Can the San Jose Sharks find success without playoff contention? JD Young explores the team’s path forward in the 2025-2026 NHL season, focusing on key areas for growth and development.
Young players take center stage as the Sharks aim to build for the future. Will Macklin Celebrini establish himself as a top-20 NHL center? Can Yaroslav Askarov secure the starting goaltender position? The host examines the potential of Will Smith, William Eklund, and other prospects to answer crucial questions about their roles and impact.
Improving the win-loss record is vital, even if playoffs remain out of reach. JD discusses realistic goals for the team’s performance, drawing comparisons to recent seasons of other rebuilding franchises. He also analyzes General Manager Mike Grier’s strategy for balancing long-term development with the need for NHL-ready talent to support the young core.
The episode concludes by defining what success looks like for the Sharks in 2025-2026, emphasizing player growth, competitiveness, and strategic roster moves. Tune in to hear JD’s insights on how San Jose can lay the foundation for future playoff contention while navigating the challenges of a rebuild.
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-sharks/
Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL
Listener Survey
We’ve put together a survey to learn more about our listeners and make your favorite podcasts even better. Go tohttps://lockedonpodcasts.com/survey/ to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of ten $100 Amazon gift cards.
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Gametime
Today’s episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.
Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.
FanDuel
Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
#NHL #Sharks #SanJoseSharks
18 Comments
30 wins or 65 points. 15 wins at home would be nice.
For me it’s not about this season but next season and the 10 seasons after that.
I would
Like to see the sharks get their goal differential down to -50 from -103, I would like to see Eklund, Smith, Celebrini, a Mukhamadullin, Dickinson, Misa, Askarov, & Graf all take a positive step or two in their development. Our prospects in the minors/Juniors to continue their development in a positive way and sharks to still end up with the 2nd OA pick! Drafting Keaton Verhoeff RD, & Luke Shairer RD in the 26 draft would go a long way in settting this team up to be a long term juggernaut
Success? Getting Keaton Verhoeff in the draft. Getting a bunch of future picks when GMMG trades off some of the older guys who'll be UFAs after this season. I'm fine if they 3-peat if it nets them a very talented, very big RHD and Verhoeff is supposedly a stud.
I'm on the 'one more tank' bandwagon. The talent surge is coming, but its mostly too young to be NHL good this season.
I like your comment about getting answers to questions. That said, I don't think they're getting that many answers. Guys like Dickinson, Misa, Askarov might not answer that many questions because they're raw. Patience is the essential ingredient.
Growth from younger guys matters because the only guy on this roster signed in 2027-28 years is Toffoli. Which should be the season the Sharks are back in the playoffs. The team is going to go from bad to good in a few seasons. Great will take a little bit longer. Colorado went from a 48 pt team 1 year to 95 the next. The Devils went from 63 to 112. There are bunch more who did a 2-season jump and I think that'll be the Sharks path. Begins in 2026-27 and the fun turns up a whole bunch
Success to me is seeing Bystedt or Ostapchuk or SOMEBODY playing the roll of 3C well at the NHL level. We have so many large centers made for that role. If one of them steps up, that's a big and important sign for the future.
Im totally fine with being last place and getting the highest percentage for ths Gavin Mckenna sweepstakes. Could you imagine getting Mckenna with the studs we already have. I see a deep playoff run in 5 years.
Not being last in goal differential for the NHL and having the Barracuda make the playoffs is a successful season for the organization. I think playing in Worlds helps Smith's overall game.
I think the biggest indicator for team success this season would be taking another leap in season long goal differential.
2023-24 (-150)!
2024-25 (-105)
In 2025 – 26 I'd shoot for no less than (-40)..
+/- on an individual level is a questionable stat, but team differential is a good indicator for whether a team is playing in close games.
Nicely done JD! Loved how you broke down what a successful season would be for Sharks in your view.
Not much other than agreement from me. Wins and losses really do not come into next season for it to be a success. Seeing development of the players and coaches is what I care about, as well as the veterans all having good seasons.
Here are some of my hopes for next season:
1) Celebrini becoming what you mentioned.
2) Smith and Eklund continue on their growth path.
3) Askarov cements himself as a legitimate NHL goalie.
4) Muk solidifies himself as a solid second pair LD.
5) Graf cements himself as a valuable all situations third line RW.
6) Thompson earns the third pair RD role supplanting Liljegren.
7) Dickinson survives and thrives in the NHL.
8) Misa earns and keeps the third line LW with shifts as the second line center.
9) Cardwell earns games playing on the bottom six.
10) Chernyshov debuts as a middle six winger.
11) Lund has a Graf type season and earns middle/bottom six minutes by mid season
12) Musty, Haltunnen, Havelid, etc. show good growth in their first professional season.
13) The rest of the young Cuda prospects continue to develop and Laroque has a season without injury.
14) ostapchuk
My hopes for the veterans:
1) Toffoli continues to do what he did last season.
2) Wennberg continues his late season play and gets an extension or new contract.
3) Orlov plays as well in the regular season (or better) than he did last season.
