SAN JOSE – With modest expectations this season, a roster that could remain in flux for at least another year, and their best player still just 19 years old, the Sharks on Wednesday announced that they will go without a captain in 2025-26 and instead use five players as alternate captains.
Wearing an ‘A’ on their sweaters for the Sharks this season will be veteran forwards Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg, and Barclay Goodrow, defenseman Mario Ferraro, and, for the first time, center Macklin Celebrini.
Toffoli, Wennberg, Goodrow, and Ferraro also served as alternates last season. Celebrini, 19, is entering his second NHL season after he led the Sharks in scoring last year.
Logan Couture was the Sharks captain from 2019 to 2025, but was unable to play last season due to a chronic groin/pelvic area injury. He announced in April that he would be unable to play again.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he and general manager Mike Grier “had a lot of conversations” about deciding whether to name a new captain. Ultimately, he said after “going through the process and where we are at, that’s (the decision) we came to.”
Toffoli will wear an ‘A’ for all games, Goodrow and Celebrini will serve as alternate captains for home games, and Ferraro and Wennberg will wear a letter for all road games. Last season, Wennberg wore an ‘A’ for select games at the end of last season.
Celebrini said that this will be the first time he has had a letter on his jersey since playing Pee Wee hockey seven or eight years ago, possibly because he was always one of the younger players on the teams he played for throughout his childhood.
Now it’s fair to assume Celebrini will continue to wear a letter throughout his tenure with the Sharks, and that it’s probably only a matter of time before he becomes the team’s captain. Consider this an apprenticeship.
“He just has this natural leadership ability in him. You see it,” Warsofsky said of Celebrini. “You see it on the ice, off the ice. It comes very naturally to him. So what better way to learn than to be surrounded by some really good veterans?”
Grier said at the start of training camp last month that when the Sharks finalize the decision to name a captain, “it’s hopefully something that lasts a long time.” Celebrini, who figures to be in San Jose for several years to come, would seem to fit the bill.
“I want Mack to be Mack,” Warsofsky said. “I don’t think he needs to go be Joe Sakic or Sidney Crosby. He needs to be Macklin Celebrini and lead in his own way. I’m not going to micromanage how he leads. He’ll wear his emotions on his sleeve. He’ll have to control his emotions, and he’ll learn through his mistakes with that. But I’ll never want to take that away from him. That’s what makes him great and who he is.
“That’s a special quality to have. He drags guys into the fight with the way he plays and the way he prepares on and off the ice.”
Celebrini said a great leader is “someone who always just sets the example and leads the right way, and your actions say more than your words. What you do speaks volumes, and the best leaders I’ve been around have done that. They don’t say one thing and then do the other.”
Ferraro and Wennberg are among the nine Sharks players who are pending unrestricted free agents. Ferraro wore an ‘A’ throughout last year, but Toffoli, who is entering his 14th NHL season and is signed for three more seasons, has that role now.
Ferraro said he wasn’t given an explanation from Warsofsky for the change but added that he didn’t think one was necessary.
“I’m represented as a leader. I don’t think how it comes about, home or away, is important to me,” he said. “Regardless, we’ve got to lead. Whether I’m at home or on the road, I can’t just take a night off leading.”
Warsofsky said there was no specific reason for why he made the change from Ferraro to Toffoli in that regard, but added that Toffoli, “was kind of ready to wear it every game. He deserved it through his play last year, and it’s not like Mario deserved to (have it) taken away from him. It’s the decision we made for the balance of the group.”
The list of full-time Sharks captains includes Doug Wilson (1991-1993), Bob Errey (1993-1995), Jeff Odgers (1995-1996), Todd Gill (1996-1998), Owen Nolan (1998-2003), Patrick Marleau (2005-2009), Rob Blake (2009-2010), Joe Thornton (2010-2014), Joe Pavelski (2015-2019) and Couture (2019-2025). Marleau, Vincent Damphousse, Alyn McCauley, and Mike Ricci shared the captaincy during the 2003-2004 season.
The last time the Sharks went without a captain was during the 2014-15 season, and that year’s team missed the playoffs. The Sharks are not expected to be in the postseason this year, either, but feel good about where they’re headed.
“We’ve got a bunch of leaders in this group,” Ferraro said. “Guys were leaders in previous teams that they played for at different levels. So, we need everybody to step up, and it’s going to be really important for us to build on this year.”
Originally Published: October 8, 2025 at 10:56 AM PDT