Rise of the San Jose Sharks

Rise of the San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are in the midst of their longest playoff drought in franchise history. And for years, it seemed the dark days would never end. Now things are changing. The Sharks are on the rise and 19-year-old Mlin Celbrini is at the heart of this team’s resurgence. On this episode of Section 415, broadcaster Brody Brazil stops by to talk everything Sharks, where things go from here. All right, Brody, for listeners who might not follow hockey all that closely, how do you put into perspective the sudden rise of the San Jose Sharks and why all of a sudden I’m getting texts from people who don’t follow hockey who say, “What’s going on with this team? Why should Why is everyone paying attention? What is happening down at SAP Center?” Well, a sudden rise, but it had been a slow burn. A team that was really good for most of the 2010s. And then it’s like as soon as the pandemic hit, drama hit the team. Not really drama, but struggles hit the team. And a lot of um, you know, winning coming with a price. And and a lot of NHL teams in a hard salary cap league, they come to this point where they’ve been signing guys and keeping guys for so long and trying to squeeze every last uh drop out of that that that fruit, you know, and every ounce of it. and all of a sudden you realize, uh-oh, we’ve got to we’ve got to flip the deck here. And I think even in the Sharks case, it took a few years to flip the deck, to start to tear down, to start the rebuild. Once they finally committed to that, then obviously that takes a few years. So to your point, yes, I do realize a lot of people are saying, “Where did this come from?” The way I see it, um, I wish this would have come about a year or two earlier, but it takes time and it took a couple a couple really good drafts. It’s taken the development of players, some players arriving a little ahead of schedule. And I think that’s the main point here is what you’re witnessing right now wasn’t a matter of would this team when it’s getting rebuilt, would would they find success? It’s not if, but it was when. And look, it’s been a really good month of November as we’re recording this. I hope it continues. But even if this team comes back down to earth a little bit, they’ve taken some steps. And I think that alone is what’s catching people’s attention right now. So, a hardcore Sharks fan is going to look at this and say, “No, we’ve we’ve known this is coming.” But a lot of the casual Sharks fans, and there’s a lot of them around the Bay, they’re saying, “Wait a second. I I know something when I see it. This is special, and this is starting to happen.” There are a lot of people jumping back on the Sharks bandwagon right now. And for good reason, and I think a lot of this, Brody, has to do with the emergence of the 19-year-old superstar Mlin Celibbrini, the number one overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft. I have seen comparisons in recent days to Sydney Crosby. I’ve seen comparisons in recent days for people who follow every Bay Area sport to Steph Curry. How do you kind of contextualize the sudden rise emergence of a player who really was expected to change so much about this franchise when he was drafted? And I mean, even even Mlin a little bit ahead of schedule, right? Like you knew with uh him being selected first two summers ago that the potential was there. He went right into the league. I mean, it I also have to explain for a lot of um people who are more casual hockey fans that it’s not like the NBA where you’re the number one pick and then you’re on the team next year. Uh baseball and hockey share that where it’s like, “Hey, we’re drafting you, but oh yeah, you’re 18.” And he had just turned 18. So, you’re going somewhere else for a few years until you’re ready for us. Uh he jumps right into the league. And I I say this, Carrie, because he had a really good last season. He was a Calder finalist. he should I mean he he could have won that award for rookie of the year in the National Hockey League. There were a couple other exceptional candidates. So like he was really good last year. No question about it. But something about this year and whatever he did this past summer, he worked out with Sydney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon. Uh they were he was taken under their wing to some degree. Guy didn’t stop working all summer long. And my point is we’re watching him this season and I’ll explain the best way I can watching a lot of these games literally in person right in front of me. It’s almost to the effect of when Barry Bonds used to have an atbat and if you were in the stands or whatever and you were paying attention to the game but you made sure that you knew when Barry was coming up you were in your seat, you were watching and you were kind of on the edge of your seat. And it’s the same thing, you know, at some point we realized when Steph was on the floor, okay, we’re going to pay a little bit more attention and then when he’s got the basketball, something is about to happen like almost every single time. And I don’t mean, you know, Steph’s always going to hit a three, but he might facilitate something else. This season with Mlin, that’s what we’re watching. And I think a lot of people are catching on to this that when the puck is on his tape, something is bound to happen really what, you know, in a really good fashion. So we’re we’re starting to see that anticipation. And again, I think that’s the that’s the step from last year to this year. And going into this year, everybody’s thinking, well, sophomore slump. Could