San Jose’s WORST-CASE Scenarios For The 2025-26 Season | Worried About Goaltending Depth?

San Jose’s WORST-CASE Scenarios For The 2025-26 Season | Worried About Goaltending Depth?

While the future is teal, what are the worst case scenarios for the San Jose Sharks heading into the season? You’re Locked on Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello, welcome to Locked on Sharks, the premier hockey podcast covering your favorite team in the Bay Area. My name is JD Young, caretaker at the Reef, also the co-host of Locked on NHL. I want to thank you for making the Lockdown Sharks your first listen, proudly part of the Lockdown Network. We cover your team every day. And if you want to be an everyday, all you have to do just follow along wherever you get podcast. And of course, you can watch on YouTube as well. And today we’re going to be examining three worstcase scenarios for the San Jose Sharks uh as they enter into this season. Uh we’re going to be looking at goending disaster if the offense can’t take the next step. If the blue line, especially the new faces, just aren’t up to task and why these would all be part of a worstc case scenario for the San Jose Shark. So, before we get to all that, do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Uh, right now, new customers, uh, if you download the FanDuel app, uh, by visiting fanduel.com and you’ll win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So worst case scenarios and like the the like worst worst case is like season ending like injuries to your start like I’m not going to like if Celebrity blows out his knee you know knock on wood uh whatever you want to do like is something like that right absolutely worst case scenario is something like that like a career uh like those those are the worst case that’s what we’re not going to focus on because if any of those things happens Yes, that that’s your word. Like an injury like that where it like knocks a player out for the season or it’s one of those like where it drastically alters a player’s career. That’s what we’re focusing on. We’re focusing more on, you know, on ice product. And, you know, if things that we expect to happen don’t happen. And I think there’s no better place to start than Yarlav Asgarov who Ascrov right the Sharks have um been kind of working towards this moment over the past year to put Ascrov in place to kind to be their next goalie of the now as well as goalie of the future. Right. And they gave up a lot to get him right. first round pick um a first round prospect in David Edstrom that you received both those pieces you received in the totem hurdle trade um from the Vegas Golden Knights and you turn around you flip them for Ascrov who has been you know if you look at basically every goalending list right now he is the guy when it comes to guys who are like the best goalie who’s not in the NHL is Yarlav right and the Sharks are I don’t want to say they’re putting a lot of eggs in an Ascarov basket, but like they are banking on and hoping and you know kind of expecting Ascrov to be the guy, right? And this is not to say I don’t think Ascarov is going to be the guy who again we were looking at worstc case scenarios for this season, but what if Askov isn’t the guy, right? And we saw last year he played very well with the San Jose Barracuda, but he struggled with injuries, right? Um the hope is he can stay healthy this year. Again, not try trying not to focus on injuries, but a guy who did struggle to stay healthy last year, even from the moment he got here, right? Dealt with a little bit of an injury in training camp. um played very well the first half of the season, got a little nicked up when he after getting called up to the NHL, missed about six weeks when he got uh sent back down to the AHL and made it back in time to have a very good playoff run, right? But there was definitely some ups and downs and and during that, especially that middle part of the season when he was dealing with injuries. And yes, the Sharks went out and they traded for Alexandelkovich, but there’s not like a a third dude that you feel super comfortable with, right? Uh they signed Jacob Scarrick um who played with the uh the in the Islanders organization and has a whopping two games, right? Two game NHL games under his belt. So, it’s not like the Sharks have a backup plan for if Ascarov can’t stay healthy, but assuming he stays healthy, what if Ascrov just isn’t the guy, right? Or what if it’s, you know, and again, he’s a a going to be a rookie playing through his first full season in the NHL. Um, he’s going to have ups and downs, right? And you you saw that last year, right? And even in his 13 games in the NHL last year where you saw plenty of ups, like plenty of great plays, plenty of reasons to believe why you think he’s going to be the guy, but you also saw some young player mistakes, especially when it comes to kind of, you know, handling the puck, etc., etc. Um, and he said it himself, right? Sometimes good, sometimes uh poop. He didn’t say poop. I can’t say it, but you know what he said. Um, like he’s going to have these moments, right? That that’s again every young player. But if if Ascrov struggles this season, especially