4) Klingberg is truly healed from double hip surgery and has a great season (also signing an extension or new contract).
5) Leddy is healed and plays meaningful middle pair minutes (and gets traded).
6) Skinner goes on a tear and is traded.
7) Kurashev finds the game he had two seasons ago and is a middle six presence.
8) Ferraro benefits from playing further down the lineup and signs an extension.
9) Liljegren develops further and get traded as Thompson takes his spot.
10) Any combination of Dellandrea, Goodrow, or Grunstrom are forced out because of prospects taking their slots.
12) Ned is a solid 1B for Askarov and signs an extension.
13) Ostapchuk qualifies GMMG's trust in him and becomes a solid fourth line center pushing one of the veterans out of the lineup.
My hopes for GMMG:
1) He acquires a young RD that can play a number 2-4 RD role on the defense either this season or next.
2) GMMG continues to make shrewd/wise moves and acquires more picks for the next (deep) draft and/or more young players.
3) GMMG gets lucky and get a top selection in the first round of the 2026 draft.
4) Signs the young players that need contracts to extensions or new contracts (Muk, Thompson, etc.).
My hopes for Warso:
1) Continues to grow as a coach and manages to lean on the veterans less and can lean on the young players more.
2) He continues to help the young players grow.
I agree with all your thoughts for next season but would caution that in the beginning of the season there will be a lot of player movement in the lineup as there has (again) been a ton of turnover.
However, I think by a quarter way through the season the line up will settle in and more wins will come. At the TDL there will be some trades where the Sharks get players and picks for players and picks but there is no fire sale.
Meaning, their play does not fall off a cliff after as there is stability in the roster that the Sharks have not had for multiple seasons.
20 wins at home and 15 on the road is a really good year for them. It may be a slight stretch but with all the close losses last season, this could be a real possibility. I also think a solid backup goalie that can also mentor Aski makes for a really good year
Marked improvement and remaining in the McKenna sweepstakes. Would love to see an identity materialize…
It was worth tanking in 2024 and 2025. The talent drop-off after Celebrini and Misa was huge. The 2026 draft is so much deeper. The Sharks have more to gain by improving than by putting great young players through torture for the possibility of adding one more. The team can improve and still have a great draft. And the lottery is still a lottery.
I'm hoping the Sharks are still in San Jose to witness all this when the project is finally finished
Sharks ideally get themseleves up to the bottom 8-10 range in rankings this season, then compete for a playoff spot in the 2026-2027 season. From there, they will be perennial playoff contenders for 10-12+ seasons and then some!
This will be the youth carrying the torch it has to be or the GM is fired
The hope is do win a draft lottery for DuPont, but I don't want to be in a position to win him via not moving up (drafting 1st or 2nd)…
Good metrics on what is success.
I'm going with Dickinson wins the Calder.
Misa and Askarov are the runner-ups.
Mukhamadullin is the top defenseman on the team by the end of the season, and likely on the top pair unless we get a better defenseman to pair with Dickinson.
I get that its hard for defense to play well in year one, but I'd like it anyway.
I don’t necessarily think that wins are that important for this upcoming season. I’m more concerned about player growth and to be competitive at times. Finishing in the bottom 5 is probably more advantageous for the future of this team.
Lots of good points about measuring success and enjoyed the podcast. But I think there are a couple fallacies. One is this idea that we can't 3-peat as the worst team – and I am saying this simply because we have limited control over this. Last year only three teams (SJS, CHI, NSH) finished with less than 76 points. This year every team, with the possible exception of PIT, is trying to improve. So if the Sharks jump from 51 to 70 pts, get the growth we're looking for from all the young guys, cut the goal differential, don't blow as many 3rd period leads, and still finish last, are we still really going to think of it as a failure? Are we going to be upset we're picking in the top three? Not saying I think 70 pts is likely to be the lowest point total – just saying there is a (not completely unrealistic) world in which it could happen. ALL that matters is growth and improvement of the organization. Where that puts us in the standings doesn't matter until we're talking about playoffs or no playoffs. Nobody looks back at the '21 season or '22 season and says "well at least we didn't have the worst record." Nobody should feel a need to finish with only the fifth worst record simply so we can pat ourselves on the back for not finishing last.
Second fallacy – we might be able to get a young potential top pair RHD via trade at the trade deadline. Rentals won't do it. Draft picks outside the top half of the first round won't do it. Dobson, who also needed to get paid and is not certain (I'd argue not likely) to be a true #1 D cost the #16 and #17 picks in the draft. So unless we think Greir is including the Sharks own 1st rd pick (plus more if we're talking someone still on ELC), this is just not realistic, IMO. We'll see how the four RHD who are currently getting top 10 buzz develop over the next number of months, but there's a excellent chance, by the trade deadline, that there will be a strong argument against giving up the kind of capital it would require in a trade (if someone is even available – top RHD are unicorms often not even available) rather than just drafting one of the prospects.
My 2 cents, of course – maybe not everyone will agree!
Make your videos shorter. 30 mins is too long