Phillip Sinn didn’t come to San Jose looking for comfort. He came looking for a reset.
The 22-year-old defenseman left Germany behind for a new start with the Barracuda, trading the hockey world he had known his whole life for a shot at learning in a different one. Family, friends and familiar routines stayed back home. In their place: a young San Jose setup, a new style of play and a fresh opportunity to grow.
That was part of the appeal from the start.
“Obviously the young core and the team they want to build … the coaching staff, like all those guys that played on the Sharks a couple years ago, legends, and they’re just around there helping us, and that’s why I [picked it].”
Sinn has arrived in San Jose with a background that already includes time with the German national team, but he’s not walking in like a finished product. He still talks like a player in the middle of the climb, someone who knows he has more to figure out. That mindset fits a move that gives the Barracuda a closer look at a defender coming from a different hockey environment and trying to find his footing in North America.
So far, the early impression has been a good one.
“So far everybody’s like real nice,” Sinn said. “Just guys who wanna be hockey players, win games and have fun. I like it so far.”
Born in Mannheim, Germany, Sinn started out with Mannheimer ERC. He spent the 2025-2026 season with EHC München in the DEL, where he put up one goal and two assists in 35 games. He also played for ESV Kaufbeuren in the DEL2 before suiting up for Germany at the 2026 World Championship.
At 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, Sinn now has to adjust to a game that feels different from the one he grew up with. He said the pace in North America is not the same as in Germany, and the shift has come with less time on the puck and a more physical style.
“I’m new here,” Sinn said when asked if his experience with the German national team changed how he approaches the game. “A little different because it was smaller, you know, a little faster, a little more physical, less time. I don’t feel like I have that much experience at all.”
That kind of honesty has been part of Sinn’s first days in San Jose. He is not pretending the adjustment is easy, and he isn’t leaning on his international experience as if it has already solved everything for him. Instead, he’s treating this as another step in the learning process.
For now, that means getting comfortable in a new place, building relationships with teammates and absorbing everything around him. The next chapter for Sinn is still unwritten, and he knows it.
“I really don’t know what the situation is going to be like,” Sinn said. “But I definitely want to continue to grow my game, learn, and pick up new things.”
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For Sharks fans, that kind of mention is enough to spark a real debate about timeline and ambition. San Jose is still trying to climb back into the leagues upper tier, and any conversation involving a goaltender of Hellebuycks caliber naturally shifts from nice idea to how much faster could this group move? The unanswered question is whether a fit on paper can ever become something more concrete, because if it did, the ripple effect in the Pacific would be impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
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Sharks Camp Buzz Is Building Around Two Young Names Fast
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Warsofsky has also liked what he has seen from Stenberg, whose hockey sense and ability to pick up the system have stood out in camp. With the preseason opener against the Anaheim Ducks approaching, the Sharks are getting an early look at how quickly some of their younger players can translate promise into something more concrete. [Read more 🡒]