The San Jose Sharks made a couple of moves on NHL Trade Deadline Day. The most notable one saw the Sharks trade Fabian Zetterlund to the Ottawa Senators shortly after 3 PM Eastern. However, San Jose made most of their moves before deadline day this season. The likes of Cody Ceci, Mikael Granlund, and Jake Walman were all moved prior to March 7.
The Sharks are once again the worst team in the NHL this season. Unfortunately, this is not an unexpected turn of events. Though rookies Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have made great progress, the team as a whole remains rather lacking. As a result, they quickly fell down the standings.
In saying all of this, the feeling around the team is much different than last season. Last season, the team had a similarly horrific record. This led to a bit of a downtrodden vibe around the club. San Jose had a bright future, sure, but the vibes were not exactly positive.
This year, though, it’s the exact opposite. The Sharks are still a bad hockey team. But for the first time, the professed “bright future” has started taking shape. Fans of the team are starting to see the rebuild turn the corner just a bit.
Even compared to other similar teams, the vibes are different. The Chicago Blackhawks are an easy comparable franchise given their proximity in the standings. Chicago may have more of a reason to be positive given they have a bonafide cornerstone in Connor Bedard. But the Blackhawks fired head coach Luke Richardson after poor performances. And the franchise feels a bit aimless at the moment.
This is not to say the Blackhawks aren’t on the way up. This is only to point out the differences between the two franchises. There is a lot of positivity around the Sharks. And there are two major reasons why this positivity exists.
Sharks are led by young stars such as Macklin Celebrini
As mentioned, the Sharks are led by their younger stars. Macklin Celebrini went first overall in the 2024 NHL Draft back in June. He immediately went pro and joined San Jose’s roster out of training camp. He was joined by Will Smith, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Celebrini has been far and away San Jose’s best player this season. He missed time earlier in the year with an injury. However, he has rebounded quite nicely. To this point, Celebrini has scored 21 goals and 50 points in 56 games.
Smith, meanwhile, had a much slower start to the season. But the American forward has found his stride as the season has gone along. He has 13 goals and 35 points to this point in the year.
It is not just Celebrini and Smith performing for San Jose, either. William Eklund is right behind Celebrini as one of the Sharks’ top offensive producers. Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin has impressed coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. And, while he’s been in the NHL, goalie Yaroslavl Askarov has shown his worth as a top goaltending prospect.
The Sharks have an impressive young core of players ready to make an impact. Some of them are already doing so in the NHL. It’s one of the reasons the vibes are positive around this squad despite the poor results.
Sharks can add to young core with another top draft pick
The Sharks are not a good team, as previously established. This is why top prospects and promising young talent primarily lead them. San Jose has not made the playoffs since the 2018-19 campaign. And it’s unlikely that the team will return to playoff contention for a couple of seasons.
What this means is that the team can continue to add to what they already have. In the third ClutchPoints 2025 NHL Mock Draft back in mid-February, the Sharks held the third overall pick. If the season ended today, they would have the highest odds to land the first overall pick, according to Tankathon.
This allows San Jose to add another budding young star to their pool. And if they fail to win over the next couple seasons, there are two generational talents entering the league. 2026 will see Medicine Hat Tigers star Gavin McKenna enter the draft. And in 2027, Everett Silvertips defenseman Landon DuPont is the likely first overall selection.
San Jose already has a bright future. And they will continue getting better as the years go along. However, it’s hard not to look toward these next three drafts and wonder just how bright this team’s future may be as we head toward the end of the 2020s.
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