it how long can this last? He was really good last year. Where does the bar even go when you set it that high? And honestly, it makes me think now, where does the bar go even after this year? Um, he’s taken some steps. He’s been surrounded uh by a bunch of good players and Will Smith, his running mate, only one year his senior, but also Tyler Tofoley, kind of a mentor type uh veteran in the league. And now they’ve added Ryan Reeves. This this team has bolstered what surrounds Mlin, too. So, a lot of people make the comparison of a young man named Connor Baddard in Chicago. Well, he was also a number one draft pick, but he’s not surrounded like like Mlin is. Mlin is not insulated, but surrounded by people that can help him thrive. So, I think that’s what we’re witnessing this year, the next step. And kind of the oh my goodness, something is happening here. Similar to the team, I think a lot of people are looking at him individually that way. the oh my goodness line I throw it around all the time when I look at his stat line when I watch him play and see the highlights and recognize he’s 19 years old. I mean there is so much of a future ahead of Mlin Celbrini ahead of the San Jose Sharks and you touched on this just a moment ago Brody with the discussion of Will Smith his 20-year-old running mate with the San Jose Sharks who is a part of this young core for this Sharks team that you could envision being here five six years maybe if things work out financially for this team for the next decade. Well, going back to that hard salary cap comment that that is like a good problem to have and I don’t really want to worry about that too much. Although, let’s be honest, like you hope in some way that’s a problem in 2029 or 2030 or beyond when all these players are no longer restricted free agents. They could be unrestricted free agents and now they’re all great and you want to pay them all and take care of them all. But, I mean, they they’ve surrounded Mlin with with Will Smith, with Yaruslav, Ascarov, uh Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa were both uh recent draft picks. Dickinson was the same year as Mlin. Misa was the number two overall pick from this past summer. He’s also on the team. So, they they’ve kind of hit the gas on accelerating, you know, players that are good enough to make the jump straight into the NHL or take a year. In Sam’s case, he was in the OHL last year, but they’re they’re accelerating the pace. They’re not saying, “Hey, we’re going to baby you. We’re going to take your time. If we think you’re ready right now, we’re going to put you in there because, you know, you’re our fit for the long term.” I also should mention Yarislav Ascarov who has been the goalie of of record for the Sharks in this month of November and he did not have a great October. I I will be first to admit that it wasn’t great but uh the month of November has been stellar like a 970 save percentage at recent check and somewhere a little bit over a one goals against which is absolutely insane. It’s bonkers. So um that was a trade from a couple summers ago with the Nashville Predators but they’re they’re putting this team together and then there’s kind of like pieces. There’s a young core, then there’s a next group of of of a little bit older players, and then there are some veterans, but it’s tapered really nicely. So, it’s not all just kids, and it’s not all just, you know, the middle-aged players, the Alex Wenbergs and and Tofoles and company. So, it’s it’s got a nice it’s got a nice structure to it. And look, I mean, we’re at the point now where people are starting to flash the standings around. Yeah. Uh I don’t know, again, it’s it’s November, end of November here. Uh, so I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I I will say this. If we’re still talking about these same things come March, then I think this season is going to be a huge success, no matter how it specifically ends. Well, and that kind of leads into the next question because we were talking right before we started here and you were saying, man, this is maybe happening 11 12 months sooner than the San Jose Sharks anticipated that this rise would happen for this team. So, how committed is the front office and ownership to this timeline that the Sharks have kind of laid out of, you know, being really methodical, building up this roster, making sure that the rebuild goes according to plan, and how much could success in November and December and January maybe force the front office’s hand to make a move or two at this year’s deadline? I think the best move that that that they could honestly make, and now I’m speaking here as team employee Brazil, right? But I but I I I don’t mind them hearing this. if they were to get to the deadline this year and realize, you know what, uh, we’re going and growing and and if we’ll take our chances here, but we’re just going to stand pat, we’ll keep everybody, that would be, I think, something everybody would be thrilled with. Um, that would mean that the team is in a successful spot. Don’t get me wrong, there might be some moves. Again, I think every team is considering one move or another. But wholesale wise, it has been a Sharks team in selling mode for year after year after year, shedding contracts, trying to flip um, you know, wellperforming players for more draft picks in years down the road. Mike Greer said at the end of last year’s deadline, hey, we really want this to be it. Like, we don’t want to do the flip anymore. We want to be done with that. So, my point is, I don’t even know if they have to be a buying team or acquiring something else or