The 2024-25 NHL season is now officially underway. Although the San Jose Sharks will have their opener on Thursday, Oct. 12 against the St. Louis Blues, a league-wide mandate required them to set their roster by 2 pm PST on Monday as the league calendar turned from preseason to the regular season. As a result, they had to make some difficult decisions and ended up with one of the oddest roster constructions possible.
Forwards
The Sharks kept 15 forwards on their roster. They had a lot of players deserving of a spot, but simply not enough space to fit all of them. Arguments can be made that Ethan Cardwell, Collin Graf, and even Quentin Musty could’ve been ready for a spot in the NHL but with them having to keep 15 forwards as it is, it was physically impossible to fit them in.
Ultimately, there was one surprise player who played so well in preseason that management couldn’t justify sending him down. Danil Gushchin was a standout all summer. The Russian forward also played at a near point-per-game pace with the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League last season as well. Despite that, if it wasn’t for the performance he had against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Sharks’ final preseason game, he’d likely be heading back across town to the Barracuda. Gushchin recorded five assists and led the Sharks to victory against the Golden Knights, who iced the majority of their NHL roster. If he had been sent down after that showing, it would’ve made it clear that young players weren’t going to stick regardless of how they performed. He was given an opportunity and definitely took advantage of it.
Other than Gushchin, the forward core looks pretty much like you’d expect. Newcomers Ty Dellandrea, Alexander Wennberg, Tyler Toffoli, and Carl Grundstrom are all on the roster. Meanwhile, high-end prospects Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith unsurprisingly made the team as well.
Full Forward List: Will Smith, Nico Sturm, Klim Kostin, Luke Kunin, Fabian Zetterlund, Alexander Wennberg, Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, Givani Smith, Mikael Granlund, Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, Tyler Toffoli, Danil Gushchin, Carl Grundstrom
Defense
With the abundance of forwards on the roster, the Sharks had to sacrifice depth elsewhere. The defense currently consists of only the six everyday starters for the time being. While they will make some moves when Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Shakir Mukhamadullin get healthy, they’re going to lack any depth on the blue line for the start of the season.
The main player to keep an eye on when talking about defensemen will be Henry Thrun. While everyone else on the blue line has considerable NHL experience at this point and aren’t likely to be taken out of the lineup unless something changes massively, if Thrun wants to stick around in the NHL, he’s going to have to get off to a hot start and take someone else’s job. Otherwise, when Vlasic is healthy, he will likely either spend a significant amount of time in the press box or be on his way back to the Barracuda.
Related: Sharks’ Young Players Will Receive Unique Chance With Power Play Role
As previously mentioned, the rest of the Sharks’ defense is full of experience. Whether it’s the journeymen like Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta or players who have just been around for a while like Matt Benning and Mario Ferraro, there are a lot of games played among the blueliners. New addition Jake Walman is also on the roster and is expected to be a key player for head coach Ryan Warsofsky this season.
Full Defense List: Henry Thrun, Cody Ceci, Matt Benning, Mario Ferraro, Jan Rutta, Jake Walman
Goaltending
While some were surprised to see Yaroslav Askarov assigned to the Barracuda, there are quite a few reasons why it made sense. It seemed clear from the start of training camp that Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek would be between the pipes to start the season. Both are solid NHL-caliber goaltenders and should be steady for the Sharks this season. It essentially feels like a tryout to see who will split duties with Askarov next season since both Vanecek and Blackwood are going to be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.
Goaltenders: Vitek Vanecek, Mackenzie Blackwood
Overall, the Sharks’ current injury situation and abundance of forwards who can contribute at the NHL level put them in a very strange position, which led to them taking an unconventional approach to constructing their roster. As defensemen heal, the forwards who aren’t up to speed will be either waived or reassigned to the Barracuda. As a result, even those who made it through preseason are far from safe, so they won’t be able to rest on their laurels once the season starts.
