Hockey is officially back as the San Jose Sharks have completed their first day of training camp.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky did his usual high-paced drills and worked his players hard. GM Mike Grier oversaw everything and both addressed the media following the three on-ice practices.

Warsofsky looks to be more systematic and results-based for his second camp

Now in his second year as the Sharks coach, Warsofsky has slightly adjusted the way he runs his training camps. Part of that is due to the roster construction, and the other is experience.

“[I’m] more comfortable going into year two. [I did] a lot of work in the summer on how other teams play systems, details,” Warsofsky said. “Make a few changes and nothing too drastic, but some smaller details in our system. We kind of got at that a little bit today. We’ll get at it again tomorrow.”

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Late in the 24-25 season, the Sharks made some tactical changes that appeared to help the young team. Veteran forward Tyler Toffoli also confirmed that the changes Warsofsky made leading into the 2025-26 season should also help.

“It gave us more opportunity to get pucks out of our own end with more numbers,” Warsofsky said. “Our back end has improved this year. We have some guys that can break out pucks in [John] Klingberg, [Nick] Leddy, and [Dmitry] Orlov that have been around for a long time in this league. It’s something that will probably be pretty close to what we were doing.”

Warsofsky also talked about how much more he’s watching players work to earn their spot on the NHL roster this season. Both Grier and Warsofsky have stated that they won’t block young players from earning an NHL spot.

“Mike [Grier] was a big, big factor in that. You earn everything you get here. You earn your ice time, power play, penalty kill, [or] call-up,” Warsofsky said. “What you do on the ice, what you do in the video room, your attention to detail.

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Goodrow says the theme of #SJSharks training camp and message from Grier yesterday to the team was “Earn It”.

Sharks are wearing shirts with that slogan in the back— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 18, 2025

“We’re done handing out opportunities, just because you’re a first-round pick, or maybe you deserve a chance, because there’s no one else really. Now we have depth. We have internal competition up and down our organization, and that’s exactly where I know Mike wanted to get to.”

As Oct. 9 gets closer, line combinations and position battles will become a much closer watch.

Grier’s message is simple: it is time to take a step forward

Mike Grier didn’t sugarcoat what he told his San Jose Sharks roster. In a meeting on Wednesday night, Grier emphasized that he doesn’t want to be in the running for the No. 1 pick.

Grier’s ‘Earn it!’ slogan has seemingly resonated with the group, and after one day, the message appears to be received.

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“I think that’s how it should be in the NHL or the NBA or NFL,” Grier said. “When you come to training camp, you’ve got to earn your spot. It’s gotten a little bit better every year.”

Grier had a busy off-season, making multiple moves, bringing in a mixture of veterans and younger free agents. The roster construction still won’t prevent young players from a potential NHL spot, but he likes the makeup.

“From our standpoint, it’s try and take a step forward as a group. Start earning everything. Earning respect around the league, from other teams, players, coaches, officials, fan bases, and all that.”

Grier was happy with the tempo of the first practice of the season, stating that he felt every player was excited to play.

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“I really liked the pace, compete, and physicality of the practice today. I think guys went out there for the first day of camp [and] really got after it, and we’re physical. The intensity and the compete level was high,” Grier said. “I was really happy with that. For the group, I think they got the message, and I think they’re all excited out there.”

The Sharks will repeat the same schedule tomorrow, but the timings of each group will change. Team Teal and Team White scrimmaged today. Team Black will scrimmage Team White on Friday.

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