Kevin Korchinski is still without a contract with the 2026-27 season approaching, and that alone has opened the door to speculation about his future in Chicago. The Blackhawks haven’t handed him a new deal yet, even though there’s still a belief he should at least be given the chance to prove he belongs as a full-time NHL defenseman.
That uncertainty has led to a simple question: would the Blackhawks move him before training camp if they decide they’re set on the blue line? The roster picture makes that possibility easy to imagine, especially with Chicago already looking deep enough on defense that Korchinski could wind up on the outside looking in. If that happens, there are teams around the league that could use another defenseman.
San Jose is one of them.
Even after a busy offseason, the Sharks still look like a club that could use more help on the back end. Luca Cagnoni may be ready to take a bigger step and claim a full-time role, but asking him to do that without any real cushion carries some risk for a team hoping to push for the playoffs. A move for another young defenseman would give them some extra insurance.
That is why Korchinski makes sense in this hypothetical.
Cagnoni, 21, has only nine NHL games on his résumé, though he has recorded two assists in that stretch. He was excellent with the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL last season, putting up 43 points in 67 games. Still, that kind of limited NHL experience could make it reasonable for the Sharks to bring in another player and create competition for minutes.
Korchinski would bring that.
He has 29 NHL games over the last two seasons, and he has also logged 76 games with the Blackhawks during the 2023-24 season, though the article notes he was rushed into that role. In 105 career games, he has six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. That gives him more NHL exposure than Cagnoni, which is exactly the sort of internal competition San Jose could use.
The Sharks did add Libor Hajek this offseason, and he has 110 games of NHL experience. But he has not played in the league since the 2022-23 season, and he could begin in the AHL instead. That leaves room for another addition if San Jose wants to be more aggressive about shoring up its depth.
Of course, Korchinski would not come cheap, even if a trade would not require a massive haul. He was the seventh-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, so Chicago would still expect a respectable return.
One proposed framework sends Korchinski to San Jose in exchange for RW/C Ethan Cardwell, the Sharks’ 2029 fourth-round pick, and Chicago’s own 2028 seventh-round pick coming back to the Blackhawks.
That package would give Chicago a player who could push for a roster spot this season, plus a draft pick and the return of its own seventh-rounder in 2028. It is not a blockbuster return, but it would at least give the Blackhawks enough to justify moving a former first-round pick.
Still, the more likely outcome is that Korchinski stays put. The expectation is that he will get a new contract and be at training camp this season. But if the two sides cannot reach an agreement, San Jose should be one of the teams paying attention.
In Other News...
Sharks May Finally Have A Real Path Back To The Playoffs
The Hockey News annual Yearbook is usually more projection than promise, but this one gives the Sharks something they have not had much of lately: a believable path back into the playoff conversation. In the magazines 2026-27 forecast, San Jose is viewed as a team on the rise, with enough progress to put it in the mix behind the leagues established Pacific heavyweights and ahead of some of the divisions middle class.
The optimism starts on the back end, where the Sharks defensive improvements are being treated as a real reason to believe the gap is closing. If that trend holds, San Jose may not need a perfect season to stay in the race, because the projection has them competing with Central Division clubs for a wild-card berth rather than simply trying to keep pace in their own division. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Fans Are About To Get A New Look Worth Debating
A new Sharks look is on the way next season, and it will be part of a league-wide rollout rather than a San Jose-only reveal. Fanatics confirmed that all 32 NHL teams are set to debut Hometown Remix uniforms, a collection built around each clubs fans, city and local culture, which means the Sharks will be getting a fresh design with a very specific sense of place attached to it.
For a fan base that has always cared as much about identity as aesthetics, the change should invite plenty of debate before anyone even sees the final product. The NHL has been leaning into bigger-picture business and branding moves, too, from regular-season games in Germany in 2027-28 to Joe Pavelski taking a job at Wisconsin, but for Sharks followers the immediate question is simpler: what will the new sweater say about San Jose when it finally lands? [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Suddenly Have A Playoff Case Fans Can Argue About
The Sharks suddenly find themselves in a conversation that looked a lot less realistic not long ago, with a recent projection slotting them among the teams expected to reach the playoffs in the 2026-27 season. It is the kind of forecast that turns a rebuild from abstract promise into something fans can actually debate, especially when it comes paired with the idea that the roster is starting to take shape in ways that matter on both ends of the ice.
Much of the optimism comes from the broader case that San Jose has enough room for growth, enough talent to matter, and enough moving pieces to keep the arrow pointed up. The question now is how quickly those pieces fit together, because playoff projections are one thing and surviving the grind of an NHL season is another, even for a team whose future suddenly looks more interesting than it did a year ago. [Read more 🡒]