Although we’re still in the middle of the offseason, there has been quite a bit of news surrounding the San Jose Sharks in recent days.

Vlasic Unhappy With Sharks Departure

First, an interview published by NHL.com’s French website shed some light on Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s thoughts regarding his buyout earlier this summer. Vlasic, who the Sharks selected in the second round of the 2005 NHL Draft, played 1323 games over the course of 19 seasons with the team in teal. Following Logan Couture’s unofficial retirement this past season, he was also the final player remaining from the Sharks’ “golden era.”

Eventually, the organization announced that they were buying out the final year of Vlasic’s contract at the end of June.

During his interview with Sébastian Deschambault, Vlasic made it clear that he wasn’t happy with the way events transpired, as he seemed to think he’d be returning for the 2025-26 season. "They told me I played well, especially defensively, and that they liked me serving as a mentor for the younger players,” Vlasic said in a quote that has been translated into English. “They told me they wanted me to do that next year, so when I left, I told myself I was going to come back."

Ultimately, it seems that Vlasic wasn’t necessarily upset by the decision either. He told Deschambault, “I wasn't interested in going back there for another season.” Given the fact that Vlasic has yet to win a Stanley Cup in his nearly two-decade-long career, it’s not surprising that he would want to move on. At this point, though, he’s still an unrestricted free agent, and it appears he’s open to going to any of the other 31 NHL teams. "It doesn't bother me whether it's Vancouver, Buffalo, Florida, Tampa. I'll go wherever someone wants me."

As the season draws closer, it will certainly be interesting to see if an NHL team is willing to take a chance on Vlasic, even on a professional try-out. Otherwise, he may be heading overseas to finish his career.

Sharks Announce Rookie Faceoff Schedule

With the reduction in the number of teams attending the Rookie Faceoff, the Sharks will only compete against their California rivals this September.

Last year, the Sharks were dominant in the event. Players like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith were obvious standouts, but Quentin Musty and Luca Cagnoni were among those who made an impression as well.

The Sharks will kick off the 2025 Rookie Faceoff against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, Sept. 12, at 6 PM. They’ll then finish their part of the event against the Los Angeles Kings the following afternoon at 1 PM.

Importantly, the Sharks noted that both games will be streamed on their digital platforms without regional restrictions.

The roster is still a mystery at this point in time, though, as it will be announced closer to the start of the event.

Sharks Close to New SAP Center Deal

According to Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest, the Sharks are nearing a new lease for the SAP Center with the City of San Jose.

Given Sharks president Jonathan Becher’s comments over the past few months regarding the situation, it’s not a surprise that a deal is close to completion. However, Miller did note he hasn’t been given a timeline for when the deal will become official.

Sharks Partner With San Jose State Football

The San Jose State Spartans have announced that they’ll host “San Jose Sharks Night” on August 29 as they face off against Central Michigan.

The Spartans are looking to get off to a hot start, and build on their 7-6 record from last season.

Sharks Announce Change to Preseason Schedule

On Tuesday, the Sharks announced that their final preseason game against the Utah Mammoth had been moved up an hour. The game on October 4 was previously slated to start at 6 PM; however, it will now start at 5 PM instead. As Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News noted, this game against the Mammoth is the second half of a back-to-back, as the Sharks will be in Nevada facing the Vegas Golden Knights the previous night.

This is the Sharks' last preseason game and the second half of a back-to-back, following a 7 p.m. game in Vegas the night before pic.twitter.com/lxiE33byS1

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) August 12, 2025

Luckily for the Sharks, they’ll have plenty of time to rest from the back-to-back, as following the final preseason game, they’ll have five days until they face the Golden Knights at SAP Center to officially start the 2025-26 season.

Although we still have 55 days until the Sharks officially start the upcoming season, we’re quickly approaching training camp and preseason. As a result, news regarding the team should start becoming more and more prevalent in the coming weeks. While the Sharks still aren’t projected to be in the playoff race this season, it will certainly be an important one to see if the rebuild is truly progressing as expected, or if they’re following the footsteps of many other recent rebuilds, like the Anaheim Ducks, who have struggled to take any steps forward in the standings.

