The San Jose Sharks‘ four-day Rookie Faceoff event begins today, and most of the attention will be on a handful of players. Top prospects Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Shakir Mukhamadullin will make San Jose a central part of the showcase. But the Sharks have other prospects participating with storylines of their own. Here are four Sharks who won’t draw most of the focus during the tournament but will be worth keeping an eye on when they take the ice.
Filip Bystedt
Towards the end of the 2023-24 season, forward Filip Bystedt got his first taste of North American hockey and handled it well, posting seven points in just eight games as a member of the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. His numbers marked a strong end to his campaign, which was particularly important since he was not nearly as productive during his season with Linkoping HC in Sweden. He’ll likely spend all or most of 2024-25 with the Barracuda, and the Rookie Faceoff is the perfect place to start on the right note.
The Sharks currently project Bystedt to be a middle-six forward, and he stated in a recent interview that he wants to become a complete offensive player, working on his puck control, shooting and creation. Both he and the team knew that he wasn’t going to be an immediate NHL contributor when he was drafted 27th overall in 2022, but his arrival in San Jose means that now is the time to begin progressing toward that status.
Ethan Cardwell
Once one of San Jose’s strongest prospects, forward Ethan Cardwell posted good numbers in junior before continuing his run by scoring 23 goals in his first season with the Barracuda in 2023-24. However, as the Sharks added to their prospect pool, he fell off the radar, and most listings of the team’s best young players no longer include him. At the Rookie Faceoff, the 2021 fourth-round pick will have a chance to remind everyone of the skill that earned him several awards, including Sharks Prospect of the Year in 2023 and Barracuda Rookie of the Year in 2024.
Related: Sharks’ Ethan Cardwell Optimistic Heading into Rookie Faceoff
Cardwell is a strong skater who uses his movement to create offensive opportunities for himself and others and combines intelligence with aggression to serve as an effective defender. But as the Sharks continue to build up one of the NHL’s strongest prospect groups — highlighted by forwards — Cardwell will need to find ways to stand out, a task that’s now much tougher than it was less than two years ago. A good performance at the Faceoff, where he’ll play alongside many of those very same forwards, will have a very positive impact on his career.
Kasper Halttunen
Smith may have been the marquee pick of the Sharks’ 2023 Draft, but management made plenty of other interesting choices with the rest of their selections. Second-rounder Kasper Halttunen averaged more than a point per game last season as a member of the London Knights and stepped up during the playoffs. He participated in the Rookie Faceoff last season, but now that the Finnish forward has a year of North American junior hockey under his belt, this year’s showcase will be a good test of how his experience might eventually translate to the NHL.
Halttunen is a good skater despite his large frame and an elite shooter who excels on the power play, but he needs significant development in the rest of his offensive game. This weekend’s tournament will give the Sharks a better sense of where he stands in terms of his growth and how to best focus his development in a way that will allow him to eventually reach the big leagues.
Luca Cagnoni
Another 2023 Draft choice, fourth-round defenseman Luca Cagnoni, is the newest Shark on this list, having signed his entry-level contract in May. He received some attention as a strong pick when he was selected and still is, posting 90 points in 65 games as a member of the Portland Winterhawks in 2023-24. San Jose views him as a blueliner who can contribute on both sides of the ice despite being much smaller than most of the defensemen they have been looking to add recently. Now that he is officially a part of the organization, the Rookie Faceoff will help to determine exactly where he might belong on the Sharks’ blue line.
At 5-foot-9, Cagnoni doesn’t fit the mold of most of the organization’s other young defensemen, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a role. He definitely offers the necessary skills. San Jose’s long-term plans for defense are still being determined, and Cagnoni can use the Faceoff to prove that he deserves to be part of them.
Sharks Players Gain Different Benefits from Rookie Faceoff
Like all the rookie showcases around the NHL, the Rookie Faceoff holds different meanings for different players. For Celebrini and Smith, it’s a time to skate with some of their future teammates, stay in shape, and get their first taste of NHL action with much more to come. But for many others, such as the four players discussed here, the event serves a very different purpose. They’ll be competing for roster spots, for a chance to impress coaches, and for an opportunity to find their place within the organization. The Sharks’ top prospects may garner most of the coverage, but there’s a lot to look at deeper down the roster as well.
