SAN JOSE – Training camp will look and feel a lot different for the San Jose Sharks – and every other NHL team – once it gets underway on Thursday.

The Sharks will have much less practice time than before, and instead of playing six preseason games as they have in recent years, they’ll play – thanks to the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement – just four times over seven days from Sunday to Sept. 26 before camp ends.

That means fewer chances for those on the roster bubble to make an impact, and for the team, which has several new faces, to get on the same page and fix its biggest issue from 2025-26.

Last season, the Sharks ranked 30th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.54) and tied for 28th in 5-on-5 goals against (190). San Jose missed the playoffs by four points last season and might have qualified had they kept the puck out of their net more often.

Fixing that problem will be coach Ryan Warsofsky’s top priority, and to do that, he and the Sharks probably need to cut the camp roster to a manageable number sooner rather than later.

After all, with days off mixed in, the Sharks will have less than two weeks to implement any system changes before their season-opener on Oct. 1 against the Florida Panthers.

“I think we really have to take pride in our defense,” Sharks center Macklin Celebrini said last month. “I think we have enough talent to score and produce offense.

“But that’s going to be a big thing for us if we want to make the playoffs and take the steps that we want to take, is to limit some of those mental errors and defend as hard as we can.”

Barring injuries, the Sharks’ forward group looks mostly set for the season, but questions remain about goaltending and the defense corps.

Here’s a look at the team.

FORWARDS

LOCKS: Macklin Celebrini, Ty Dellandrea, Adam Gaudette, Barclay Goodrow, Collin Graf, Mason Marchment, Michael Misa, Zack Ostapchuk, Kiefer Sherwood, Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg.

IN THE MIX: Igor Chernyshov, Ivar Stenberg, Brett Leason.

LONGSHOTS: Andre Barre-Boulet, Filip Bystedt, Ethan Cardwell, Tye Felhaber, Andre Gasseau, Patrick Giles, Jimmy Huntington, Cam Lund, Quentin Musty, Carson Wetsch.

OUTLOOK: This appears to be the deepest forward group the Sharks have had since they last made the playoffs in 2019. With the additions of Marchment and Stenberg, Warsofsky has several different deployment options for his top nine. During the season, good players will be healthy scratched.

Some Sharks fans might not want to see Dellandrea in the locks category, but he’s just starting a new two-year, $3.25 million deal. He earned Warsofsky’s trust last season before an injury forced him out of the lineup for three months. He also kills penalties and is one of the few forwards who can take faceoffs on the right side.

It would be a surprise to not see Chernyshov and Stenberg on the Sharks’ 23-man roster to start the season. But both are waivers exempt, and the door may be slightly ajar for another winger to crack the roster if they shine in camp. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Leason spent most of last season in the AHL but has played 226 NHL games.

A big question in camp is who will start the season on Celebrini’s line. Smith is a likely candidate, but the other wing still needs to be decided.

DEFENSEMEN

LOCKS: Sam Dickinson, Michael Kesselring, Darnell Nurse, Dmitry Orlov, Jacob Trouba.

IN THE MIX: Nolan Allen, Luca Cagnoni, Eric Pohlkamp.

LONGSHOTS: Libor Hajek, Mattias Havelid, Phillip Sinn, Leo Sahlin-Wallenius.

OUTLOOK: The defense corps has undergone an extreme makeover since last season, as Kesselring, Nurse, and Trouba replaced Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy and Vincent Desharnais. The sizeable additions should add some bite and improve the team’s transition game.

But the question remains whether the Sharks have a true top shutdown pair. Trouba will likely fill that role on the right side, but will it be Nurse or Orlov on the left side? Kesselring also gets a fresh start in San Jose after an injury-plagued 2025-26 in Buffalo, and the Sharks hope Dickinson can take a step forward in his second year.

One of camp’s biggest competitions will be determining the sixth and seventh defensemen. The 5-foot-9 Cagnoni got a taste of the NHL each of the past two seasons and appears to have an inside track to a job with the Sharks. Allen is no longer waivers-exempt, and if the Sharks do not want to risk losing him, he could be an option as a No. 6 or 7 after a solid AHL season.

Pohlkamp played well at the Rookie Faceoff but has only one game of pro experience, while Hajek played 110 NHL games before spending the last three seasons in the Czech league.

GOALTENDING

LOCKS: Yaroslav Askarov, Alex Nedeljkovic.

IN THE MIX: Eric Comrie.

LONGSHOTS: Kyle Keyser, Ilya Samsonov.

OUTLOOK: It’s an 84-game regular season, and injuries happen, so it was probably smart for the Sharks to bring in Comrie on a two-year deal. That said, barring something unforeseen, Askarov and Nedeljkovic will be the team’s tandem to start the season.

For the Sharks to make the playoffs, Askarov has to take a step forward after his traditional stats and advanced metrics were not the best as a rookie. Nedeljkovic had a solid season and is entering the first year of a new two-year, $6 million deal.

Could the Sharks keep three goalies to start the season? It’s possible, but that would mean keeping one fewer defenseman or forward. More than likely, Comrie and Samsonov will be placed on waivers when the time is right.