Dumb Questions About The 2025-26 San Jose Sharks | What If They Get The 1st Pick Of The 2026 Draft?

Dumb Questions About The 2025-26 San Jose Sharks | What If They Get The 1st Pick Of The 2026 Draft?

I’m a dumb guy and I have some dumb questions about the 2526 San Jose Sharks. You’re Locked on Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked On podcast 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 Locked On Sharks your first listen. Proudly part of the Locked On Network. We cover your team every day. And if you want to be an everydayer, all you have to do just follow along wherever you get podcasts. And of course, you can watch on YouTube as well. And today we’re going to be asking dumb questions that I have about your 2526 San Jose Sharks. Uh including is the defense better equipped than it was last year? What happens if the Sharks get the first overall pick? And will the Sharks actually uh keep some veterans and start to build as Mike Greer has said that he wants to do? So, before we ask dumb questions, because I’m a dumb guy, I do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So, these are are kind of questions that I’m, you know, as we cover the Sharks and, you know, we’re I think all of us are are optimistic about the season of of of you know, what we’re going to see and hope that this is a uh more productive season and we see some more wins and we see the young players do well, right? and that you’re you’re feeling like this this thing is starting to turn the corner, especially after what we have witnessed since 2019, right? Of last time the Sharks made the playoffs in 2018 2019 season. It’s been a lot of uh mediocre to to bad to terrible hockey to be honest. But, you know, there’s there’s still some some questions that kind of pick at me, I guess, right? And I have dumb questions. And and my mom always told me there’s no such thing as a dumb question. Um, I think I have some dumb questions here. So, let’s start by my my first kind of question is, is the defense better equipped this year? Right. Um, going into last year, you had Jake Wman, you had Cody Cece, uh, you had Mario Ferraro, you t traded for Timothy Lilligran very early on. You had Mark Edward Flaskic. Um, like, yes, this this wasn’t some sort of great defense last year. Um, and we we know that Mike Greer has, you know, that was literally one of the things he said he wanted to address this off season was we have to get better on the blue line, right? Um, we can’t just roll out the same guys and let’s hope it gets better. Um, so do we think the Sharks have accomplished that? Right. You you went out and uh during the off season you signed Demetri Orof. You signed John Clingberg. You acquired Nick Ley via waiverss. You got rid of longtime, you know, staple on the blue line and Markeel Roastic by buying out the final year of his contract. You have Sam Dickinson in the mix. You you brought back Mario Ferraro. You brought back Timothy Ligin who were both in the last years of their deal. and you have Shakir Mukadulan ready to make, you know, to to make a a jump and be a full-time NHL player here. So, um, on paper, you you could say I think the defense is is projected to be better, right? And it’s a pretty easy argument. Um, if Orlav can can be the Jake Walman type of player where he just comes in and makes an immediate impact and be a two-way defenseman for you. And if Nick Ley can be returned to form after a season that, you know, he he lost a good chunk of the season because of injury. He just wasn’t the same guy um the second half of the season when he did come back because of his injury. And from the sound of it, he does sound like he’s fully healthy, right? And if John Clingberg can bring back, you know, find some of that magic. And I know he’s dealing with a little bit of an injury here, but he says the hips feel good. And uh we we saw even in the preseason game what he can do from the blue line from an offensive standpoint. And Muk McDullan taking a full-time step here. And if Sam Dickinson can stick around, like there’s a really easy path for the Sharks defense to be better. But that’s not ifs, right? if John Clingberg can stay healthy, a guy who hasn’t been able to stay healthy over the past couple seasons. Um, you and again, he he had this hip s resurfacing uh surgery to to try to get back to being a you know, where he was before, but there’s not a lot of guys who can come back from that. and we saw him play a little bit last year with the Oilers, but he played on a reduced role in third pairing type of minutes. And um he’s going to be asked to carry a lot of the load for the Sharks, right? Um Nick Ley, you know, I wrote about this in in for my reef. I’ve been doing these burning questions for for every player. if Nick Ley like he was, you know, the big reason why he was such a successful defenseman was because of his speed and last year he did not have that. Uh it it was a it was a big- time drop off for him uh for you know his top speed, how much how many times he hit his top speed. Uh like he was up among the NHL leaders when it came