SAN JOSE – Two and likely three players expected to be with the Sharks for the start of the regular season are on San Jose’s loaded roster for next week’s Rookie Faceoff at Tech CU Arena and Sharks Ice.

Center Michael Misa and wingers Igor Chernyshov and Ivar Stenberg, all players with viable paths toward NHL jobs out of this month’s training camp, help headline the Sharks’ roster, which features 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies.

So why are Misa and Chernyshov, who have NHL experience, playing in a “rookie” event, while defenseman Luca Cagnoni, who has also spent time with the Sharks and remains on his entry-level contract, remains out?

The Sharks’ general guideline for participating in the rookie faceoffs is that it is for players with 100 games of NHL or AHL experience or less. Misa and Chernyshov, still 19 and 20, respectively, have not met that threshold, while Cagnoni, 21, has played 140 combined regular-season games in the AHL and NHL.

Chernyshov, taken 33rd overall in the 2024 draft, had 19 points in 28 games with the Sharks last season as he split time between the NHL and AHL. Misa, the second overall pick in the 2025 draft, had 21 points in 45 games for the Sharks last season and projects to be the team’s second or third line center this year.

There are exceptions to these guidelines, of course.

Forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith and defenseman Sam Dickinson all played fewer than 100 games with the Sharks during their respective rookie seasons, but spent the entire year in the NHL and had little to gain by playing in a rookie event.

Conversely, center Filip Bystedt, who is on the Sharks’ rookie roster for the third straight year, has played in 123 games with the Barracuda over two-plus seasons and has yet to make his NHL debut. Also, with just 14 forwards, the Sharks might have needed some extra players just to dress for their two games, perhaps similar to why Collin Graf was on last year’s rookie team.

Bystedt is just one of the early-round draft picks on this year’s Sharks’ rookie roster.

Chernyshov, taken 33rd overall in the 2024 draft, had 19 points in 28 games with the Sharks last season as he split time between the NHL and AHL. Misa, the second overall pick in the 2025 draft, had 21 points in 45 games for the Sharks last season and projects to be the team’s second or third line center this year.

Stenberg, the No. 2 overall pick this year, competed in the Swedish Hockey League full-time last season with Frolunda HC and had 33 points in 43 games. That was the fifth-most points by a player 18 years old or younger in the league’s history, leading many to believe Stenberg is not only ready to make the jump to the NHL, but he could also be a Calder Trophy candidate as the league’s best rookie. He turns 19 on Sept. 30.

The Sharks’ team faces Los Angeles on Sept. 12 and Utah on Sept. 13. Both games are at 5 p.m. at Tech CU Arena. It is unclear whether Misa, Chernyshov and Stenberg will play both games or just one.

Quentin Musty, a 2023 first-round pick, had 45 points in 61 games with the Barracuda. This is the fourth straight year that he has been on the Sharks’ roster for this event. Cam Lund, who had 25 points in 37 games last season with the Barracuda before an injury in February ended his year, is also on the roster.

With a shorter training camp that includes just four preseason games set to begin in roughly two weeks, Bystedt, Musty and Lund would really need to stand out this month to have a shot of cracking the Sharks’ opening night roster. The Sharks’ first regular season game is on Oct. 1 at home against the Florida Panthers.

The Sharks’ defense is led by draft picks Leo Sahlin-Wallenius, Eric Pohlkamp, Mattias Havelid and Alexander Karmanov, the 7-foot-1, 275-pounder taken in the seventh round this past year. Sahlin-Wallenius, Pohlkamp, and Havelid have a shot at cracking the Sharks roster but might be more likely to start the season with the Barracuda.

This is the first full season of North American pro hockey for Sahlin-Wallenius, who was in Sweden last year, and Pohlkamp, who helped the University of Denver win an NCAA Division I title and was named a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

The Sharks goaltenders are Brady Knowling, a fourth-round pick this year, Matt Davis, a 2025 free agent signing who spent most of last season with Wichita of the ECHL, and Arizona State alum Connor Hasley.

Sharks roster

Forwards — Jordan Bax, Filip Bystedt, Igor Chernyshov, Aurelio Garcia, Andre Gasseau, Jake Gustafson, Brendan Hoffmann, Connor Lockhart, Cam Lund, Pavel Martinu, Michael Misa, Quentin Musty, Ivar Stenberg, Carson Wetsch.

Defensemen — Jake Boltmann, Mattias Havelid, Alexander Karmanov, Thomas Messineo, Mack Oliphant, Eric Pohlkamp, Leo Sahlin-Wallenius, Tristan Sarsland, Phillip Sinn.

Goalies — Matt Davis, Connor Hasley, Brady Knowling.

Rookie Faceoff schedule

Sept. 12

Colorado vs. Anaheim, 1 p.m., Tech CU Arena

Utah vs. Vegas, 3 p.m., Orange Rink, Sharks Ice

San Jose vs. Los Angeles, 5 p.m., Tech CU Arena

Sept. 13 

Vegas vs. Colorado, 1 p.m., Tech CU Arena

Anaheim vs. Los Angeles, 3 p.m., Orange Rink

San Jose vs. Utah, 5 p.m., Tech CU Arena

Sept. 15

Utah vs. Los Angeles, 1 p.m., Orange Rink