trying to bolster. They’ve got enough young talent in the pipeline that over time, we haven’t even talked about the San Jose Barracuda and the young players on that team from the Quinton Musty’s to the Igor Chernobs to the Luca Canyone, there is a deep pipeline in the American League for them, too. So, I think standing pat keeping your players at this deadline would be like a signature move that everything has gone, you know, really well. And I’ll just say this too, the the slogan of the team, the marketing slogan of the team, uh, from a couple years ago. I think it started maybe last year, beginning of last season, the future is teal. I have literally joked about this all the way up to the president of our franchise saying that um, I think we might be coming up with a new slogan this summer. Like the the future part is getting is seeming to get a little outdated. The present is started starting to become that way and it’s a very good thing. I I wanted to ask you a little bit about that and really about your interactions with fans down at SAP Center because there have been some times in recent years where things have looked bleak, things have been dark and it hasn’t been necessarily enjoyable to go out to SAP Center. So, have you felt a real vibe shift in recent days and recent weeks? And what is that like for you to experience as someone who was down there during some of the darkest days for this franchise? someone who’s put in your time to see people kind of getting back with this franchise and getting on board and recognizing how special this moment could be. Two parts about it. Number one, yes, absolutely. And I’m glad you brought it up because the last few weekends and it was the weekend um against uh or the couple the sequence against Winnipeg and Florida. Uh obviously this past weekend they lost the game against Ottawa but just won the game as we’re recording this yesterday against the the Boston Bruins. And at the end of these close games where the Sharks are beating playoff caliber teams, and it’s not just their record and some of the winning that they’ve been doing this month. They had a tough start, but they’ve turned it around. It’s who they’re beating and how they’re beating them. They’re hanging on to win some of these games or winning close ones or winning in overtime, whatever it may be, and the vibe around the tank. We we just had two sellouts in a row uh over the weekend. Now, I know if you talked to me 10 years ago, I’d say, “What? Not selling out? What is that? I I don’t even know what that is.” So for somebody like me, Carrie, I mean I when I I’ve been a fan since 93, but started working with the team uh 2009, I got to see the entire decades of the 2010 and 17 562 on a nightly basis. Didn’t matter what night of the week it was, selling out the joint place had immaculate vibes. And you’re right, like through the pandemic, which was a totally like separate but related, it kind of timed out in unison where, you know, there was a season where no fans were even allowed. I was there in the building like there’s literally nobody here. But even when they were allowed to come back and the team wasn’t good and there were rough times. What I’ll say is the other the other big point I wanted to make me now working for the team I talked to a lot of my co-workers in different departments whether it’s you know marketings or marketing or promotions or tickets or whatever it may be a lot of them are only three and four years into working for the team and that makes me remember like you haven’t even been here uh to see what this place and what this environment is like. So, for me, it’s it’s almost like not it’s definitely not a new feeling, but going back to that, man, it just it gives me goosebumps. Like, and there’s been there have been some times lately at the end of games, I’m just getting ready to do like a postgame, you know, wrap-up segment, but the the final horn’s going off and the goal horn’s going off and I’m looking around smiling like, I missed this. Like, you don’t know how much you miss being on the right side of games until it until it goes away for a sustained period. And then I personally, I had some other career moves. I didn’t know if I’d ever be back covering the team. So, to see it all happen and to continue to see it happen close up, it it has been special. Now, the last thing I want to do is date you here, but you covered the likes of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marlo. You saw these legends come through San Jose and really shape one of the brightest eras in franchise history. And look, I was out at Oracle Park this summer when Mlin Cbraney and Will Smith showed up to take batting practice with the San Francisco Giants. And at first glance, someone said, “Oh, that’s hitting coach Pat Burl’s kid and a friend.” They couldn’t believe that these kids who looked like they might be in high school were actually hockey players in the NHL, and let alone hockey players in the NHL. These guys are thriving. They are putting the team on their back at the moment. What’s it like for you to go from covering Joe Thornton and covering Patrick Marlo in that era to now seeing the players that you’re interviewing being guys who I look, they could be my kids. I mean, they are that young. Done the math. And Carrie, it’s pretty scary to be like, Mlin and Will, you could not only be my kids, you could easily be my kids. I mean, I have an 8-year-old son as I waited a little bit later in life, but I you could easily be my children. Um, it is a little bit of history I feel like repeating itself. And I don’t know if it’s the running mate thing of