to like top skating speed in the 23 24 season. Last year he was 50%. If Nick Lety doesn’t have the wheels, is he still an effective player? That’s a big qu that’s a that’s a pretty big question, right? And again, it sounds like he’s healthy, but what if he can never get that back, right? And father time remains undefeated. It’s not like Nick Ley’s 27. He’s in his mid30s, you know, encouraging on his mid-30s right now. Demetri Orlov, right? Uh he’s never had to be the guy. He’s had John Carlson, Clay Makavoy, um Jacob Slave, like he’s had every team he’s been on, he’s always had, you know, always been kind of the Robin to somebody else’s Batman. Is he going to be able to to be the guy and and be the best defenseman on on a team? And right, we we know this team is most likely not headed for the play. Like it would be a small miracle, I think, for this team to to make the playoffs after what we’ve seen. But um you know that that’s a lot of ifs for for three veterans. And what if you know Sam Dickinson’s not ready and has to go back to juniors because you right he can only play in the NHL or he can only play in the OL. What if he’s not ready and you have to send him back to juniors and wait another year for Sam Dickinson to make his impact? And what if Shakir Muk Madullan who’s had trouble staying healthy? What if he can’t stay healthy? And you see flashes of Muk Magdan playing really well, but a guy who’s spent the last two seasons where he’s been unable to finish his his seasons. Is that you know there there’s just a lot of ifs, right? So, while I do think on paper this is a better equipped defense and you know we kind of know what we’re getting from Ferraro and Lilrin where they’re going to be perfectly chromulent uh defenseman and Ferraro is going to drive you nuts every once in a while and Lil’s going to drive you nuts every once in a while. Um I think there’s there is a lot of question marks for these other guys here and uh we are hoping and assuming that they can return back to form or do something that they have not done before in the case of Dmitri Orlov. But if how many things go wrong before you realize like this defense isn’t better than last year’s defense, which you know, Jake Wman was excellent the first half of the season and then kind of dealt with an injury and then eventually got traded to the Edmonton Oilers. Um you know, Cody Cece who kind of got thrusted in a role where he’s been basically all of his career where he’s playing much more minutes than he probably should be playing. uh and you know kind of playing out of position where you would prefer to type to to to kind of cast him in. Um, and you know, Marco Ravasic who’s, you know, you know, has been fighting father time for the past couple seasons and just finally, it looks like he just never kind of has been the same player over the past couple years because he’s played a bajillion minutes throughout his career and then unfortunately uh, you know, as soon as he signs his new contract, just father time started hitting him with a baseball bat. um like there’s there’s a very easy path for this defense to not improve. And I’m not saying that that’s the case, but I there’s just there’s not a lot of slam dunks, I think, and there’s not a lot of for sure things on this defense that makes you feel like, yes, this is a better defense than it was last year. I do. I think it’ll be a better defense. I do think it’ll be a better defense, but I’m also admitting there is a lot of ifs to it. So, um, that’s my first dumb question. Is this defense going to be better? My second dumb question that we’re going to get to here in just one second. What actually happens if the Sharks get the first pick of the draft? So, uh, we’ll get to that here in just one second. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Uh the fun thing about FanDuel is it covers any way you like to play. Uh you have player props, like so if you want to maybe take two on the over interceptions, feels like a pretty safe one here for Monday night. Um, you can build a same game parlay or even jump into live action as the game unfolds. It makes every game more exciting, whether you’re watching your favorite team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup. So, if you’re ready to play, download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, guys. Before we continue, do of course want to thank you for making Locked on Sharks your first list. And if you haven’t yet, perfect time to subscribe. Uh the season’s here, right? We got preseason games, got a ton of preseason games next week. Uh the season will be right around the corner. Uh of course we’ll have Barracuda coverage, plenty and prospects because we do have the best prospect pool uh in the NHL. So we’ll have all that stuff covered here at Locked On Sharks. Make sure you’re following along wherever you get podcasts and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. All right, another dumb question. What happens if the Sharks get the first pick in the draft? All right, we’ll kind of go about this from two ways. if one they are