With the 2026 Winter Olympics concluded, the San Jose Sharks are just about ready to get their season back underway, and they’re about to take on a new experience for the home stretch. For the first time in years, the Sharks are pushing for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the final weeks of the season.
In most end-of-season stretches of the 2020s, San Jose has used their poor records as an excuse to make trades, prioritize young players, and simply play out their remaining games. But this time, on the cusp of playoff contention, the entire franchise is going to be focused on making the postseason. The Sharks haven’t taken on that challenge in a long time, and they’ll need a concerted effort from everyone involved.
Sharks in Unfamiliar Territory
If we use the All-Star Break, Olympic break, or other equivalent as the marking point, the Sharks haven’t been in this position very often recently. Since they last made the playoffs in 2019, the only other season where they were even remotely close to contending at this time was 2022. Combine that with the youth of their roster, and they don’t have a ton of guys who are used to the sprint of a late-season playoff race. Their only player who’s been in one as a Shark is Barclay Goodrow.
It’s not just the players dealing with this change in style. He’s only in his second season as head coach, but Ryan Warsofsky has never led a contending team before. Mike Grier has spent his entire tenure as general manager positioning the Sharks for favorable draft picks rather than playoff opportunities. Now he has to make transactions with the playoffs in mind. His job is even more complicated due to the fact that he may have to sell some players to relieve a logjam while simultaneously trying to reach the postseason, and also can’t buy too aggressively for a team that is effectively still rebuilding.
When the Sharks entered this season, they almost certainly didn’t expect to be in contention for the playoffs by the time the Olympics ended. As the season has continued and they’ve stayed in the postseason race, they’ve gradually recalibrated their expectations and gained more confidence that they belong. The next step in their journey back from their rebuild is to win late-season games and make the playoffs, and that’s the challenge they’re about to take on.
Sharks Have to Use Whatever Experience They Can
While the Sharks don’t have nearly as much playoff familiarity as some of the other contending teams, they do have a few players they could look to for guidance. Goodrow, Tyler Toffoli, and Dmitry Orlov are all Stanley Cup champions. They have all been through the grind of not only a playoff push but the playoff run that follows, and could emerge as leaders at a time like this, helping the less experienced players navigate this journey at the NHL level for the first time.
Ryan Reaves also has substantial playoff experience and provided a crucial off-ice role earlier this season, and may do so again if the playoff race gets tight. John Klingberg has also made multiple lengthy playoff runs, although he could be a trade chip just as easily as he could be a veteran leader.
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As for the Sharks’ young players, while they may not have NHL playoff experience, they do have experience playing meaningful games. Macklin Celebrini and others have played in high-level junior tournaments in both league and international play, as well as the NCAA tournament in a few case. They understand, to at least some extent, the pressure that comes with an end-of-season push and playing in games that decide the entire outcome of a season. The NHL version of that is new to them, but they should be able to apply past lessons to it.
The Sharks’ surprising run to get into playoff contention has been one of the great stories of the 2025-26 season. Now they have to sprint through the finish line that is the end of the regular season to reach the postseason. It certainly won’t be easy, but neither has anything else so far this season. Their ability to defy expectations has been one of their greatest strengths, and the rest of the season gives them a chance to do that at an even higher level.
