SAN JOSE – Before the Sharks played the Anaheim Ducks in their first preseason game Sunday afternoon, most of the players who will actually be on San Jose’s NHL roster to start the year stayed back to work at the team’s practice facility.
Along with individual and 2-on-1 rushes and some contract drills below the faceoff dots, the Sharks also spent considerable time on special teams, offering a glimpse of two new-look power-play units.
With a team day off on Monday, the Sharks wanted their NHL group to build cohesiveness and connectivity on the power play and penalty kill before their next preseason game at home on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“With having the majority of our veteran group here,” Sharks assistant coach Brian Wiseman told Bay Area News Group on Sunday, “we wanted to take advantage of that.”
The top power-play unit featured forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on the flanks, defenseman Luca Cagnoni on the point, center Alexander Wennberg at the net front, and Igor Chernyshov in the bumper position.
The second power-play unit also had some new faces, with Ivar Stenberg on one flank and Mason Marchment at the net front. Also out there were Michael Misa on the right flank, Tyler Toffoli at the bumper, and Dmitry Orlov on the point.
The Sharks’ power play rose from 26th in the NHL (18.6%) in 2024-25 to 16th last season at 21.2%.
That’s relevant because nine of the top 10 teams in power-play percentage in 2025-26 made the playoffs, with the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes fourth in the NHL at 24.9% and the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights sixth at 24.6%.
Wiseman said the Sharks’ power play must take another step.
“If you look at a lot of the successful penalty kills or power plays that are at the top of the league year after year, they’ve been together for a couple, three years, four years,” Wiseman said. “So we’re trying to build that cohesiveness with this group, with our 10, 11, 12 guys that we have, so that we can take some significant strides.”
Chernyshov and Cagnoni are additions to the top unit. While Cagnoni did not have a point in three games with the Sharks at the end of last season, three of Chernyshov’s nine goals in 27 NHL games last season came on the man advantage.
Sunday, Chernyshov spent a little extra time after practice working on one-timers from near the hash marks, firing pucks off passes from development coach Mike Ricci.
“His game is growing just from an individual standpoint, and so we want to give him a good look here,” Wiseman said of Chernyshov. “At least today we did, and as we move forward, we’ll see how it all plays out with the remainder of the guys and how the units look.
“But he certainly did a good job for us last year as a young kid coming into this league.”
Stenberg is still getting used to the smaller North American-sized ice. But he has enough talent and experience playing against seasoned professionals in the Swedish Hockey League that the Sharks aren’t worried about him taking a long time to adjust to the power play.
“He’s done a heck of a job where he came from in Sweden in the men’s league of scoring in those situations, specifically on the power play side, and so we’re excited to add him to the group,” Wiseman said. “For me, as a power play coach, those are the kinds of guys you love to work with. He’s a highly intelligent player. He’s a competitive player, and he’s certainly highly skilled.”
The Sharks’ penalty-killing group included forward Collin Graf and Barclay Goodrow, and defensemen Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba. The Sharks’ penalty kill finished in the NHL last season at 76.4%