Former Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin said his time in San Jose felt increasingly familiar, even as his exit from the organization came after a rough final stretch.
In a recent interview with Alexei Shevchenko of Sport-Express, translated into English by X user @Uggg_uggg, Mukhamadullin said San Jose had become a place where he felt settled. “The city truly became my second home,” Mukhamadullin said of San Jose.
“I was already driving without a GPS, everything felt familiar, comfortable, like home. I had good relationships with the guys.”
His departure to Edmonton came as part of the package that brought veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse to the Sharks, and Mukhamadullin said he got some warning before the move happened. “I was told a couple of days in advance that it was a possibility,” the defenseman recalled. “I wasn't expecting it, but I was ready.”
The trade was the second of his career. Mukhamadullin was originally selected 20th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2020 NHL Draft, then moved to San Jose as part of the Timo Meier trade while he was still playing for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Mukhamadullin also acknowledged there were issues behind the scenes with the Sharks. He didn’t go into full detail, but he did point to disagreements with the coaching staff.
“I won't spell it out clearly, but there were some disagreements,” he said. “There was also one thing nobody knows about, a situation involving the injured list.
I don't really want to talk about it now either, but it wasn't a great look.”
His final season in San Jose was disrupted by both injury and coaching decisions, and he played only 50 games in the 2025-26 season. Over three seasons with the Sharks, he appeared in 83 NHL games.
Before the trade, Mukhamadullin said there had been contract talks with San Jose, though the sides never reached a deal. “There were offers,” he said.
“Two of them. We just turned them down, didn't come to terms, let's say.”
After landing with the Oilers, he signed a two-year extension worth an average annual value of $1.75 million. He will be a restricted free agent again when that contract expires in the summer of 2028.
Mukhamadullin said the Sharks likely began leaning in another direction around the time of the injured list situation, which he tied to a late-February interview with the Bay Area News Group in which he expressed dissatisfaction with his season.
He still returns to Ufa, Russia, every summer, but he said life in San Jose had become comfortable enough that home didn’t weigh on him as much by the end. “By my third season in San Jose, life was comfortable enough that I didn't really miss home that much.”
For Mukhamadullin, the split from San Jose appears to have been shaped by a mix of miscommunication, disagreements and a season that never really found its footing. Now 24, he heads into the next chapter with Edmonton.
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