behind a defense who we’ll talk about later, which feels a little patchworky, right? Yes, they they went out and acquired some veteran people, but we’re, you know, we’re going to be you’re banking on a lot of those guys to kind of either return to form or hang on, right? And you look at the Barracuda defense, which was much better, like was excellent, last year, right? You they went out and they got Jimmy Schultz, uh, who was one of the best defensive defenseman in the AHL. Uh, you got Lucas Carlson, who’s great at generating offense. You had Muka McDulan, who a player, right, who was kind of expected to be in the NHL, but because of his injury, kind of pushed that back for half a season. Uh you had Luca Canyone who had one of the best seasons by a defenseman last year in the AHL as a 1920year-old right I think he was second in scoring as a defenseman if I rec he was like second or third like but just an insane scoring and you know production from him um like the Barracuda defense was was extremely good last year like extremely good defense and yes was amazing for or the Barracuda, but this is going to be a different level, right? I mean, jumping up to the NHL, the def the Sharks defense is nowhere near as good as the Barracudas was in rel and you know, relative to the league that they’re playing in. So, you’re going to have more question marks about what Ascrov is is going to do. And again, like I think Ascarov is gonna have a great season, but we’re looking at worst case scenarios. And what if is isn’t an improvement on Gorgiev or isn’t an improvement on you know VTEC Vanichek and comes nowhere close to touching what McKenzie Blackwood did last year and you know yes I know he signed for only two years at $2 million so you can kind of go into next off season and right you still have him signed for another year and you can kind of see what happens but then you are going to be in the market for uh you know a a starter like a guy who can play 50 games a season for a team that we’re again we’re expecting to you know especially in the 26 27 season start to take a big jump with all this young talent and you’re just have a big question mark at goal and we we’ve we see teams all the time right you have all the talent in the world and if the goalending is holding you back right you’re you’re as good as as your goalending sometimes so I think that’s That’s the big like out of everything that we’re going to talk about, this is I think the worst case scenario is if the goalending is just is doesn’t improve in any way, shape or form and most of it being because of Ascarov, right? Um because what like how much you’ve invested in Asgar and you know a a first round pick and a you know first round prospect from you know uh like a couple drafts ago like you invested a lot in a player who was supposed to be basically NHL ready and you know the Sharks were very I careful is the right word but they wanted to let him marinate a little bit more and yes he got a taste of NHL games last year and he played really well, for the most part in those games. But, um, you know, it it would just be one of those things where it like your investment would feel like it’s just going south, you know, basically a year into it or, you know, in part or I guess in into year two of it. So I think that’s the worst worst case scenario like no matter what else happens if the offense can’t take a step if the blue line struggles but if Ascrov and you know Nadulkovich to you know a smaller degree if they can’t be an improvement on what we saw last year I think that’s your absolute worst case scenario because you’re just in the same spot and I think Ascrov and Celibbrini are big reasons why the Sharks aren’t going to be um the leaders in the clubhouse when it comes to the McKenna race. So, uh we’re going to talk about the offense and CBrini and Will Smith and all these uh all these guys and if they maybe can’t take that next step, uh why again another worst case scenario for the San Jose Sharks. So, we’ll talk about that here in just one second. The NFL season is almost here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. If your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel because it you can fit however you like to play. If you want to do kind of like player props, which are always super fun, right? Uh it’s fun to watch players do cool things. If you want to build a same game parlay, if you’re feeling confident, uh I’m feeling very confident about my Dolphins over the Colts this weekend. Hint hint. Um, it’s quick, it’s easy, it’s the best way to add a little bit of energy to Sundays. Uh, so if you’re ready to play, download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, before we continue, do of course want to thank you for making Locked on Sharks your first listen. If you haven’t yet, perfect time to subscribe. Uh, we are back to five shows a week starting next week, even though you’re probably getting five shows a week this week. Um, plus we have rookie faceoff, we have preseason games, uh, plenty of great stuff here at Locked on Sharks. So, make sure you’re following along uh, wherever you get podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. All right, second worst case