The Sharks have a lot of eyes on them to start the 2026-27 NHL season. After extending their franchise superstar Macklin Celebrini, expectations are high for a team that hasn’t made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2019.
With a bunch of returning personalities, the team camaraderie is at an all-time high. Whether that chemistry will translate onto the ice remains to be seen.
“Going into last year, there weren’t as many outside expectations,” right wing Collin Graf told NBC Sports California’s Natalie Noury at Sharks Media Day. “I think that now everyone is looking towards the playoffs, and that’s our goal in the locker room, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Graf has been influential in the rebuild over the last three seasons. Graf has 26 goals in 121 games played, and looks to build on an already impressive career.
Coach Ryan Warsofsky has proven he is the best fit for guiding this young team. Warsofsky agreed to a multi-year contract extension on the first day of training camp, before his third season at the helm.
“There are certainly things that we need to do better than we did last year,” Warsofsky admitted to Noury. “We’re going to stick to our process and be where our feet are.”
Celebrini is on his way to becoming the face of the NHL after putting up unreal numbers in his first two seasons. The 20-year-old already has 70 goals and 108 assists in his young career.
“We all have the same goal in mind, which is to make the playoffs,” Celebrini told Noury. “We’ve been out of it for the last seven years, so our whole group is motivated to get back there.”
The Sharks were four points out of a wild-card spot last season. Celebrini and company want to solidify their spot in the West, so it doesn’t have to come down to needing help from other teams when making the postseason.
“I think we just have to be ready to go,” center Will Smith told Noury. “We struggled at the start of the year … that can ruin the first month. The first five games are big, but we’ve got to worry about the first one.”
If the Sharks can come out hot and make a statement to the league, there’s no telling how far this team can go once the playoffs roll around.