55 Days Until Opening Day: The Sharks' History of Number 55We are just 55 days away from the San Jose Sharks kicking off their season against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center. With each passing day, the countdown drops another number, and today we take a look at the Sharks’ history with players who wore #55. From The Archive: Keeping Up With JonesThe Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features. From the Archive: Great ExpectationsThe Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.

The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results. 

Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games. 

Other Sabres Stories

Projecting Sabres Trade Cost - Bryan Rust

Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere

#28 - Ryerson Leenders - G (Brantford - OHL)

Leenders was the Sabres final selection at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas in the seventh round (219th overall). A slightly above-average goalie at 6’2”, 179 lb., the 19-year-old has played two seasons with the Mississauga Steelheads, splitting duties in 2022-23 as a 16-year-old and serving as the primary starter last season, going 24-17-4, with a 3.12 GAA, and .909 save % in his draft year. Last season, Leenders became the primary starter for the franchise which moved to Brantford and finished the regular season with a 31-14-3 record, 3.11 GAA, and .910 save %, and playing eight of their 11 games in the OHL playoffs. 

Hockey Prospect’s Black Book said “Leenders presents a wider set stance and butterfly to the ice, which makes him considerably bigger looking than (Kings prospect Carter) George at times, despite them having similarly listed heights. He has better kicking reflexes than George, and we think he’s actually just as good, if not better, at reactionary positional saves in tight to the net.”

Buffalo will have to make a decision to sign Leenders before next June on whether to offer him a pro contract, but the Sabres have young goaltenders at the NHL level in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon, both Devon Levi and Scott Ratzlaff in Rochester, Topias Leinonen in Sweden, and a pair of 2025 draft picks in Samuel Meloche and Yevgeni Prokhorov, so the path looks to be crowded. 

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Is there a contract extension in the works for Dustin Wolf with the Calgary Flames?

Let’s hope so.

Wes Gilbertson (Postmedia) recently tweeted this quote from a Q&A with the Flames goaltender, hinting at that process getting underway.

“They’re working, that’s about all I can really tell you. There’s talks, but nothing really confirmed yet,” explained Wolf.

“I’d love to stay here and I think they want me to stay here, as well. So as soon as something comes to fruition where both of us like where we’re at, I’m sure it won’t be long after that point where pen will be to paper.”

Wolf’s rookie season couldn’t have made a stronger statement. In 53 starts, the 24-year-old posted a 29–16–8 record, a 2.64 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and three shutouts. That effort earned him a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team and a finalist nod for the Calder Trophy, where he finished second to Montreal Canadiens blueliner, Lane Hutson.

Why He’s Invaluable

Dependable Rookie Performance – Delivering this level of consistency as a first-year NHL starter is rare—especially for a seventh-round draft pick.

Game-Changing Clutch Factor – His timely saves and shutout performances kept Calgary in tight games and in the playoff mix.

Youthful Upside – At just 24, he offers both immediate impact and long-term stability in net.

Contract Comparable

Wolf is in the final stretch of his two-year, $1.7 million deal with an $850,000 annual cap hit—a bargain for a starter of his caliber. Comparable; Anaheim’s Lukas Dostal, signed a five-year contract worth $32.5 million (about $6.5 million annually).

Given Wolf’s age, performance, and projected growth, a deal in the $6–7 million per year range over multiple seasons would align with the market and secure Calgary’s goaltending future.

I guess we’ll wait and see. 

Follow Bryan Wilson on X.

Anticipate a wave of newer faces looking to prove themselves in net this NHL season.

Last season, only the Calgary Flames’ Dustin Wolf was able to take the reins and break into a full-time NHL role, playing more than one-fifth of the season in the big leagues. 

This year, a handful of NHL teams have seemingly prioritized younger netminders moving up ahead of the 2025-26 season.

The group below will only include netminders who have yet to have played around 18 games in an NHL season beforehand, so the Buffalo Sabres’ Devon Levi, who played 23 in 2023-24, and Vegas Golden Knights’ Akira Schmid, who surpassed the mark twice before, won’t be considered as they’ve already accrued enough NHL pedigree.

Yaroslav Askarov, San Jose Sharks

Yaroslav Askarov has been the talk of hockey circles ever since being selected 11th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2020. Boasting superhuman feats of athleticism and an optimal frame at 6-foot-3, he’s bound to be an NHL starting goaltender. However, it took a move to San Jose to get there.