scenario. again kind of how I expect these, you know, which ones I think. And I think the second one is if the offense continues to be among the absolute worst worst in the NHL, right? Worst team last year when it came to scoring goals. Um, second to last the year before, I think the Chicago Blackhawks saving them. Um, if the offense can’t take a step, and again, I’m not expecting this offense to be like a top 10 offense or anything like that, but like pulling yourself off the mat, especially with how much the Sharks have invested in the forward department, right? Melbourne, first overall pick. Will Smith fourth overall pick. Um, you William Ecklund, seventh overall pick, Michael Misa, second overall pick. Like those are homegrown talents. said yes. Three of those guys I just mentioned are 20 and under, but we saw especially the second half of the season last year, right? Especially when Will Smith started to figure things out where you could see the offense start to generate more games, right? And you especially you point to that game against the Wild where the Will Smith hatt-trick or Will or Ma celebrity hattick game and Will Smith like the five and four point games from both those guys like you saw opportunities and you saw moments where this like you saw pieces of the future of why we expect this team to be a juggernaut offensively because of Celbrini and Smith and Ekkund and now Misa. Uh, you know, and then you went out and you got some veterans like Jeff Skinner, um, you know, Kurichev who has been a 50-point guy before, Godet, who scored 20 goals last year. Like you have more you you you’re hoping to see more one internal growth from the offense. Um, and two, some more depth, especially in the middle six, right? I know you know Miguel Granling was a huge part of it and Fabian Zetelin who you traded away and right you can argue easily argue that you could have just kept those guys right but still like you are hoping that it is Misa and Celibbrini and Smith and Ekan start leading the way for these guys. we’ve seen a lot of of reasons to believe that they should have taken a jump, right? And if you go from the worst scoring team in the NHL to like the 20th. So, um I’m trying to pull this up here on the fly, but like that would be that would be a huge jump for a team that right, you’re trying to take some pressure off your goalending, you’re trying to take some pressure off your defense, which was under duress, especially the past two seasons. um like having a a team that can like score some more and not just struggle um to score goals on a a nightly basis. So the the Sharks scored 208 goals, right? Even if you had like 30 goals over 82 game season, 30 goals, that puts you up at 22 20 compared to like the Detroit Red Wings last year had 235 goals. Uh the Utah Hockey Club now Mammoth hit 240. They were at 2122. So if you you add 30 goals to your 208 and yes 30 goals that’s again right CBrini fully healthy like is there there there’s there’s a very easy world where we could be talking about Celibbrini pushing for 40 goals right Will Smith pushing for 30 goals ekan over the 20 goal mark um you know Jeff Skinner returns to form and can be a 25 goals to score you know Tyler’s portfolio is a walking 30 goals, right? Like all these guy just couple here, a couple there from each of these guys here, you know, and again like if Cabrini makes a big jump, that’s like almost half those 30 goals, right? From 25 to 30, 25 to to pushing to 40, that’s 15 goals. That’s a big jump, massive jump. But if these guys stay stagnant, right, and you and they’re kind of putting up the same amount of offense that they did last year, and yes, hopefully the goalending is improving, but um and yes, defense wins championships, but you can’t win every game two to one, right? And you you cannot ask to be, you know, hey, you can’t give up more than one because our offense just cannot generate more than two goals a game, right? And that is I think the second worst case scenario is just the offense doesn’t take a jump, you know, and two and a half goals last year. That’s what they scored. 2.54. If you can get closer to that three, yes, three goals puts you at like midway. Uh so the Florida Panthers scored exactly three goals a game last year and they were 15th in the league. If you can just even again if you’re in the 28 high 28s high 29s or low 29s that’s a massive improvement and hopefully you’re not giving up as many goals. Uh, but I think though like trying to rely on this offense to like just going out there and saying the goalending is going to get better but the offense stays stagnant I think is your second worst case scenario because again with how much you have put into forward resources right again Celibbrini Smith Ecklan and you know expecting Misa to make this team or like it’s it’s all but sign the the contract at this point basically. um having having the offense be stagnant and finish around dead last or near the bottom of the league again and not showing uh some improvement I think would be the second worst case scenario for this team because yeah it just feels like well why do we d like why did you put so much stuff in so many res in here and yes I know these are young