The San Jose Sharks head into the first full week of October with a little something they didn’t have much of last season: a quiet sense of momentum.
A pair of one-goal home wins to open the 2026-27 regular season - first over the Florida Panthers, then the Los Angeles Kings - gave San Jose a 2-0-0 start and an early reminder that this group can hang in tight games. That kind of edge was often missing during the rebuilding grind a year ago.
Now comes the harder part. The Sharks are leaving the comfort of SAP Center and stepping into a week that will say plenty about whether their early form is real or just a strong home-ice start.
The biggest question is consistency, especially away from home. San Jose has looked more organized in transition and more disciplined around the net, with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith already showing a smoother feel in pressure moments. Celebrini, in particular, turned in multi-point playmaking against the Kings, creating dangerous looks off simple forechecking pressure.
But road games are a different animal. Young centers don’t get the same luxury when opposing coaches control the matchups and line changes. How Ryan Warsofsky handles those assignments on the road will go a long way toward determining whether the Sharks can carry this style outside California.
Depth is also becoming part of the story early. Adam Gaudette is on injured reserve with an upper-body issue, while Alex Barré-Boulet is also on IR with an undisclosed minor injury. Those absences take away a secondary scoring option, a net-front presence on the power play, and some of the forward depth the Sharks need to stabilize the bottom of the lineup.
That opens the door for other players to take on heavier lifting. Zack Ostapchuk and Barclay Goodrow are among the names expected to absorb more defensive-zone work so the top scoring lines can stay fresher.
In goal, Yaroslav Askarov has already been a major part of the early picture. He started both home wins and showed sharp lateral movement while dealing with a heavy dose of dangerous chances from veteran opponents.
With three games in six days and travel across two time zones, San Jose is likely to split the workload in net. That makes this week the first real test of the backup’s workload management early in the season.
The schedule itself offers a good mix of problems to solve. The Sharks open Monday in Dallas, where they’ll be tested on how their breakout passing handles a structured neutral-zone trap.
Thursday sends them to St. Louis, where the challenge shifts to dealing with physical play through the middle of the ice.
Then on Saturday, San Jose returns home to face Edmonton, a game that will put its penalty kill under the microscope against elite power-play talent.
Here’s the week ahead for the Sharks:
Mon, Oct. 5 - Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, 8:00 PM EST - Containing Dallas’ heavy zone-entry pressure
Thu, Oct. 8 - St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center, 8:00 PM EST - Neutralizing middle-lane physical play
Sat, Oct. 10 - Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center, 4:00 PM EST - Disciplined penalty killing against elite power plays
In Other News...
Sharks Line Is Turning Into More Than Just An Early Surprise
A line built around Igor Chernyshov, Michael Misa and Tyler Toffoli has given the Sharks an early spark by mixing two promising young forwards with a veteran who has already done this deep into the spring. Toffoli, a Stanley Cup winner, has brought the kind of calm presence that can steady a new-look trio, and he has already made his mark with a key breakout pass that turned into a goal. With two members of the line producing at or above a point-a-game pace, the group has quickly become one of the more interesting parts of San Joses start.
Ryan Warsofsky has also pointed to the value Toffoli provides beyond the scoresheet, especially for younger players still learning how to handle the grind shift to shift. His composure has given the Sharks a more reliable option in the middle of their forward mix, and the early results suggest this could be more than a hot opening stretch. The bigger question now is whether the combination keeps growing as opponents get a better read on it and the season settles into its longer test. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Face Real Risk With Simon Edvinsson
Alex Ovechkins announcement that 2026-27 will be his final NHL season added another layer to a busy stretch around the league, but the more immediate intrigue for West Coast teams is what comes next in the trade market. The San Jose Sharks have at least been part of the conversation, with Winnipeg and San Jose discussing a possible Connor Hellebuyck deal as clubs keep weighing whether veteran help lines up with their bigger timelines.
For the Sharks, the appeal is obvious: a goalie of Hellebuycks caliber would change the conversation in a hurry. But there are real questions about whether their current competitive window is far enough along to make that kind of move fit, which is why the talks have carried tension even before any serious momentum has built. Around the league, that same push-pull between urgency and timing is shaping everything from Detroits concerns with Simon Edvinsson to Edmontons search for forward depth, and San Jose is right in the middle of the broader debate. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Make A Blue Line Change That Says Plenty About This Start
The Sharks are making another early-season adjustment on the blue line, and this one will give Sam Dickinson his season debut Monday while Nolan Allan comes out of the lineup. For a team still sorting out its best mix at the back end, the move is a small but telling snapshot of how San Jose is handling the first stretch of the schedule, especially with a two-game road trip ahead and practices still on deck.
The roster picture has also shifted around the edges. Adam Gaudette remains on injured reserve even as he travels with the team, while Patrick Giles cleared waivers and was sent to the Barracuda. None of it is dramatic on its own, but together it suggests the Sharks are willing to keep shuffling pieces as they try to settle into a workable rhythm before the trip gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]