to clear cap space, so the Blues waived the defenseman rather than buy him out. Sharks General Manager Mike Grier needed to add to the Sharks’ blueline, and Leddy was an easy addition given that he could play on the right side and he wasn’t going to cost the team anything in terms of prospects or draft picks. After an off-the-record discussion with the veter...
There's been plenty of talk since the draft lottery that the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are open to moving the second- and fourth-overall picks, respectively, in this month's NHL Draft. But we're hearing from insider David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period of other Top 10 picks that should be up for grabs as well. Seattle will entertain moving the seventh overall pick in a deal for a top line forward, and Winnipeg may move the eighth overall pick for immediate second line help (they wa...
Finishing the 2025-26 NHL season with 86 points, the most since they last made the postseason seven years ago, the San Jose Sharks finished four points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot. While eliminated from playoff contention with two games to go, there is no way to characterize San Jose’s season as anything […]
The post Grading Every San Jose Shark Player’s 2025-26 Season appeared first on The Lead .
Fear the Fin has started running through the player reviews, but we thought we would take a brief pause to take a deeper look at defenseman John Klingberg and who could replace him as many San Jose Sharks fans have called for at the end of this season. Klingberg was good for the Sharks … at times. At other times … well … fans had concerns. Many have hoped that they don’t see him back in teal again.
However, that doesn’t solve the Sharks’ defensive problem. As of this writing (and I’ll adm...
There's been plenty of talk since the draft lottery that the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are open to moving the second- and fourth-overall picks, respectively, in this month's NHL Draft. But we're hearing from insider David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period of another couple of Top 10 picks that should be up for grabs as well. Seattle will entertain moving the seventh overall pick in a deal for a top line forward, and Winnipeg may move the eighth overall pick for immediate second line h...
When the 2025-26 season started, General Manager Mike Grier knew that he needed to add a veteran defenseman who could move the puck and feed his group of dynamic young forwards. He also knew that the high-end defensive free agents weren’t going to run to San Jose, a team that is still a few years away from true contention. So the general manager had to get creative. He had to make offers to second-tier defensemen and players with the hopes that they might pan out in the end. Which is how the S...
The 2026 Stanley Cup Final matchup is set. On Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes will begin their battle for the Cup in Game 1. The rest of the NHL, meanwhile, has already turned its attention to the looming offseason.
Ten years ago today, Conor Sheary scored an overtime goal to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-0 lead in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Pittsburgh was riding high heading into Game 2 of the Cup Final, having beaten the Sharks in a Game 1 thriller and were looking to defend their home ice and head […]
San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini is already one of the more impressive players in the NHL. But here is how his skating sets him apart from the great players, to the echelon of phenomenal players.
Ten years ago today, Nick Bonino brought the house down at PPG Paints Arena with a late game-winning goal in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. The Penguins opened the 2016 Cup Final with a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks and it was quite the thrilling contest. Pittsburgh was back in the Stanley Cup […]
The St. Louis Blues enter the 2026 NHL Draft with three first-round picks, twelve total selections, and a prospect pool that The Athletic 's Scott Wheeler ranked tenth in the league as recently as March. They also have a problem. As Wheeler wrote, the Blues' pool is missing a truly elite prospect. With picks at 11th and 15th overall, plus Colorado's first-rounder slotting in somewhere around 30th when the Avalanche's season ends, the Blues have the assets to be aggressive. The question everyon...
Keep an eye on the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks this offseason as trade winds are swirling. There's been multiple reports surfacing that the two teams have discussed a potential summer trade that involves defenceman Morgan Rielly. The longest-tenured Maple Leaf does hold a no-movement clause, however is rumored to be open to deals on the west coast. Frank Seravalli: Re Morgan Rielly: This is a very movable player; consider a team like the Sharks for instance, two NHL defenseme...
On May 18th in 2011, a proud Vancouver Canucks fan hoisted her Henrik Sedin jersey to flash her breasts for San Jose Sharks penalized enforcer Ben Eager in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.
Though worthy of honorable mention, Tits McGee's pierced twins were ultimately upstaged by Daniel and Henrik who combined for 5 points in a 7-3 win, giving the Canucks a 2-0 series lead largely owing
The New York Rangers could be in store for a draft-day blockbuster trade. According to multiple reports, the Rangers are looking to move up at next month's draft in Buffalo, and want to find a way to get into the top three, from their current fifth position. The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't looking to move off the number one pick, and are likely leaning to Gavin McKenna at the moment. Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks hold the #2 and #3 positions, and have been in contra...
As the PWHL announces it is expanding to San Jose, the league says 'we have the foundation to establish a lasting and impactful new home.'
It’s official! The PWHL will play in San Jose next season. In a press conference this afternoon, officials from the Professional Women’s Hockey League were joined on stage by San Jose soccer legend Brandi Chastain and Bay Area skating legend Kristi Yamaguchi to make the announcement. While there are a lot of details to be ironed out before the season starts in December, there are some things that PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer can promise.
“I think there’s...
Your Tuesday edition of the Links, News and Notes!
The San Jose Sharks are officially in the offseason and that means there’s some business to take care of. The front office has a large group of unrestricted and restricted free agents to decide on over the next month or two, with the ultimate goal of building a team that can win a Stanley Cup. It’s pretty clear that this season, the Sharks took a major step forward in the team’s efforts towards that goal, so now, it’s about figuring out how to build on that.
Some of it will include bringi...
Keep an eye on the Toronto Maple Leafs over the course of the next few weeks. Newly minted general manager John Chayka has been busy meeting with members of the organization to get a pulse check on the culture of the team, which evidently led to head coach Craig Berube getting fired, and now Chayka turns his attention to his captain, Auston Matthews. Chayka and Matthews will meet in Arizona over the course of the next two weeks and if they're not able to get on the same page about the vision o...
Picking fifth means the Rangers likely miss out on the dynamic forward they need. But there's a path back to a difference-maker, and it runs through San Jose, Braden Schneider, and GM relationship dating back to college.
Many eyes around the NHL are on the San Jose Sharks and their second overall pick in next month's draft. We all know that they're desperate to land a top-flight defenseman this offseason, and there just happens to be one near the top of the draft. Chase Reid is a 6'2" mobile, puck-handing offensive defenseman who would be an excellent quarterback-type blueliner to team up with Sharks' superstar center Macklin Celebrini for many years to come. However, while Reid is the ...
Several insiders have pointed out that this offseason, expect to see more trades than we've seen in years past. With the salary cap going up by $8.5 million and several teams within the top-10 draft picks who are looking to move their picks, there's going to be some huge deals announced next month. Two teams in particular on are many insider's radars - San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers. The Sharks are looking to either land a scoring top-line winger or a top-pair defenceman for their number...
Keep an eye on the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs. The two teams have been linked to a few offseason trade proposals, and one mega-deal could see the Sharks offering their number two overall pick at next month's draft in a package for Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. Matthews and the Maple Leafs are not on the same page at the moment, and he's slated to sit down with new general manager John Chayka next week to go over the team's new direction. Matthews has hinted that if ...