they three repeat and they are the worst team in the NHL and they earn that right to be the first pick in the draft because uh they’re just the worst they’re just bad again which we we do expect this team to not be good but as I’ve stated several times I don’t think this is the worst team in the NHL and I I I do expect a a a good jump from uh the in terms of wins and points from this team uh and as we get closer to this season. We’ll kind of hone in on that a little bit more. But, um, what if this team is just like horrible again, right? And you go back to the first segment. What if the defense just collapses and Ascrov’s not good? Uh, and you know, whether Smith and Celibbrini or Misa or whoever the young players just don’t make that leap and right, things just don’t click for this team and and they’re just the worst team in the NHL again this year. Um, what do you do? Because we we expect Gavin McKenna to be in be the first pick of the draft and assuming he does what we expect him to do at Penn State, which is go on and, you know, have an amazing season at Penn State and uh dominate over there and um but the Sharks so of course right this is a team that has invested a lot of assets into forwards. Min Celebrity for server roll pick. Uh Michael Misa second overall pick. Uh Will Smith a fourth overall pick. Uh William Mean a seventh overall pick. Um you know that that’s four guys right there. And that doesn’t include other first round picks like um Quinton Musty and Philip B said who is you know going to be making an impact here sooner or later or high second round picks like Cam Lund uh Casper Halton um you know uh Igor Shernes like the Sharks have invested a lot of high-end assets into this forward group. If you’re Mike Greer and you go through another terrible season, right? One, do you have questions about Ryan Warski? Two, do you think the guys that you have are going to be the guys that you can quote unquote go to war with when it gets to the playoffs? And if you’re not seeing improvement from this team, do you just take Gavin McKenna and and figure it out later? Do you try to trade back? Do you take McKenna and then trade one of these other high-end guys, whether it’s a Will Smith or an I would assume Smith and Equin would be the two guys that you would look to potentially trade um to try to figure out your defense group. Um, again, very much you pick the best player available, but you put yourself in a position where you don’t have to make that choice between Gav McKenna, and you can maybe move back to potentially um, draft a defenseman, whether it’s Katon Verhoff or whomever. There there’s there’s about four defenseman in the top 10 as of right now. We’re very very early in the process, right? I mean, the junior leagues have just kicked off. Like SHL has just started really like we’re very early in the process, but there’s looking like there’s about four right-handed defenseman that are projected to go in the top 10. So, next year is going to be a good draft if you need defenseman. Last time I checked, the Sharks need more defenseman. So, I if the Sharks earn the right to be the worst pick, like do you lose some faith in Greer and where this is going and if he can build a team around these young stars. Do you lose faith in in Ryan Warski? Do you lose faith in Ascrov? Do you just say you kind of mark it off and say this is just a bad year? Um, this team’s going to get better eventually. Do you start looking at Landon Dupont tape uh for the 2027 draft? Like there there’s it’s just a again like I don’t expect this team to be the worst team in the NHL, but I’m just having a dumb question. And what if they are the worst team in the NHL again? What do you do? And then, you know, what if it’s the Islanders type of situation where you’re not the worst team in the NHL, but you luck out in the lottery and then you get to pick you’re you’re kind of in that same boat, right? And that’s that’s probably the best case scenario is is you are, you know, you see improvement. You see guys like Will Smith take a big step and celebrity cementss himself as a star and Ascrov looks like he’s the guy but then you win the draft lottery and do you if you’re Mike Greer do you have the stones to be the guy who trades Gavin McKenna right or uh because that that’s that is a massive That takes right. I mean because you you hear Gavin McKenna the next dude, right? The next guy and the Sharks are set down the middle between Celibbrini and Misa. You feel especially if you if the season goes as we hope you have Will Smith, you have Ekkan. Do you just take Gavin McKenna and just say we can roll out this ridiculous group in our top six and there’s just nothing anybody can do about it or do you try to balance things out and look for somebody on on the blue line and try to get that hall from a team like the Penguins who are going to be desperately seeking the next superstar to replace uh Sydney Crosby or whomever whoever is going to be. What do you do in that situation? And who knows, we may not ever have to answer this question. But it is a dumb question I