The San Jose Sharks’ power play has been in free fall for some time, prompting head coach Ryan Warsofsky to consider changes.

At practice on Saturday, the Sharks displayed new power play lines, with their top stars, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, on different units.

Mukhamadullin, Iorio & Reaves, as noted at yesterday’s practice, will indeed sit out.

We’ll see on the power play groups, Warsofsky says: https://t.co/f2ufsZJ6H1

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 7, 2025

No. 1 PP: Klingberg-Celebrini-Eklund-Toffoli-Wennberg
No. 2 PP: Orlov-Smith-Kurashev-Graf-Skinner

Splitting the San Jose Sharks’ best two offensive players doesn’t seem like a great idea on paper, but when it isn’t working, changes must be made. Warsofsky understands that the power play hasn’t worked, as they have a woeful 14.5% power play conversion rate over the past 20 games. San Jose has 11 power-play goals in the last 76 opportunities.

“Our power play hasn’t been good, so you’ve got to make changes,” Warsofsky said.

Smith’s demotion to the second unit isn’t due to his play on the top unit. Warsofsky says he’s hoping to have Smith and Celebrini run their own units, similar to what they did in the NCAA.

“It’s not just on Will. We have him and Mack, two guys that have come up, both have run power plays in their times in college and through their careers,” Warsofsky said. “If he is on that unit, that gives him a chance to run that unit. Again, it hasn’t been good. We’ll continue to make changes the way we see best.”

The Carolina Hurricanes sport a heavy-pressure style of defense, no matter the situation. The San Jose Sharks lead the NHL in chances against while on a power play, and that isn’t going unnoticed.

“Urgency. [We’ve] got to win pucks. We didn’t win any pucks 50-50, pucks. Turned over some pucks at the blue line,” Warsofsky said. “We give up more chances on our power play than we get. I would say those are three big areas of issues. This is a team that’s going to pressure all over the ice and their penalty kill.”

It is unconfirmed whether the power play units showcased during the San Jose Sharks’ practice in Dallas will stick, but there is a strong chance they will.

Smith and Celebrini project to stay on the same 5-on-5 line, but are now joined by Collin Graf. Graf scored the only Sharks goal against the Dallas Stars on Friday.

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