guys and there’s a very easy chance that you Will Smith struggles at center. Celbrini, right? You know, as much as we expect a big jump from him, but you know, we it’s we we know development’s not linear, right? And there’s ups and downs with it. And if Celbrrini, we saw Conor Bard, but generational talent, you know, struggled in year two, right? you didn’t see as much production this this past season with him. You know, Ekkan who going into year three now, right? And maybe Ekkin just it’s we want to see him be a 70 point type of player. But right if he’s making plays and his linemates struggle or he’s not put in a position to succeed or he himself can’t score, can’t get over that 20 goal mark. You know, Tyler to Foley takes a step back because of age. Um Jeff Skinner just isn’t that guy anymore. all the other additions that you added just don’t kind of live up to expectations. There’s a very easy world to see where this team just still continues to struggle to score goals. I again, I’m not expecting this team to be a top half of the uh NHL when it comes to offense, but you got to start making some strides. So, we’re going to talk about the blue line. And while I’m this one’s actually the easiest to see happening when it comes to worst case scenarios, this one’s I’m actually not as worried about being a worst case scenario. So, uh, we’ll explain here in just one second. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy use interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. And if you’ve been putting off organizing your finances, Monarch is there for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting. You can link all your accounts in minutes, see clear data visuals, get smart categorization of your spending, and finally feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadshirt spreadsheet. 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All right, finally the third worst case scenario. This one’s actually the easiest to see come like potentially see coming. I think it’s the defense just not jelling or not kind of living up to task. And while this one’s again the most predictable of the three, this one I’m actually not as worried about when it comes to worst case scenarios. And the main reason is because all these guys aren’t going to be here next year. You know, it’s the easiest to kind of fix long term. So, let’s get into it. So, we know, right, the Sharks, they signed Dimmitri Orv to a two-year deal. You signed Jeff Clingberg to a one-year or John Clingberg, sorry, excuse me, to a one-year deal. You claim Nick Ley off of waiverss. Um, you also have Sam Dickinson trying to make the team. We still don’t know more on uh what his situation is with the AHL potential rulings. I know there was a governor meeting today or you know all the important big wigs and stuff. I know the GMs were there. No clarity on that. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those things that we probably don’t find out till like right before uh the season starts as and I know the CHL is worried about it, but uh CHL you’re going to be losing your top players anyway. So, like, sorry guys. Um, but so you’re right. You have all those guys. You have Shakir Mukuman. Expect to be a full-time guy. Um, you have Mario Ferraro and Timothy Luldren. Uh, both coming back, both entering the last year of their deals. You have guys like Jack Thompson who’s going to be pushing. You have Luca Canyone is going to be pushing for a job. But like there’s a lot of moving piece. Oh, and Vinnie Day. Sorry, Mr. Day. Forgot about you as well. But a lot of lot of people and names moving around here, right? And the hope is especially like if you look at the new faces with Clingberg, um with Orlav, with Letty, you hope like realistically you hope like two out of three work out, right? You hope John Clingberg, who has struggled with injuries over the last couple seasons, has been nowhere near the same guy since he left Dallas. Uh Dallas looks very smart for cutting bait when they did. And a guy who’s bounced around on multiple teams and had multiple injuries over that time in Clingberg. You’re hoping he can refine like regain anywhere near his previous form. That’s all to ask. A lot to ask for a guy who again hasn’t really had the production in what five years now, four years now for for Clingberg, right? You’re hoping he can get somewhere close to that. If Demetri or who, you know, we we talked with our our friend Zach from Locked on Hurricanes recently where start to s see some, you know, not the fastest guy. You start to see some kind of cracks in the armor there. It’s kind of losing a step there. Like Warlock’s going to be the guy for the Sharks this year because of right just whoever else. And that that’s a big ask for a guy who’s never who’s always had John Carlson in front of him, uh, Slav in front like he’s always had a, you know, a a top flight defenseman in front of him like his entire career. This is going to be the first time where he is said defenseman, right? Nick Ley, who dealt with injuries all last year, again, kind of looked like he was losing a bit of a step. Um, didn’t seem super happy about how this whole thing progressed and uh turned out and how