keep coming up with is what do you do if you’re if you’re Mike Greer and you’re put into this situation where you do have the first overall pick and especially again if everything goes poorly and you I think it’s easier to justify just taking Gav McKenna if you’re the worst team overall, right? If you just become if you’re just the three pee, you’re the worst team. We have the best odds. We win the lottery because we have the best odds. Um I think it’s easier to justify because you can probably point to things that went wrong this season and say Gavin McKenna can at least help us fix X, Y, and Z, right? Our power play stinks. Will Smith’s not, you know, the guy, whatever, right? But if you win it, if you win the lottery and you get lucky like and you jump up from say six or seventh up to first, do you try to finagle that into something bigger where you can not only get a guy who maybe fits what you’re looking for more in a Verhoff or etc etc but then also get a bounty on top of it of picks or prospects or soon to be NHL players young NHL players who are about ready to kind of explode. So, um, dumb questions, dumb questions I think about. So, uh, we are going to continue asking dumb questions by looking at do the Sharks start to build and keep some veterans as again Mike Greer has been looking to say that this year we’re going to be building. So, uh, we’ll get to that in just one second. All [Music] right, guys. Before we finish, do of course want to thank you for making Locked On Sharks your first listen every day. For your second listen, go check out the Locked On Fantasy Hockey podcast, Steel and Flip. I provide daily fantasy tips to give you the edge over your league mates all while making you a smarter hockey fan. Find Locked On Fantasy Hockey on YouTube, wherever you listen to podcasts. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, so we’re finishing up here with dumb questions I have because again, self-proclaimed idiot with a microphone. Um, do the Sharks look to just resign some of their veterans? So, we go we know going into next season that the Sharks are once again going to have a bajillion dollars in cap space. They’re scheduled to have $62.6 million in cap space going into next year. uh with a roster size of nine players and that doesn’t include right we we know like Sam Dickinson’s going to be on the roster next year Michael Misa’s gonna be on the roster next year but those are both you know minimum contracts right Colin Graph is going to be do a raise um you know we we’ll see with guys like Dandria and Kersev who are both RFAS the hope is Shakir Mukman with Dylan who’s an RFA can earn himself a nice little contract. But you know the the Sharks have Demetri Orlav is the only defenseman under contract for next year. So, how does Mike Greer, who again, right, we heard this off season, we that was kind of the theme of the offseason, right? We we don’t want to tear this thing down like we did. And that doesn’t mean just keep everybody just to keep everybody. But if guys are are playing well in this system and helping to provide a winning culture and you know feel like that they can be some bridge type of players while you wait for some of your prospects to to develop. Um, and you know, guys I I I think like Alexandelkovich for example, I think is a perfect guy. If if he comes in here and plays how we expect him to play, and if he can play anywhere near how he played with the Penguins last year, I think that’s a guy that you should look to extend defensively. Yes, I know Clingberg um you know, both Clingberg and Lety are are guys who are probably looking to go elsewhere and and try to win. Um, but you know, like John Clingberg, if if if Clingberg is playing really well here, fits into what the Sharks are doing, um, and feels like he can continue to do it for, you know, the next season or two, shouldn’t you try to keep John Clingberg’s services, right? Like, having good hockey players on your team is not a bad thing. And the Sharks need more good hockey players. Um, same thing with Jeff Skinner, right? And I know Skinner and Clintberg are both kind of in the same situation where they have no trade clauses until the end of of January and then they open things up so that way if those guys want to try to go to a contender, but if Jeff Skinner walks in here and is got 25 20 25 goals by the time the trade deadline and maybe teams are offering for him, but shouldn’t you be like, Jeff, yes, I know we have guys like Musty and and Shernaw who are gonna be banging down the door here, But um right, you’re you’re playing with Mlin and you’re playing with Will Smith and things are going really well here. We’d love to have you stay on and help us, you know, continue to grow and build this thing. Um, you know, I know Jeff Skinner played on a lot of horrible teams and didn’t get his first taste of playoff success until last year, but you know, like as much as, you know, maybe getting a second round pick or a third round pick for Jeff Skinner would be nice, wouldn’t it just be nice to also have just Jeff Skinner here as for a