{"id":556752,"date":"2026-04-20T15:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556752\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:24:19","slug":"sharks-rumors-where-san-jose-is-looking-to-upgrade-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556752\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks rumors: Where San Jose is looking to upgrade this offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Jose Sharks took a significant step forward in 2025-26<\/a>, but it wasn’t quite enough to break a long playoff drought that has now reached seven seasons.<\/p>\n

Still, the team went from a 20-win, dead last finish in 2024-25 to competing for a Stanley Cup Playoff berth right until the bitter end this year, so by all accounts, the campaign was a success.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons the Sharks were so much better this season \u2014 besides a historic 115-point showing from superstar Macklin Celebrini<\/a> \u2014 was a revamped defensive unit; general manager Mike Grier brought in veterans Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg in free agency, which made a significant positive impact.<\/p>\n

Expectations will be even higher in 2026-27 after San Jose won 39 games and finished just four points out of a playoff spot, and as hockey insider David Pagnotta reported late last week, management is looking to make the blue line even better<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re going to look to focus on D, and regroup that D-core,\u201d Pagnotta said on a recent episode of Daily Faceoff’s DFO Rundown Insider Edition.<\/p>\n

It’s obvious that the blue line is going to look a lot different in the fall, as four everyday players will be unrestricted free agents on July 1 \u2014 Klingberg, Nick Leddy, Mario Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais.<\/p>\n

The only defensemen under contract for next season are Orlov, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson, and it’s likely that that trio will all be back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want a veteran piece that’s controllable,\u201d Pagnotta continued, while pointing to a player like New Jersey Devils’ Dougie Hamilton or Toronto Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also want somebody in his early to mid 20, also controllable, that’s going to help grow with this young core as well. A veteran guy and a young piece, maybe another on that blue line, but they are definitely going to focus on the D-core and revamping it for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

With more than $41 million in salary cap flexibility, and a definite need for upgrades and depth in San Jose, it could be another busy summer for Grier and the front office.<\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks took a significant step forward in 2025-26, but it wasn’t quite enough to break a long playoff drought that has now reached seven seasons. Still, the team went from a 20-win, dead last finish in 2024-25 to competing for a Stanley Cup Playoff berth right until the bitter end this year, so by all accounts, the campaign was a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Sharks took a significant step forward in 2025-26, but it wasn’t quite enough to break…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[5,4,107,519,168,5306,5305,1780],"class_list":{"0":"post-556752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-nhl-rumors","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-sharks","13":"tag-sanjose","14":"tag-sanjosesharks","15":"tag-sharks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116437730217700701","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}