{"id":674302,"date":"2026-09-29T12:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/674302\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T12:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:51:19","slug":"sharks-ostapchuk-talks-more-competitive-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/674302\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks’ Ostapchuk Talks ‘More Competitive’ Mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zack Ostapchuk<\/a> has made a name for himself as a workhorse 4C for the San Jose Sharks, but it didn\u2019t come easy.<\/p>\n

The former Ottawa Senator<\/a> was acquired in the Fabian Zetterlund<\/a> trade, and fans initially reacted negatively. Zetterlund had become a fan favorite and looked to be a solid player for the future. GM Mike Grier<\/a> told reporters he envisioned Ostapchuk bolstering depth at center ice when he made the move.<\/p>\n

But now, two years later, Ostapchuk has won over Sharks fans and become a vital piece of this season\u2019s success. That mindset shift came early, when he fought\u00a0Washington Capitals<\/a>\u00a0forward Tom Wilson<\/a> in the 24-25 season and earned his respect.<\/p>\n

After bouncing between the AHL and NHL, the San Jose Sharks center has learned valuable lessons. His demeanor hasn\u2019t changed, but his mindset has.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I\u2019d come up and get sent down, it\u2019s not a great feeling. You want to stay in the NHL, but I think it makes me more competitive. I think I got a lot more competitive out of it,\u201d Ostapchuk exclusively told SHD. \u201cI don\u2019t want to give my spot up ever again, right? That\u2019s ingrained in me now that you\u2019re never safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of head coach Ryan Warsofsky\u2019s<\/a> biggest motivational points is wanting his team to compete non-stop. Part of his for Cs are plastered everywhere around the Sharks facility and in the locker room, both at Sharks Ice and SAP Center.<\/p>\n

For Ostapchuk, playing as the San Jose Sharks\u2019 4C will be an important role this season. He\u2019ll also see time on the penalty kill, where he\u2019s shown a strong ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got to play your hardest every night because there are people that are on your heels and want your job,\u201d Ostapchuk said. \u201cI think protecting that and trying to just work your way up the lineup or whatever it may be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ostapchuk will have an added role this season in team toughness and intimidation. With Ryan Reaves<\/a> retiring, the Sharks will have to fill the void in team bonding and on-ice intimidation. Ostapchuk could become a team leader in both categories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re obviously going to miss Reavo. I mean, he was one of the biggest presences in the league. He meant a lot to our group. He was a presence, but I think yeah, it\u2019s just going to be a collective effort,\u201d Ostapchuk said. \u201cI think we brought in a lot of toughness, a lot of team toughness. I think we\u2019re just gonna be a team that nobody pushes around. We\u2019ll stick up for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ostapchuk has become a driver of play on the fourth line. His skating stands out<\/a> compared to other fourth-liners in the league. Before Saturday\u2019s 4-2 preseason win, the San Jose Sharks center said the game was a launching point for a good season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you want to come into the season hot. With a shorter camp, it\u2019s important that if we come out hot, you can jump on other teams if they\u2019re not,\u201d Ostapchuk said. \u201cIt\u2019s super important to hit the ground running. You don\u2019t want to be that team that\u2019s chasing the standings.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Florida Panthers<\/a> in town on Thursday, there could be some fireworks right away, especially after last season\u2019s game, when goalies Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a> and Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> got into a goalie fight.<\/p>\n

When asked whether any bad blood might spill over, Ostapchuk smiled and said, \u201cMaybe Ned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bobrovsky has moved on to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but for Ostapchuk, the Panthers as a whole are a tough, physical team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBob\u2019s gone, but they\u2019re a rough, tough team, and I think we want to be like that too. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be a physical game, and yeah, very competitive,\u201d Ostapchuk said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zack Ostapchuk has made a name for himself as a workhorse 4C for the San Jose Sharks, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[7010,57,5,747,4,25,7590,519,168,5306,5305,1780,26339,24660,500],"class_list":["post-674302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose-sharks","tag-fabian-zetterlund","tag-florida-panthers","tag-hockey","tag-mike-grier","tag-nhl","tag-ottawa-senators","tag-ryan-reaves","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sanjose","tag-sanjosesharks","tag-sharks","tag-sharks-trade","tag-sj-sharks","tag-zack-ostapchuk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117354422827168384","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674302","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=674302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}