Alexander Karmanov’s first Sharks camp is wrapping up, and the 18-year-old left San Jose with a memorable stamp on it.
The 7-foot-1, 275-pound defenseman said Sunday that he is headed back to Southern Ontario on Monday to rejoin the OHL’s North Bay Battalion. Before that departure, he had already become something of a curiosity around Sharks camp - the kind of player fans noticed immediately and teammates couldn’t help but talk about.
That was on display this weekend downtown, when a Sharks fan stopped Karmanov and asked for a photo on the spot. Karmanov was walking with several teammates at the time.
“I was with the boys and the boys told me we needed to get off the street,” Karmanov said Sunday. “It’s great. Everyone, the fans were great, and it’s really nice to have met them.”
Karmanov’s stay in San Jose was brief, but it packed in plenty. The Sharks selected him in the seventh round, 201st overall, in June, making him the tallest player ever drafted into the NHL. He then appeared in both Rookie Faceoff games at Tech CU Arena earlier this month, where his fight with Los Angeles Kings forward Liam Lefebvre, who is 6-foot-3, quickly spread online and drew the loudest reaction of the night.
He also showed flashes of why the Sharks were intrigued in the first place. On Sunday’s practice ice, Karmanov used his long reach to knock the puck off Will Smith’s stick on a couple of rushes. Michael Misa, though, also slipped past him on another sequence and got a clean look at the net.
That mix - raw tools, obvious learning moments - is exactly where Karmanov is right now. He knows it, and the Sharks know it too.
“Just keep working,” he said, describing the message he received from the coaching staff. “I have, like, some details from the coaches, from the development coaches, and just keep doing what they tell me to do.”
Sharks assistant coach Brian Wiseman said Karmanov made a strong impression in every part of camp.
“Extremely likable,” Wiseman said. “Speaking to him and when (fellow assistant Doug Houda) is coaching him, or when he was at the rookie camp, that’s all we’ve heard about is how attentive he is, how likable he is, how coachable he is.
“Those are great attributes to have, and coming into first NHL camp, always smiling. He’s got a smile on his face, up and down the hallways, in the locker room, on the ice.”
New Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse, who trained with Karmanov at Gary Roberts’s facility in Toronto over the offseason, said he saw clear progress in the teenager from the start of the summer to now.
“You can just see the growth from the beginning of the summer to the end,” Nurse said. “You see the size, but he’s got skill.
He’s got a little nastiness to him, too. He’s going to be fun to watch as he continues to grow, and that’s just pretty cool.”
Karmanov said Nurse helped him as well.
“Very big guy, too,” Karmanov said. “I like how he plays defensively, very aggressively, and has a very good stick and first pass.
I think it’s what I have to have. Just a great player.”
For now, Karmanov is heading back to North Bay for one more OHL season. During that time, he’ll also spend stretches working with Todd Marchant, the Sharks’ director of player development, and San Jose development coach Luca Sbisa, who played 13 NHL seasons on defense.
He remains committed to Penn State for the 2027-28 season, though that path could still change by then.
“It should be a good year for me, for the team,” Karmanov said. “I’ll have more opportunity, we’ll keep working, and we’ll see how it goes.”
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