Askarov is the most likely of this bunch to have a Dustin Wolf-like breakthrough, as he’ll likely split the crease equally with Alex Nedeljkovic, who was acquired this off-season from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The real question isn’t whether he’s ready for NHL minutes, but more so whether he can handle just how defensively poor the San Jose Sharks will be as they continue to build for the future.

'It Was A Special First Year': Yaroslav Askarov Thankful For Former Sharks GoalieWhen Yaroslav Askarov came to North America, he was partnered with former San Jose Sharks goalie Devin Cooley on the Milwaukee Admirals.

Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota Wild

If you haven’t been paying attention to Jesper Wallstedt this past season, it’s likely for the best.

A season plagued by inconsistency and injury led to the 2021 20th overall pick cementing the worst season of his professional career, recording an .879 save percentage over 27 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. 

This regression certainly wasn’t what GM Bill Guerin and the Minnesota Wild were expecting from him after extending him earlier that season to a deal worth $4.4 million total through 2026-27.

With the two-year contract extension kicking in this season, and with Marc-Andre Fleury retiring, the team has little choice but to play him so they don’t bury over $1 million in the minors. 

Given his struggles last season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get sheltered minutes to start the year, with the bigger games going to Filip Gustavsson, in the hopes Wallstedt gets back into top shape and confidence. However, playing behind a more structured team, such as Minnesota, might just be what he needs to get back to the form scouts, pundits and fans alike were praising just a year ago.

Leevi Merilainen, Ottawa Senators

Leevi Merilainen’s rise through the Senators’ depth chart has been seismic. 

He went from a relative unknown in his draft year to a Liiga starter by 20. As of last season, the 22-year-old was able to shut down top teams when called up as the Ottawa Senators faced injuries to goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg. He recorded an 8-3-1 record, 1.99 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 12 games.

With Forsberg heading to the Los Angeles Kings in free agency, Merilainen will have the opportunity to get those guaranteed minutes. If he can continue to suppress the high-flying offenses of playoff teams in 2025-26, he may finish the season with a workload closer to a tandem goaltender than a backup.

Jet Greaves, Columbus Blue Jackets

When undrafted six-foot goaltender Jet Greaves was called up to the Columbus Blue Jackets for nine games in 2023-24, fans were pleasantly surprised that the underdog put up a respectable .908 save percentage despite a 3-6-0 record. 

Greaves’ 11-game stint in 2024-25, when he went 7-2-2 while posting a .938 SP, 1.91 GAA and two shutouts, showed there might actually be something there.

The Blue Jackets decided to give the kid from Cambridge, Ont., a shot, as he’ll look to back up six-year NHL veteran Elvis Merzlikins. With Merzlikins only averaging an .890 save percentage over the past three seasons, Greaves’ role may expand throughout the season if he continues to perform well.

Could The Penguins' Arturs Silovs Become The Next Dominik Hasek?How's that for a headline, eh? When the Vancouver Canuckstraded 24-year-old Arturs Silovs to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday for a fourth-round pick and a middling prospect in Chase Stillman, they did so with their fingers crossed that he won't make them look ridiculous.

Arturs Silovs, Pittsburgh Penguins

Arturs Silovs’ 2024-25 season was as up and down as they come. 

Across 10 games with the Vancouver Canucks, he looked far from NHL-ready, sporting a dismal .861 save percentage with a 2-6-1 record. 

In the AHL, however, the playoff MVP led the Abbotsford Canucks to a Calder Cup win with a .931 save percentage across 24 games.

A move to the Pittsburgh Penguins has opened up another opportunity for NHL minutes, but it won't come easily. 

Silovs will have to battle 2020 second-round pick Joel Blomqvist for those backup minutes behind Tristan Jarry. 

The edge should go to Silovs. While Blomqvist’s .885 SP over 15 games last season was better, Silovs would have to pass through waivers if the Penguins want to assign him to the AHL, while Blomqvist wouldn’t. 

Given the added stakes of being waiver-eligible for the first time, this is a make-or-break season for Silovs on whether the 25-year-old netminder can finally put it all together and become an NHL regular.

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