The San Jose Sharks acquired winger Ryan Reaves from the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Henry Thrun on Thursday and could still make more changes to their roster between now and the start of training camp in mid-September.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier said during the team’s development camp last week that he wouldn’t mind adding another forward to the mix.
“Just keep our eyes open,” Grier said of possible additions. “We could probably use a top-nine winger, if something like that comes available.
“But if not, then we’re more than happy to let it play out and see what happens the rest of the summer.”
While the Sharks, per PuckPedia, have over $23 million in salary cap space to work with, and perhaps a roster spot or two available, most of the heavy lifting appears to be over, with three defensemen, three forwards, and a goalie added to the NHL roster since July 1.
Based on who is with the team right now, here’s an early projection of what the Sharks’ 23-man roster will be once the regular season begins in October.
LOCKS: Macklin Celebrini, Ty Dellandrea, William Eklund, Adam Gaudette, Barclay Goodrow, Carl Grundstrom, Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Reaves, Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg.
HOPEFULS: Egor Afanasyev, Shane Bowers, Filip Bystedt, Ethan Cardwell, Patrick Giles, Collin Graf, Danil Gushchin, Cameron Lund, Michael Misa, Zack Ostapchuk, Pavol Regenda, Colin White.
LONGSHOTS: Igor Chernyshov, Kasper Halttunen, Quentin Musty, Jimmy Huntington, Samuel Laberge.
ANALYSIS: The Sharks are hoping the additions of Gaudette and Kurashev, along with internal growth from Celebrini, Smith, and Eklund, can make for a more potent offensive group. Celebrini, Toffoli, Smith, Wennberg, and Eklund will all likely be in the top six, but who will fill that last vacancy? Someone within the group, like Kurashev or Gaudette, or will Graf claim that role after an impressive rookie season. Will it be another player entirely?
If Graf does have a great camp and starts the season as a second-line winger, that probably moves Gaudette and Kurashev to the bottom six, joining Dellandrea, Goodrow, Grundstrom, and Reaves. Who can then grab the last one or two or roster spots? Afanasyev, Bowers, and Giles have more professional experience, but Cardwell showed some promise when he got a taste of the NHL last season, as did Lund.
Where does that leave the skilled Gushchin and the big-bodied Ostapchuk? Gushchin, assuming he stays in San Jose, requires waivers to be sent to the AHL, while Ostapchuk, who the Sharks see as a future third-line center, does not.
Chernyshov, Halttunen, and Musty are among the Sharks’ top prospects, but it says here they’ll need more seasoning in the AHL. If Misa foregoes the NCAA, signs a contract, and shines in camp, he could get a nine-game NHL audition to start the season before the Sharks need to decide whether to burn the first year of his deal.
PREDICTION: Misa, if he signs, starts the year in the NHL, as do Graf and Ostapchuk, giving the Sharks 14 forwards.
LOCKS: Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, Timothy Liljegren, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Dmitry Orlov.
HOPEFULS: Luca Cagnoni, Lucas Carlsson, Sam Dickinson, Jack Thompson.
LONGSHOTS: Noah Beck, Cole Clayton, Jake Furlong, Artem Guryev, Mattias Havelid, Gannon Laroque, Leo Sahlin Wallenius.
ANALYSIS: Trading Thrun alleviated a log jam on the back end, but trying to figure out the defense pairs right now may be a fool’s errand. It’s reasonable, though, to assume Ferraro, Klingberg, and Orlov will be in the top four, with Mukhamadullin, Leddy, and Liljegren also possibilities. Desharnais can be effective in a depth role.
Trading Thrun also gives Cagnoni, Dickinson, and Thompson an outside shot at making the Sharks’ roster out of camp, or, in the case of Cagnoni, Carlsson, and Thompson, a greater chance at a recall sometime this season. The Sharks’ front office said if those players show they can help the big club, they’ll make room for them. But they’ll have to stand out during practices and whatever preseason games they play to crack the roster.
If Dickinson, who turned 19 last month, doesn’t make the Sharks’ roster, he’ll have to return to the OHL because players need to be at least 20 years old by Dec. 31 of any given year to be in the AHL. There is, however, chatter that the age rule might be changing for the 2026-27 season.
Havelid and Sahlin Wallenius will be interesting players to watch in September as they begin to adapt to the North American game after coming over from Sweden. For that reason, they’ll need some time in the AHL to get stronger and round out their games.
PREDICTION: Dickinson will get a shot to stick around after camp. The other hopefuls start the year in the AHL.
LOCKS: Yaroslav Askarov, Alex Nedeljkovic
HOPEFULS: Gabriel Carriere, Jakub Skarek
ANALYSIS: There is little doubt that, barring an injury, the Sharks will begin the season with Askarov and Nedeljkovic in the net. Askarov figures to get the opening night start and, if everything goes well, will probably play more games through the first three or four months of the season. Still, the Sharks want there to be competition between Askarov and Nedeljkovic, who played 38 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins each of the last two seasons. So, on the surface, this appears to be more of a 1A and 1B situation, at least to start the year.
Carriere might start this year as the Barracuda’s No. 1 goalie, and he’ll likely tandem with AHL veteran Jakub Skarek, whom the Sharks signed to a one-year contract on Thursday. Matt Davis, a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Denver, is on an AHL contract for this season and might need to start the year in Wichita in the ECHL.
PREDICTION: Askarov is the opening night goalie, but Nedeljkovic starts at least four of the Sharks’ first 10 games.
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