3 Overachieving & 2 Underachieving Sharks From the 2025-26 Season – The Hockey Writers – San Jose Sharks

In the 2025-26 season, the San Jose Sharks exceeded expectations thanks to a handful of players who had far better seasons than anticipated. At the same time, they fell just short of the playoffs in part due to certain players not quite providing what the team had hoped for or expected of them this season. Let’s take a look at a handful of players who fell on either side of that line, and how they told the story of the Sharks’ campaign.

Overachiever: Macklin Celebrini

A lot of people expected Macklin Celebrini to improve on his solid rookie season, but far fewer knew just how big a leap he’d take. He erupted as both a goal-scorer and distributor, leading the Sharks in both goals and assists by huge margins and setting the single-season franchise record for points in the process. While fans and pundits expected San Jose to finish toward the bottom of the Western Conference, Celebrini almost singlehandedly kept them in playoff contention and earned serious award consideration for doing so.

Celebrini is unquestionably the leader of the Sharks at this point, but he surprised just about everybody by how fast he did so and by how huge a margin. He’ll likely become San Jose’s captain very soon, and while the Sharks need to surround him with more help, they’ll also rely on him to maintain a similar level of production if they want to make the playoffs next season.

Underachiever: Tyler Toffoli

After joining the Sharks during the 2024 offseason, Tyler Toffoli made an immediate impact with a 30-goal season. However, this past season was considerably less successful. He scored 19 goals, marking a season scoring fewer than 30 goals since 2022 and his first with fewer than 20 since 2019. After he was a staple on the top line alongside Celebrini in 2024-25, he found himself in more of a middle-six spot this season as his goal-scoring grew less consistent.

Toffoli still clearly has a role within the Sharks. As a 34-year-old, he provides a veteran presence on and off the ice and has proven to be good for team chemistry. Now the team hopes that this season was a momentary dip in production rather than a sign of permanent decline. He offers value no matter what, but his non-statistical contributions would be even better if they came with the goal-scoring for which the Sharks signed him.

Overachiever: Collin Graf

Very few undrafted free agents make as big an impact as quickly as Collin Graf has for the Sharks. In addition to posting 21 goals in his first full NHL season, he established himself as a terrific penalty-killing forward capable of playing with a range of linemates. It took him time to adjust to the professional level, as he only scored at about a 12-goal pace during his time in the NHL in 2024-25. Some progression and growth were to be expected, but to show this much advancement between seasons was truly surprising.

Graf’s unusually high shooting percentage — second-best among Sharks who played the entire season in the NHL — suggests he may regress offensively next season. Furthermore, his skill as a penalty killer may place him on a lower line to ensure he can dedicate as much energy as possible to that role, leading to fewer goals. Regardless, his performance on both sides of the ice proves that he can be counted on in San Jose for many years to come.

Underachiever: Dmitry Orlov

The Sharks signed Dmitry Orlov with the clear intention of him serving as the number-one defenseman for the season. While he did have a few moments, especially early in the season, where he looked worthy of that title, the back half of the campaign was significantly worse.

Many of his games were defined by bad pinches in the offensive zone and careless defensive-zone giveaways, such as a terrible one late in the game against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 6, on which Alex Nedeljkovic had to bail him out with a good save. His lack of consistency was a frustrating symbol of the Sharks’ defense and a key indicator of why that unit needs a major upgrade this offseason.

Orlov brings some skill as a puck-moving blueliner capable of playing on the power play, but he spent too much of this season showing why San Jose’s defense was one of the biggest reasons they missed the playoffs. Given his $6.5 million cap hit and the expectations the Sharks had for him entering the season, they should hope for more from him in 2026-27.

Overachiever: Igor Chernyshov

When the Sharks recalled Igor Chernyshow to make his NHL debut, they probably assumed that he would take his time adjusting to the highest level and need a period to get settled. Instead, he scored three goals and registered five assists in his first seven games, immediately establishing himself as a potential top-line power forward just a few weeks after his 20th birthday.

Although he slowed down somewhat in his next stretch of games, leading to his being sent back down to the minors, he played well enough to earn another call-up and proved a capable goal-scorer and passer while playing alongside the Sharks’ best forwards. He finished with 19 points in 28 NHL games, evolving from a promising but developing prospect to a meaningful contributor in a surprisingly fast timeline. Next season, he could be a full-time NHL player, something the Sharks certainly didn’t think they’d find in him so quickly.

Sharks Have Promise and Areas to Improve

The Sharks’ overachievers provide a lot of hope for the future, but those players could regress toward a more average stat line. At the same time, their disappointing underachievers could trend back to their expected performances to make up the difference. Either way, these players give the Sharks a better sense of where their strengths currently lie and where they need to place a more conscious effort on improvement. As they push for the playoffs next season, all of them will have a role by either attempting to keep up their current level or returning to the level at which they know they can play.