Nick Leddy, meet Macklin Celebrini.
“I don’t know if you saw, but he danced me and I fell, so that was not a good start by me,” Leddy said on Thursday, laughing, the first day of San Jose Sharks’ training camp.
Celebrini gets Leddy going the wrong way pic.twitter.com/okTgxuLfrn
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) September 18, 2025
“But it goes back to his work ethic. You look at on the ice, off the ice, he’s one of the first guys out there, one of the last guys off and it’s a sign of a true leader,” Leddy said. “I’ve seen many captains do that throughout the years, and he’s a guy that is going to be around a long time. He is where he is because of that work ethic and drive.”
That same work ethic and drive has gotten Leddy far in his career, as he tries to bounce back from an injury-plagued season with the St. Louis Blues.
The San Jose Sharks picked the 34-year-old up off waivers at the beginning of July. The left-hander has spent most of his 15 seasons in the NHL with the Blues and the New York Islanders, and for most of his career, has been a solid top-four defenseman.
Leddy talked about getting waived, what he and the other new veteran defensemen that the San Jose Sharks have acquired bring to the team, and more.
Leddy, on getting waived by his long-time team…
That was a bit of a shock. I think at the end of the day, change is always hard. But everybody has been extremely great here. They’ve made the process super-easy on me, and that’s obviously greatly appreciated. The hockey world is such a small, small world that it makes it easy to have that change, but initially, it’s obviously hard at times, but there’s a lot of excitement as well.
On a difficult last year…
Definitely some tough times last year, frustrating times. But that’s when you lean back on your friends and your teammates, and and in St Louis, they were great throughout that whole process.
On what veterans like he, Dmitry Orlov, and John Klingberg bring to the San Jose Sharks…
Experience. You look at all three of our games, or our how we play the game, we make that good first breakout pass, we have skill, good skaters. With the skill on this team and the work ethic, you want to get the puck in that skills’ hands as quick as possible. And I think we’ll be able to do that.
On the leadership that San Jose Sharks management wants from this vet defensive trio…
With our experience and the teams we’ve been on, we can definitely add that on the ice for sure, and even off the ice. I think that always depends on the person. A guy like me, I’m not going to be always the talkative one, but if someone wants to come up to me and ask questions, or we can talk about the game or shift, definitely love to do that.
On his impression of coach Ryan Warsofsky…
Today was my first day meeting him. It was great, good first day. It was hard, but first days are always hard. Adrenaline’s high, nerves are there. Even after 15 years of this, still have nerves on the first day. It’s definitely a lot of excitement. Looking forward to keep going.
On Celebrini, Will Smith, and Michael Misa…
Incredible talents. You look at all three of them, and they all have a ton of drive as well on the side and work ethic, and you see why they’re so good. Those are some traits of the best players in the world, and I’m definitely looking forward to being on their team this year.
On what stood out for Sam Dickinson…
Obviously, very talented. This was the first day today where I’ve seen everyone. So a lot of skill, very good size, a few things that stood out about Dickey. He made some great breakouts today. Really good passing and very good defending.
Watch the full interview here