team that we expect to hopefully by next year start to at least sniffing playoff contention. That way, again, you don’t have to go into the off season where you’re kind of I don’t want to say hamstrung, but you’re not going to the offseason saying, “Well, I got to spend $40 million in cap space just to get to the cap floor.” And yes, I know Equin’s contract goes through and you’re going to have to eventually pay Mlin and and Will here. And those guys are going to be, you know, projecting to make big time contracts. But even if you sign those guys to extensions next off seasonason, those don’t kick in till the the following year, right? That 27 28 season, um, you’re you’re going to have to spend some money this off season. And if guys are here and they’re playing well and they feel like they are going to, you know, at least continue to play at or near the same that level for, you know, the next couple seasons. Shouldn’t the Sharks look to try to keep some guys around so that way we’re not doing this whole same song and dance of, well, we brought in four new defensemen this off season. Uh let’s hope they all kind of work out and then because like yes I know the Sharks have some some fun prospects but I mean Luca Kenyon feels like he’s a lock to be on on on the roster for the 2627 season and Sam Dickinson and Shakir Muk Mullan but one that’s a lot of young defenseman uh and two you still need some veterans around and you need some other guys and you need some depth um and those guys, what if their seasons don’t go as planned, right? Um, so again, I I I just think if if you’re Mike Greer and you the theme of this season is to start to build and start to exit this rebuild and start to move forward, maybe not trading everything that’s bolted down so that way Celibbrini and Smith and Equin and all these other young players um they have quality teammates, right? That that they can continue to grow this thing. And as you’re you’re you’re kind of putting the level for your musties and your Shernershavs and these other uh young players coming in where you have to at least right you you have to be better than Jeff Skinner to take his job. Uh you have to be better than you know um than John Clingberg to take his job as the number one power play quarterback. If you’re Luca Canyone you have like it it kind of sets the bar for some of these players. you’re not just handing guys jobs. Um, so and I think that’s you’re you’re kind of creating that culture of competition, uh, which I think makes everybody better, um, and makes us a better roster. So, uh, again, just some dumb questions, dumb guy with dumb questions. So, uh, we’ll see. none of these questions that, you know, we may not even have to answer some of these questions, but they’re just things that I’ve been just been kind of want pondering and thinking about as we’re starting to kind of gear up for this new season. So, um, that’s going to be it for me today. We’ll be back tomorrow. Uh, most likely going to start kind of getting ready for, uh, since we got game on Friday. We’ll look at who’s, you know, hopefully projected to be playing kind of things to to watch in this uh next preseason game as the uh hopefully Vegas has like some real NHL players so we can kind of see what’s going on with get a little bit better uh of a yard stick type of performance. So uh but yeah, we’ll be back. 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 and on Tik Tok. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky Fryhole. Until tomorrow. Bye, friends.

Is the San Jose Sharks’ defense truly improved for the 2025-2026 season? JD Young tackles this burning question and more in a speculative deep dive into the team’s future.

Explore the potential impact of offseason acquisitions like Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg on the Sharks’ blue line. Will these veterans mesh with promising prospects Sam Dickinson and Shakir Mukhamadullin to form a formidable defensive corps?

What if the Sharks land the coveted first overall draft pick? JD examines two scenarios: earning it through a tough season or winning the draft lottery. Should they select phenom Gavin McKenna or trade the pick for immediate help? The implications for young stars Will Smith and William Eklund are dissected.

General Manager Mike Grier’s strategy of blending veterans with youth comes under the microscope. Is retaining players like Alex Nedeljkovic and Jeff Skinner the key to creating a competitive culture? JD analyzes the delicate balance between rebuilding and setting high standards for prospects like Quentin Musty.

Tune in for an in-depth look at the Sharks’ roster construction, salary cap considerations, and the path forward as they aim to exit their rebuild and return to contention.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro: Dumb questions about the Sharks
5:07 Is the Sharks’ defense better this year?
12:15 What if the Sharks get the first draft pick?
16:52 Scenarios for Sharks getting top pick
20:27 Should the Sharks keep some veteran players?

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