The San Jose Sharks head into their third preseason game of 2026, and Thursday’s game will feature the (pre)season debut of Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks center will be fun to watch, as always, but tonight will be the first glimpse of how he’s improved. Face-offs are a big focus specifically for Celebrini, as he finished last season with a 48.6 win %. While he is always a focus, SHD will also look for broader topics tonight.

1. Darnell Nurse & Michael Kesselring pair

If the San Jose Sharks want to make the postseason in 2027, they need to defend better. GM Mike Grier understood that and has completely revamped the blue line with additions like Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring. The two have been a pair since training camp began, and Thursday marks their debut in Teal.

Nurse, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons, brings a wealth of knowledge to a young group. He knows what it takes to be ready for the season. With Kesselring, the Sharks are getting a big right-shot defenseman looking to return to full strength.

Both players know how to move the puck up ice and can help skilled forwards enter the offensive zone with speed.

“He’s been a lot of fun to practice with. I’ve known Kes since he was young, just trying to break into the league,” Nurse exclusively told SHD on Thursday. “His length, his speed, his ability to cover the ice. He plays the game hard [and] he’s not easy to play against. For me, playing with a partner like that, it’s a lot of fun. It’ll be a lot of fun to feed off of each other every shift, talk, communicate, and enjoy the game again.”

The Nurse-Kesselring pairing could be the Sharks’ main ‘shut down’ line this season. With five new defensemen projected on the blueline (including Cagnoni as a new addition), coach Ryan Warsofsky will look for a top pair to trust most.

2. Can Dickinson step up?

Sam Dickinson didn’t have his best game against the Anaheim Ducks last Sunday, but he has a chance to turn the page tonight. The coaching staff is asking the 2024 11th overall pick to take a step forward in his second season.

Warsofsky told reporters that he’s had conversations with the defenseman about cleaning up certain areas of his game, and quickly.

“There’s certainly a lot of things that we need to get cleaned up, and probably cleaned up pretty quickly. Sam and I have had a couple conversations about that,” Warsofsky said. “We need to free him up, in a sense, let him play his game. But there’s also a responsibility going into year two of how you need to play, so you can play the minutes that he wants to play. He’s still a young defenseman that’s still learning, and we’re going to continue to work with him and help him along.”

Dickinson won’t be in the No. 1 defense spot this evening with some of the veterans in the lineup. Dickinson was paired with Luca Cagnoni during the Sharks’ morning skate. While Dickinson is known for his offensive ability, that seems to be put on the back burner for now as he cleans up his defensive mistakes.

Eric Pohlkamp was the QB of the Sharks’ second power-play unit on Thursday.

No full lines run at #SJSharks‘ morning skate yet but now they are working on the power play:

PP1: Cagnoni-Celebrini-Smith-Chernyshov-Marchment

PP2: Pohlkamp-Stenberg-Misa-Sherwood-Bystedt
(Mack and Will did some PK work against this unit)

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) September 24, 2026

3. Can Chernyshov “slow down” like the coach wants him to

Igor Chernyshov has had a decent training camp for the San Jose Sharks. He played in one preseason game and looked good, but he still has areas to improve.

One thing that coach Warsofsky said this morning was that the prospect was “a little too busy.” That doesn’t surprise, as the power-forward is a puck hound who wants to create offense.

“He’s had a pretty good camp. I thought in the game the other night he was a little too busy. I think he’s excited. He wants to score, and I get it. That’s what every young player wants to do,” Warsofsky said. “But there are other areas of the game that we’ve got to clean up a little bit, and that will put him in positions to score more and get more opportunities for chances. So he’s got to slow down a little bit, and he’s just a little too reckless at times, whether that’s coming into our D zone or with the offense in the offensive zone; we know we can do it.”

Chernyshov could play a top-six role again tonight with Michael Misa, but he practiced with other players on Wednesday. Official forward lines weren’t shown at morning skate, but based on jersey colors and other practices, Kiefer Sherwood could take his place on the Sharks’ second line tonight with Ivar Stenberg and Misa.

Even if Chernyshov isn’t in a top-six role tonight, he’ll still get chances to chip in in a starring role. Throughout training camp, the Sharks prospect has played the bumper position on the top power-play unit. That hasn’t changed regardless of where he plays at even strength tonight.

“He’s a guy that can rip it right there. He moves well to get to support pucks,” Warsofsky said. “He’s big enough if he ends up down at the goal line to win pucks. So he definitely brings a nice little attribute down there.”

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and will be the last home preseason game of 2026.