#san-jose-sharks

#san-jose-sharks

The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks and AHL's San Jose Barracuda, have announced that they have extended their affiliation agreement with the Sharks and Barracuda for the 2025-26 season. Under the affiliation agreement, the Sharks will be able to designate players within their development system for assignment with the Thunder. The club will also be composed of players who are signed to two-way AHL contracts in addition to those on ECHL contracts (under agreement with the Thunder).

SAN JOSE Michael Misa will headline a group of five first-round draft picks on the San Jose Sharks team that will take part in next week's three-team Rookie Faceoff event in Anaheim. Misa, who was selected overall by the Sharks at the NHL Draft in June, joins first-round picks Filip Bystedt (2022) and Quentin Musty (2023), both forwards, defenseman Sam Dickinson (2024), and goalie Josh Ravensbergen (2025) on the 24-player team, which was announced Tuesday.

The San Jose Sharks finished with a league-worst 52 points last season, so it's not too surprising there was significant turnover with their roster this summer. Their most notable additions came on defense, with Nick Leddy, Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg all adding much-needed NHL experience on their back end. Up front, Jeff Skinner should give them some scoring pop, especially if the plan is to glue him to Macklin Celebrini or Will Smith's wing.

The San Jose Sharks have been patient. So have their fans. Six seasons without the Stanley Cup Playoffs and finishes no higher than sixth in their division is long enough. General manager Mike Grier said publicly it's time to start pushing the rebuild forward. How far it goes is among the storylines that will make them a fascinating tale in 2025-26.

Askarov's long-range save percentage last season was perfect (59 shots faced, 59 saves); he was the only goalie in the League who faced at least 50 long-range shots without allowing a goal. Askarov, who was also above the NHL average in both high-danger save percentage (.814; average: .803) and midrange save percentage (.892; average: 887), could also benefit from the Sharks additions this offseason in veteran defensemen Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg and Nick Leddy.

The San Jose Sharks have completed most of their business for the summer at this point, and we have a rough idea of what the roster should look like on opening night.