of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marlo. Now, remember, they weren’t initially joined together. Patty was drafted by the team in 97. Joe was traded five, six, not six, seven years later, but five, six years later. um and and join the Sharks and and I think for Will and Mlin um it’s it’s like a Batman Robin situation all over again. There’s two of them and again they need to be surrounded by an entire complete team and pipeline but the fact that they were the first kind of in the door and no disrespect to William Ecklland he’s been here too but but you could start to see this is now and people are taking the team a lot more seriously. So I feel like it in in a way it’s history repeating itself. Um, we just had in the last couple years number 12 go up to the rafters for Marlo and number 19 go get retired for Joe Thornton. Uh, Jumbo just got inducted into the the Hockey Hall of Fame. Uh, that ceremony was a couple weeks ago now. So, um, it is a little bit surreal to see the time flying and I I’ll say this, uh, I think next year is our 36th season and it will be season 18 for me. So, I’m at that point where I’ve worked professionally with the team for half of its existence and that’s crazy. But you know what? Um, it’s that’s honestly the the badge of honor if you ask me what do you want in the career most? I mean, if I if I could choose it and to be around this as long as I possibly can, um, that’s what I’m after because that there’s no question that’s where the passion is at. I’m going to ask you to project forward a little bit because you’ve been around this team, you can see where this thing is headed. I if you’re to guess the Sharks identity two years into the future, obviously so much is going to be surrounding Mlin with the talent that’s needed to propel him to the next level and propelled this franchise to the next level. But what do you think the qualities of the San Jose Sharks will be when they hit the ice two years from now when this rebuild might really come around to the Sharks are not just a contender, they are a force in the NHL? one of the biggest staples of this year’s team. Although they have a lot of scorers up front and even adding players like Phil Kurichev, um Adam Gdet, these players can come in and score, but the thing is is they’ve really tightened up defensively, uh the Sharks have. So, I think as much as they need to be known in the future for, hey, having star players that are at an elite level and can score, you to win in this league, you have to be able to hold the opponent down. And usually it’s two or fewer. Two goals or fewer to the opponent. You’re most likely to win on on a lot of those nights. Um so I think their their identity has to shape up as a defensive as a responsible team, a two-way team, right? You can’t just be about scoring. If you’re a savvascar is your goalie, that’s also going to help you and and maybe cover up for some mistakes or if you got to do some penalty killing, he can be your best guy on the PK unit. But I I just think they have to be about defense. Um, if you’re asking me, you know, when when does their timeline need to hit, I said going into this year, it needed to be kind of like a two-year plan. Um, and what I mean by that is you have about two years, like this season and next, to be basically knocking on the door of the playoffs, if not in the playoffs. Now, if this year is on the cusp of it, wow, that’s a great step. If this year they were to magically keep up this pace for December, January, February, March, and April, then they’re in the playoffs. at this clip on how they’re winning. Um, not the 04 and2 start, but everything since then, if they keep that pace up, they’ll be a playoff team. Um, but I’m not going to hold it against them if and when they’re not. Um, I I again, I think it needs to be that tangible step. And I I do think that look like by the end of next hockey season, they could and should and really need to be right there in contention for something tangible. I mentioned to you that when we started this, my group chats are opening up these days with, hey, are you watching the Sharks? Are you paying attention to this team? What’s going on? And it’s very different from what it’s been over the past 10 years where so much of it has been Warriors and 49ers based, but everyone knows the name Mlin Celebrating. A lot of people know the name Will Smith and Willie Mlin is someone who’s been on the radar for a little bit now. Yeah. Who’s someone who’s under the radar who you think has a big future on the way in San Jose? I love a player named Colin Graph who was undrafted. uh reminds me of of Joe Pavvelski in terms of um you know his entrance to the NHL. Colin Graph does a lot of penalty killing. Uh he scored the empty net goal to seal the deal uh Sunday’s win. Uh there’s a lot of things to like about young Colin Graph and a guy who you know showcased himself last year and you thought all right well it’s still he’s still on the bubble of of being on the team this year and you don’t know if he’s going to make it. I just I see all the intangibles in him. I see great teammate in him. Uh again, he doesn’t need to be Mlin or Will or or ASI or William Mcklin. He can kind of be his own thing and be a responsible player. It’s it’s those I don’t want to say role player, you know, because when we talk about players on teams, well that maybe that’s disrespectful, like you can’t be great. No, you can be great, but a role player is like consistent, stable, responsible, uh with the puck, without the puck, especially defensively. So, uh I’ll throw his name out there. You know, the other one that