The Sharks may have missed the playoffs, but this season was far from a failure.
The 2025-26 season has wrapped up for the San Jose Sharks. They went out with a win in Winnipeg, and Macklin Celebrini set the Sharks’ record for points in a season. You have to love Jumbo Joe Thornton, who sent a congratulatory message to Celebrini. And in true Jumbo fashion, he was shirtless on the farm.
The Sharks stayed in the playoff hunt through 80 games. That alone says a lot, since many “experts” predicted the Sharks to be a bottom-five team. Yes, the West was weaker than the East, but that is besides the point.
Given where this team was entering the season, it was definitely a successful year.
Closing Out Games
If you recall, the 2024-25 Sharks gave up many third-period leads, resulting in losses. In those situations, the Sharks were 12-8-5. In 13 instances, the Sharks led in the third period and lost the game. Those were truly frustrating games to watch.
The 2025-26 Sharks cleaned that up immensely. They led 31 times entering the third period. They won 28 of those games, with only one regulation loss. Give a lot of credit to the goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov. They were definitely tested in those situations and locked down the Sharks’ net.
That is a clear recipe for successful hockey.
Emergence of Young Stars
The Sharks are still in the rebuilding era, which means prospect debuts. The biggest one this season had to be Igor Chernyshov. In his first stint as a Shark (12/16 – 1/19, 15 games), Chernyshov recorded 11 points, mostly assists. His second stint, though, he was able to give Sharks fans a look into the future. It was clear: the top line for next season will be Will Smith – Celebrini – Chernyshov. He fit in seamlessly on that top line, and they looked dangerous.
Then we have Michael Misa. His season started off slow. Very slow. The Sharks had decisions to make regarding Misa. He was too young to play for the AHL’s Barracuda, so he would either play nine games and go back to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit or play for the Sharks all year. GM Mike Grier chose the latter.
Credit: Sharks on NBCS-Twitter/XOnce the World Junior Championships ended, Misa was a regular in the Sharks lineup. With every game, Sharks fans saw Misa grow. Analysts have said he has the talent to be a top-line center. When you can put a guy like that on your second line, that shows just how deep this Sharks forward depth can get.
Sam Dickinson also had a great year. He did not put up the offensive numbers, as he did with the OHL’s London Knights, but his growth was on the defensive side of the puck. Hopefully, we can see his offense bloom next season.
We also need to give a shout-out to Collin Graf. He has been around for a couple of years now, but what a season he had. Grier, please lock him up for a while this offseason!
Locker Room Culture
This is what will propel this team to the next level. It takes more than just talent to win in the NHL. A ton of credit goes to Ryan Reaves for establishing this culture. In all the years I have watched hockey, I cannot think of a Sharks team that was so committed to each other. Granted, social media has given fans a larger insight into the locker room.
Listening to guys like Tyler Toffoli, Vincent Desharnais, Askarov, Celebrini, and more talk about how much fun they had together, how much love there was, and plans to get together this offseason tells you how close they all were. With the core pretty well locked up, this culture should only grow.
Oh, Grier, please bring Reaves back, too.
The sad reality is, we will never see this team again. Every season brings in new faces while watching others move on. Some new faces should include Quentin Musty, Luca Cagnoni, and perhaps Eric Pohlkamp. The Sharks can also add through free agency and the draft, but those are less certain than our current prospects.
This season was a blast. The Sharks are ahead of schedule, and Celebrini has emerged as a face of the NHL. The vibes are immaculate and should only get better.
And mark my words, next season will end the Sharks’ postseason drought.
