Although they remained in contention for longer than anyone expected, the San Jose Sharks were officially eliminated from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday. Despite that, their 2025-26 campaign was an undeniable success. The Sharks improved by more than 30 points in the standings from last season and showed positive development from several key players.
Before the start of this season, I noted that the Sharks needed to prove their rebuild was making progress. They achieved that goal, even though they still have plenty to work on over the offseason.
Key Sharks had Improved Seasons
For the Sharks to take a step toward playoff contention, many players had to have good seasons in 2025-26, and both their young players and veterans answered the call.
Macklin Celebrini was the headliner, putting together one of the best seasons in franchise history and becoming a Hart Trophy candidate at just 19 years old. Will Smith also took a sophomore leap forward, improving his scoring output and looking more comfortable on the ice. Collin Graf reached the 20-goal mark while also turning into arguably the team’s best penalty-killing forward. Igor Chernyshov found a role as a power forward almost immediately after reaching the NHL, and Michael Misa gradually came into his own.
On defense, Shakir Mukhamadullin showed the most promising flashes of his career. Sam Dickinson had mixed results in his rookie season, but being able to play through his mistakes was critical for his development. Yaroslav Askarov struggled with inconsistency, but finally experienced a full NHL season, getting the majority of starts and turning in some excellent stretches of play.
Among the veterans, a few players established themselves for the next era. Alexander Wennberg, Kiefer Sherwood and Alex Nedeljkovic all earned themselves multi-year extensions, keeping them under contract through 2028-29, 2029-30 and 2027-28, respectively. Wennberg’s all-around steadiness, Sherwood’s goal-scoring and physicality, and Nedeljkovic’s experience in net should be valuable to a team that hopes to make the playoffs next season and for several seasons in a row.
During their rebuild, the Sharks needed to establish a foundation of players who would make up the core for the future. Not only did they manage to do so, but they also figured out a way to contend at the same time.
Sharks Improved on the Margins
Entering this season, one of the Sharks’ main goals was to improve in close games. They did that, which was one of the biggest reasons for their turnaround. San Jose’s record in overtime or shootouts is 12-8, compared to 6-12 a year ago. In roughly the same number of one-goal games, they were 22-13 this season and went just 12-27 in 2024-25. That kind of turnaround is one of many reasons for their wildly improved goal differential, which has gone from minus-105 to minus-43.
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The Sharks scored in six-on-five situations more often this season to reach overtime, and came through in overtime more consistently, thanks in large part to Celebrini’s skill. Their improved goaltending, combined with somewhat better late-game defense, helped them hold on to more late leads, and the team has only lost twice when entering the third period with a lead.
Last season, the Sharks often failed to win close games, meaning we knew they would improve in the standings with just a few tweaks rather than a dramatic overhaul. Thanks to a mixture of confidence, some luck, better players and execution, we now know that to be the case.
Sharks Have Clear Improvements to Make
As the Sharks now pivot to next season, they will acknowledge this season was far from perfect. Their defense is still pieced together with inexperienced young players and random veterans, who gave up the third-most goals in the league. They didn’t help their case when their penalty kill, which was roughly league average for most of the season, completely collapsed in the final few weeks of the campaign.
The team also proved to be too top-heavy, with not enough scoring outside of Celebrini, who had to carry San Jose far too often. Their success in close games suggests the pendulum could swing back the other way next season, and they need to safeguard against that.
Even the players who progressed this season still have plenty to work on. Askarov has tremendous talent as a goalie, but needs to work on his glove hand, puck-playing and overaggression. Smith still needs to prove his offensive ability outside of being Celebrini’s linemate. A prove-it season is about making improvements, but it can also be about identifying shortcomings to make even more gains the following year. This season, the Sharks checked both of those boxes.
Sharks Showed the Direction of Their Rebuild
To understand why this season was a success, we need to examine proof of concept, which Dictionary.com defines as “a small-scale demonstration that a business plan, product in development, etc., is likely to be successful in later stages.”
This one season for the Sharks is a proof of concept for many reasons. They know many of their strengths and most important players, and have clear next steps. The front office can rework the blue line through trades, free agency and the draft, while the coaching staff can focus on the penalty kill and player development. If the team takes the lessons from this season and applies them appropriately, next season should be the year the Sharks snap their playoff drought.