that is kind of an under the radar thing this year and everybody was really excited to see if he would make the team out of camp. It’s not Sam Dickinson, but he has he’s been up the entire time, but now Michael Misa um was up for a handful of games and made the team, but has since gotten injured, so we haven’t got to see him for quite some time. But that’s that’s another player that started to really look comfortable right before his injury. So, I can’t wait to see what he turns out to be uh as a forward this year for the Sharks and and probably in a top six role uh by the end of this season, if not next year. That’s what he’ll he’ll eventually be. Uh but I would say those two in different ways and for different reasons are are players definitely to watch. And I’ll I’ll be honest, like I think Yaroslav Ascar even as the goalie sometimes they get forgotten in the mix. They’re not scoring, they’re stopping, but um Ascarov was the number one star of yesterday’s game. And um you know, again, he he’s going to be a pivotal piece. It hockey teams don’t always get built with a goalie in mind. I feel like a lot of a lot of NHL teams will build their forwards, they’ll build their defense, and then oh, throw in a goalie to like you’re the new hot commodity, but for him to be able to kind of rise and elevate with this group, I think is going to be special in the long term. Yeah. Watching the rise of the Sharks, really cool. No one doing a better job following this team and covering this team than Brody Brazil. Brody, just on a personal note, you and I were texting a little bit last week before we locked in this episode, trying to figure out a time, and we were talking a little bit about media, the state of our industry right now. I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time. You recently hit 90,000 YouTube subscribers, surpassed 35 million lifetime views. I know that there are some people out there who are listening to this wondering how they can start to build their own brand in the industry, how they can jump into covering sports in the Bay Area. What would what would you say to those kids? What would you advice would you give to someone trying to break in at a point where it’s really difficult to do so? First off, the feelings are mutual and I think uh you you you know somebody else in your business and respect them when you see them and what a game recognized game. So Carrie right back at you. Number one, you’re too kind. I think I think the advice is to utilize the platforms and the technology and the mediums in the way that they’ve kind of taken the common broadcaster like myself who, you know, did TV shows for a lot of years and that was it. And I didn’t have a home studio or I wasn’t really I was focused on social, don’t get me wrong, but now I mean it’s a it’s the biggest part of what I do. Um, I would say, you know, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that is a camera that has a camera on it that can do a lot of stuff. Uh if you want to get into broadcasting, you probably need repetition. Um and it used to have to be you needed a job. You needed to do the late shift uh on sports radio to get that repetition. Now you’ve got a YouTube channel that you can create. And I don’t care if one people one one people one person’s watching it, 10 people are watching it. Uh 500,000 people are watching it. Doesn’t matter. It’s all about you and the reps and getting comfortable and and feeling out do I even like what I’m doing and how I’m doing it and getting some feedback. So, I mean the you know those avenues and again not to be old guy here but when I was coming into this in the late 90s and early 2000s I’d make a video it’d be on a video cassette and I don’t know how to show it to you Carrie like I can’t send it to you like I it has to go on TV and if I don’t have a job in TV I can’t be sharing my work. Um so the game has totally changed. I would just say don’t let anybody stop you. Take advantage of that. Pick a team. Pick a conversation. Pick a narrative that you want to start following. Start a YouTube channel. put yourself out there. Um, again, you might want to try some of the more um typical jobs and industries out there. I’m not saying shy away from that, but to get your to get your reps to grow to grow your skills to get better. Um, it it’s literally up to you. I mean, it’s almost like saying you got a workout facility and you either need to use it and get bigger and stronger or uh let let everybody else do it. So, I think the tools are out there for anybody who wants to try. Tremendous advice and of course tremendous insight on the San Jose Sharks. Brody, thank you so much for joining us here on Section 415. My pleasure. I just want to say love the podcast. Love what you guys are doing. So you keep it up too. Thank you.

The San Jose Sharks are in the midst of their longest playoff drought in franchise history and for the last few years, the team was essentially deemed irrelevant.

All of a sudden, everything is changing. Led by 19-year old superstar Macklin Celebrini, the baby Sharks are charging up the NHL standings and breathing new energy into SAP Center.

On this episode of Section 415, broadcaster Brodie Brazil joins host Kerry Crowley to break down the most captivating young team in hockey.

This episode was produced by Dakota London and edited by Sophie Bearman. Sophie Bearman is our head of audio. Our show art is by Jess Hutchison; theme music by Hannis Brown.

We’re a production of the San Francisco Standard, which you can support by becoming a member at ⁠sfstandard.com/⁠signup.

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