The San Jose Sharks have not made the playoffs since the 2018-19 season, but hopes are high for the team. The Sharks have young talent primed to break out, led by Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini led the franchise in 2024-25, but the Sharks will have a different X-factor in 2025-26.
Based on wins and losses, the Sharks did not make much improvement in 2024-25. The team finished 20-50-12, sitting with just 52 points. That was only a five-point improvement over 2023-24, and an eighth-place finish in the Pacific Division. Still, the team scored 29 more goals in the regular season, while allowing 16 fewer goals.
Rookie forward Celebrini was also a star for the team. He found the back of the net 25 times while adding 38 assists in 70 games. He led the team in points, while also sitting second on the team in both goals and assists during the season. The 19-year-old has already shown to be a future major player for the franchise, but as the team looks to improve in 2025-26, it is another young star that will lead the way.
Yaroslav Askarov will play a major role in 2025-26
With the No. 11 overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, the Nashville Predators selected Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. After finishing his time in the KHL, he moved to the Predators' AHL club in 2022-23. That same season, he made his first NHL appearance, taking a loss in his only game. The netminder played in two games in the 2023-24 season before being traded ahead of the 2024-25 season to the San Jose Sharks.
Last season, Askarov saw time in the cage for the Sharks, but also sat behind Alexander Georgiev, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Vitek Vanecek. The Russian played in 13 games, going 4-6-2 with a 3.10 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. All three of those goaltenders are now gone, and the only other netminder on the roster is Alex Nedeljkovic.
This means Askarov should see plenty of time tending the twine for the Sharks this season. While he has yet to show much at the NHL level, he was amazing in his time in the KHL. During his KHL career, he had a 1.48 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. He should get the chance to show he is ready to be the primary goaltender for the team this year.
At just 23 years old, he is the future in the net for the Sharks. While the goalie could break out in 2025-26, unless the Sharks can find a way to score more goals, it will not matter. That is where this year's X-factor comes into play.
Will Smith in the X-factor for the Sharks
With the fourth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, the San Jose Sharks selected Will Smith, an American center. Smith played the 2023-24 campaign at Boston College, lighting the lamp 25 times while adding 46 assists in the season. That was good for 1.73 points per game in the season. He then made the NHL roster out of camp in 2024-25. Smith and Celebrini formed a solid rookie tandem for the Sharks last season.
Smith beat the goaltender 18 times while adding 27 helpers in his rookie campaign, good for 45 total points. He is now projected to be on the top line once again with Celebrini, while being joined by Philipp Kurashev. He will also be on the top powerplay unit for the Sharks this upcoming season.
The end of this past season showed that Smith could be a point-per-game player in the NHL. In the 25 games he played in after the 4-Nations break, Smith chipped in ten goals while adding 12 assists. That is 23 points in his final 25 games. The 23-point total is good for .92 points per game, and projects to 75 points over an 82-game season.
Smith will take another step forward this year and will get that rate to a point per game. His advanced statistics show that. His individual point percentage nearly doubled after the 4-Nations break. Meanwhile, he created more high-danger scoring chances and converted on more of those chances in the final third of the season.
The breakout of Smith coincided with the team playing better as well. Before the 4-Nations break, the Sharks were 15-35-7. That is a point percentage of just 32.5 percent. From February 23rd through March 27th, the team went 5-6-2. In that time, Smith scored 14 points in 13 games. The success of the young forward is vital to the Sharks' success. When he was averaging a point per game, the team played at a pace that would have given them 76 points in the regular season. While that would not be enough to make the playoffs, it would not have been the worst in the NHL. If San Jose is going to get out of the basement in the NHL, it starts with Smith.
