SAN JOSE – Sharks center Macklin Celebrini is no longer wearing a non-contact jersey and said he’s close to playing again as the team’s preseason starts to wind down.
Celebrini took the next step in his recovery from an undisclosed illness on Wednesday by practicing without any restrictions with a smaller group of players, as the Sharks made another round of cuts to their training camp roster.
Celebrini will not play in Wednesday’s exhibition against the Anaheim Ducks, but appears on track to play in one of the Sharks’ final two preseason games, either Friday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights or Saturday in Utah against the Mammoth.
“It sucks being out, not participating as much as I wanted to. Things happen, and you’ve just got to kind of deal with it,” Celebrini said Wednesday. “But I’m excited for the start of the year and can’t wait to actually start playing games.”
Celebrini skated in an orange non-contact jersey on Tuesday and has, in recent days, remained out of the team’s most physical drills. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky has said Celebrini would need to practice without any restrictions before he could play in a game.
“Obviously good to get the orange jersey off,” Warsofsky said, “and we’ll see how he progresses.
“He looks like a Ferrari out there.”
Celebrini was also unavailable to play in the Sharks’ first three preseason games but is expected to start the year as the team’s top-line center with Will Smith on the right wing. Although he and Smith played together last season, Celebrini has so far missed a chance to develop familiarity and timing with some of his new teammates in a game setting.
The host of new faces in San Jose includes forwards Jeff Skinner, Adam Gaudette, Ryan Reaves, and Philipp Kurashev, and defensemen John Klingberg, Dmitry Orlov, and Nick Leddy. Center Michael Misa, drafted second overall by the Sharks in June, and defenseman Sam Dickinson, a 2024 first-round pick, are also vying for roster spots.
“Just the more games you get to play, the more timing and even chemistry you can build with new guys, like our new defenseman and new forwards,” said Celebrini, who had a team-high 63 points in 70 games last season. “We have a bunch of new forwards we’re going to be playing with, so it’s just building chemistry and starting to get familiar with guys. It’s tough to do that in practice.”
The Sharks will finalize their season-opening 23-man roster after Saturday’s game. They open the season next Thursday at home against the Golden Knights.
NEW BANNER IN PLACE
The Sharks have replaced the banner inside SAP Center that listed the incorrect season when the team won the Presidents’ Trophy. The old one had 2015-16 as the year the Sharks finished atop the NHL’s regular season standings, but the new banner has the correct season (2008-09).
— Jonathan Becher (@jbecher) October 1, 2025
CAMP CUTS
The Sharks assigned forwards Shane Bowers, Jimmy Huntington, Samuel Laberge, Oskar Olaussen, and goalie Jakub Skarek to the Barracuda on Wednesday after all five cleared waivers. The Sharks also placed center Patrick Giles, who has been injured, on waivers on Wednesday, leaving them with 35 players in camp.
More Sharks players will likely be needed to go on waivers for the team to get down to 23 by next week. Wingers Egor Afanasyev and Pavol Regenda, and defenseman Jack Thompson are still competing for roster spots, but will need to go on waivers first if the Sharks want to assign them to the AHL.
Teams have 24 hours to claim a player once they are placed on waivers. If they go unclaimed, they can be assigned to the AHL. If one of Thompson, Regenda, or Afanasyev is claimed, then the Sharks would have 48 contracts or fewer and be free to keep Misa and Dickinson on their roster for the entire season if they choose.
The Sharks currently have 49 contracts, while NHL teams are limited to a maximum of 50 contracts. If Misa and Dickinson play 10 games or more with the Sharks this season, the first year of their respective entry-level contracts would begin.
The waiver activity might happen soon. After a team day off on Thursday, the Sharks are scheduled to have just one group skating on Friday before they travel to Las Vegas. Having 30 or more players practicing in the same group would be unusual.
Regenda scored a goal in the Sharks’ 3-2 preseason loss to the Ducks on Monday, as he planted himself in front of the Anaheim net and, with his skate, tipped a shot from Shakir Mukhamadullin past goalie Ville Husso in the second period.
“It was just luck,” Regenda said. “But obviously I was in the right spot, in front of the net. I scored a couple of goals like that last year, too (with the) Barracuda, where you get hit in the chest and it goes in, you know, get hit in the shin, in the pants, and it just goes in. That’s the reward for that.”
CAPTAIN CRUNCH TIME
Warsofsky said the Sharks are still going through the process of determining whether to name a captain for this season. They expect to announce a decision by early next week.
“I really don’t care if you wear a letter or not,” Warsofsky said. “Can you help us win hockey games? You can be a leader in different ways. So if you’re wearing a letter, help us. If you’re not wearing a letter, you’ve probably been around as well, and you can help us as well. So we’ll go through that process.”
SHARKS VALUATION
The Sharks franchise is now valued at $1.49 billion, a 5% increase from last year, according to a report published by Sportico on Wednesday. That makes the Sharks the 27th-most valuable franchise in the NHL, ahead of only Utah ($1.44 billion), Buffalo ($1.36 billion), Ottawa ($1.34 billion), Winnipeg ($1.33 billion), and Columbus ($1.33 billion).
The Sharks, per Sportico, were the 22nd most valuable NHL franchise last year at $1.42 billion. The Sharks were valued at $705 million in 2021.
Overall, the average NHL franchise is now worth an estimated $2.1 billion, representing a 17% increase from last year. Topping the list were the Toronto Maple Leafs at $4.25 billion, a 16% increase from last year ($3.66 billion).
Originally Published: October 1, 2025 at 12:41 PM PDT