he ended up with the Sharks for a guy who had no trade clause or no, he had trade protections and the Blues were like, “We’ll just wave you and let the Sharks claim you.” just like we saw with Goodro the year before. Like there’s a very realistic world where he’s just like I don’t want to be here, guys. Like whatever, man. Uh my contract’s done at the end. I don’t mind signing a Vetmin contract the next year and go playing on a a better team type of thing. That’s again, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but it could it could very easily. Madulan, you know, you’re he’s he played very well last year at times. He also made a lot of, you know, mistakes as well. If he’s unable to take a big jump, right, Ferraro, Lilrin, you kind of know what those guys are going to be. If Sam Dickinson, you know, is not NHL ready and has to go back to the OHL next year or like you can see a lot a very logical path for this defense to be horrific again. But again, like it would be a terrible scenario if the defense is really bad again, especially with the again the resources you kind of applied, right? Uh with with the signings that you made to try to improve it. But this one though, like I said, I’m not as worried about it because it’s not like you locked up guys long term. like Orlav’s the only guy who’s expected to be back next year like or who’s signed for next year like you know Sam Dickinson is going to be on the NHL in the 26 27 season right um whether he’s in the AHL or this year or goes to the OHL like I I think Sam Dickinson will be in the NHL the 2627 season um you like Muka Madullan you know probably going to be on the team again next year but if it’s that horrific and he’s not that guy like it’s pretty easy to kind of just move on right and Ferraro both guys who are probably going to be trade fodder at some point uh if not one both potentially could go at some point this this season um same thing with with Clingberg and the same thing with Lety where you know I think Clingberg took this job because he realizes it’s an opportunity to kind of rehabilitate my image and then try to go out somewhere else. And the same thing with Lety, right, where okay, like again, I’m happy to go wave my no trade cost to go play somewhere else because I don’t want to lose a bunch of games here in San Jose. So, while most realistic of the worst case scenarios here is the blue line just isn’t up to task and especially the new faces, this is the one I’m actually least worried about most maybe just most mentally prepared to happen among the other two because I I’m think so highly of Ascrov and what I believe he’s going to the impact he’s going to have on the Sharks and I think him as long as well as Celebrity are going to be the big reasons why the Sharks aren’t in the driver’s seat for the McKenna sweep stakes. Uh so yes, those are I think the three worstc case scenarios for the San Jose Sharks outside of like brutal injury type which would of course be the worst case scenario for San Jose. So uh we’ll be back tomorrow. We’re going to look at the uh best case scenarios for the Sharks, right? Got to have balance. Uh first of all though, shout out Joe Pavvelski getting in the US Hockey Hall of Fame. Uh I like Pavvelk. I really like Pavvelski. I know my former co-host Kyle uh not the biggest Pavvelski fan. Joe Pavvelski is awesome. I don’t care. Like how can you not root for Joe Pavvelski anyway? Shout out to Pavvelski. So uh but we’ll be back uh tomorrow. So make sure you follow along wherever you get podcast. And of course you can watch on YouTube as well. Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram uh and on Tik Tok all at locked on Sharks. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Skyfry Hole. Till tomorrow. Bye friends.

The San Jose Sharks face a potential perfect storm of setbacks this season. This episode explores three worst-case scenarios that could derail the Sharks’ progress.

Goaltending woes take center stage as we analyze the high-stakes gamble on Yaroslav Askarov. Will the young netminder live up to expectations, or could his struggles leave the Sharks exposed? The offensive drought that’s plagued San Jose in recent years comes under scrutiny next. Can Will Smith, William Eklund, and Michael Misa inject much-needed firepower, or will scoring remain elusive?

Defensive concerns round out the trifecta of potential pitfalls. We examine how newcomers like Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg might impact the blue line. Could injuries or underperformance from these additions leave the Sharks vulnerable?

Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing San Jose and how they could shape the team’s fortunes in the upcoming NHL season.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro: Worst case scenarios for San Jose Sharks

3:34 Goaltending concerns with Yaroslav Askarov

10:15 FanDuel sponsorship and NFL betting offer

11:47 Offensive struggles and potential improvements

19:58 Monarch Money personal finance tool sponsorship

21:59 Defense uncertainties and roster changes

29:09 Joe Pavelski elected to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

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