{"id":482116,"date":"2026-10-01T23:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/482116\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T23:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:40:08","slug":"san-jose-sharks-sam-dickinson-scratched-for-game-vs-florida-panthers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/482116\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ Sam Dickinson scratched for game vs. Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2013 During the 2025-26 season, second-year Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson played nearly every game over the final four months<\/a>, and forward Ty Dellandrea was almost always in the lineup when he was healthy.<\/a><\/p>\n

That was then. With increased competition<\/a> across the Sharks roster, things are a bit different for those two right now, at least to start.<\/a><\/p>\n

Both Dickinson, 20, and Dellandrea, 26, were healthy scratches for the Sharks\u2019 season-opening game against the Florida Panthers<\/a> on Thursday night at SAP Center, as San Jose\u2019s revamped lineup featured five players \u2014 three defensemen and two forwards \u2014 who weren\u2019t in the organization last season.<\/p>\n

That improved depth, at least on paper, is a big reason why the Sharks are expected to compete for a playoff spot this season. But it\u2019ll also mean some hard choices are ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s good depth, and there\u2019s good competition,\u201d Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about it all camp from our back end to up front; there are tough decisions that we have to make as coaches, and we\u2019ll continue to work with the players that aren\u2019t playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickinson, a left-shot defenseman drafted 11th overall in 2024,<\/a> began training camp in a top-four role alongside veteran Jacob Trouba. But in the second half of camp, Nolan Allan, now entering his fourth pro season, took Dickinson\u2019s spot, impressing with his steady play and a physical style.<\/a><\/p>\n

With newcomers Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring forming one pair and veteran Dmitry Orlov and power-play quarterback Luca Cagnoni on the other, Dickinson is, for now, the seventh defenseman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t worry about the lineup or anything like that. I just try to focus on myself and my game,\u201d said Dickinson, who was last healthy scratched on Feb. 4 of last season when the Sharks played the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. \u201cI want to play, and I want to play every game, and I want to play a lot of minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warsofsky wouldn\u2019t get into specifics about what Dickinson, who played 72 games as a rookie last season, needs to improve. Dickinson, though, was more forthright.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to be active with my stick, close space quick, force turnovers and get going the other way,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody knows you want the puck in the slot to score goals. So I think not just throwing it in there as much as possible, but find the right times, moving myself to create lanes for passes and just being good with those short, tricky passes where maybe you\u2019ve got to go through a stick or through a pair of skates or over a stick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickinson also felt his decision-making has improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a big thing for me was knowing the times to go and be aggressive and get the puck, and also when to stay back a little and be a little more patient and calm, and wait for opportunities to present themselves to go get the puck,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cThat was a big thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warsofsky felt, and Dickinson agreed, that the Sharks\u2019 final preseason game<\/a> against the Vegas Golden Knights last Saturday was the best he looked during camp, as he moved his feet, defended hard and played well within the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it was steady growth from start to finish,\u201d Dickinson said of his camp. \u201cI\u2019m here now and just kind of looking forward to the next little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warsofsky said Dickinson has some areas \u201cwe want him to work on, and there\u2019s some things that he does a really good job of, and (there are reasons) why he was drafted where he was, and the career that he had in junior. It takes a little bit of time to get up to speed in the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always say the best players are the most confident players, so we\u2019re going to continue to work on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickinson could be back in the lineup soon, as the Sharks host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday before they play Dallas and St. Louis early next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the last guy who needs to go out there and really find motivation,\u201d Dickinson said of the increased competition for lineup spots. \u201cI think it\u2019s always there for me. I always want to be the best. I always want to be on the best teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dellandrea was signed to a two-year, $3.25 million contract extension on March 13, less than eight weeks before the Sharks unexpectedly won the No. 2 overall selection in the NHL draft lottery.<\/p>\n

The Sharks in June took Ivar Stenberg with the pick, and the Swedish-born winger made his NHL debut Thursday in a middle-six role on a line with right wing Collin Graf and center Alexander Wennberg.<\/p>\n

With Stenberg and Mason Marchment in top-nine roles, and a crash-and-bang fourth line with center Zack Ostapchuk and wingers Barclay Goodrow and Kiefer Sherwood, there isn\u2019t room right now for the right-shot Dellandrea, who, when healthy last season, was solid on faceoffs and one of the team\u2019s top penalty killers.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Dellandrea) had a good camp. He\u2019s progressing nicely,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cFocus on today, that\u2019s what I\u2019ve told all the guys that aren\u2019t playing. Just focus on today and don\u2019t get too wrapped up in what\u2019s a week away, two weeks away, the outside noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

GAUDETTE UPDATE<\/p>\n

Forward Adam Gaudette, who was sixth on the Sharks last season with 17 goals, took another step toward a return Thursday after the morning skate, joining Dickinson, Dellandrea and Leason on the ice. Gaudette began the season on injured reserve with an upper body ailment and is eligible to be activated early next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2013 During the 2025-26 season, second-year Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson played nearly every game over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[401,402,181,404,88,90,89,98,403,94685,127],"class_list":["post-482116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-hockey","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nhl","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sharks-alert","tag-social-alert","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}