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Sharks’ Shakir Mukhamadullin Out For Season, Quentin Musty Assigned To AHL

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4:00 PM: In additional news from the Meier trade return, star Sharks prospect Musty has been assigned to the AHL per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. He will join the Barracuda for their final few games of the season and potential postseason run. Musty scored a dazzling 30 goals and 59 points in 33 games with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves this season. His year staggered a bit due to a hand injury suffered in November that forced Musty out of roughly two months of action. But he returned with intent – scoring five points in his first game back from injury and scoring 42 points in 25 games since the start of 2025. Musty is a power-forward with a great drive down the boards and a powerful shot. He’ll slot in as a high-upside addition to the Sharks’ depths for the rest of the season.

3:00 PM: The San Jose Sharks received bad news from their depth on Monday, when the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda announced that defense prospect Shakir Mukhamadullin will miss the rest of the season with an upper-body injury, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. This will include any potential run in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, which the Barracuda seem comfortably headed towards.

Mukhamadullin’s second full season in North American pros will come to an end with quiet results. He recorded nine points in each of the NHL and AHL, reaching the mark in 30 games with the Sharks and 21 with the Barracuda. His NHL scoring included the first two goals of Mukhamadullin’s career, after he managed just one assist in the first three games of his NHL career last season. He scored a much more stout 34 points in 55 AHL games last year. That performance lined up far closer to Mukhamadullin’s break-in to the AHL in 2022-23, when he scored 10 points in 12 games after joining the Barracuda following the end of the KHL season.

Mukhamadullin was an accomplished and young Russian pro in his years before San Jose. His six-foot-four frame lent itself to pro opportunity early on, and earned Mukhamadullin his KHL rookie season at the age of 18. He recorded just one assist in 27 games with Ufa that season – enough to convince the New Jersey Devils to draft him 20th overall in the ensuing NHL Draft, but still an indication of room to grow. Mukhamadullin took the steps towards that growth in his second KHL season, growing to 10 points in 39 games. He staggered back to seven points in 34 games in year three, but followed it with a career-high 25 points in 67 games of the 2022-23 KHL season. Partway through that season, New Jersey traded Mukhamadullin to the Sharks as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Timo Meier to the Devils. Winger Fabian Zetterlund and the first-round pick to select Quentin Musty joined Mukhamadullin in the move out West.

Much of the Sharks’ defensive future seemed staked on Mukhamadullin last season. But other top prospects have joined the pro flanks this season, and hot-scorer Luca Cagnoni has seemingly taken over the title of top defense prospect. That takes some heavy weight off of Mukhamadullin’s back as he looks to recover from a difficult shoulder injury. He’s a smooth-moving puck-handler who’s shown prowess at getting the puck across both blue lines and creating chances. Next season will need to bring a wave of good health and returned scoring should Mukhamadullin was to hold his standing in the Sharks organization.

Sharks' AHL Affiliate Release Rem Pitlick

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  • The San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate announced the release of veteran Rem Pitlick today. Pitlick appeared in 18 games for the San Jose Barracuda this season, picking up two goals and 13 points along the way. A veteran of five NHL seasons, Pitlick’s best results occurred during the 2021-22 campaign, where he registered 15 goals and 37 points in 66 contests split between the Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens. In 132 career NHL games, Pitlick has picked up 21 goals and 54 points, while adding an additional 138 points in the AHL. Originally a 2016 third round selection of the Nashville Predators, Pitlick will look for another opportunity to make his way back into the NHL.

San Jose Sharks Reassign Gabriel Carriere

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Apr. 4th: Unfortunately, Carriere’s first recall will end without his NHL debut, as the Sharks have reassigned him back to AHL San Jose.

Apr. 3rd: The Sharks announced they’ve recalled goaltender Gabriel Carriere from AHL San Jose. He’ll back up Georgi Romanov tonight against the Oilers while starter Alexandar Georgiev is scratched due to an upper-body injury, head coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters (including Max Miller of The Hockey News).

Carriere’s first NHL recall comes weeks after his first NHL contract. The 24-year-old Ottawa native got a two-way deal from the Sharks on deadline day to make him recall-eligible for the remainder of 2024-25. He’s been in their system on an AHL contract since the end of last season, when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Vermont.

The Sharks needed another goaltender under contract after trading backup Vítek Vaněček to the Panthers last month, and top prospect Yaroslav Askarov remains unavailable due to the lower-body injury he suffered while on an AHL assignment in mid-February. His absence is drawing to a close soon, though. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News confirmed today that Askarov traveled with the Sharks’ farm team on their road trip and should make his return in the coming days.

That paves the way for Carriere to see his name on an NHL roster and earn a big-league paycheck for the day, although he’s unlikely to see game action. It’s still been a promising season for Carriere, who was quite good while on assignment to ECHL Wichita to begin the season until his services were needed in the AHL following Askarov’s injury. He posted a 2.60 GAA, .922 SV%, three shutouts, and a 14-9-2 record in 25 appearances for Wichita. Things haven’t gone as well in the AHL with the Barracuda, where Carriere has a .893 SV% and 3.13 GAA in 19 showings with an 8-8-3 record.

Carriere will be a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights. He’s likely done well enough in the ECHL to earn a qualifying offer from San Jose, but that remains to be seen. Askarov, who signed a two-year, $4MM extension when the Sharks acquired him from the Predators last August, is the only goaltender under contract with San Jose for next season. He’s a virtual lock for their opening night roster after again excelling in the AHL and looking strong in his NHL viewings this year (.896 SV%, 1.7 GSAx, 3.10 GAA in 13 GP).

Injury Notes: Tkachuk, Guenther, Thrun, Penguins

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The Ottawa Senators will be without team captain Brady Tkachuk for a second straight game on Thursday night per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. Senators head coach Travis Green told Garrioch that there was no update on Tkachuk’s injury after his first missed game. The top-line forward continues to carry a day-to-day injury designation after sustaining an upper-body injury in the overtime period of Ottawa’s Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ottawa suffered a tough 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres without Tkachuk on Tuesday. Fabian Zetterlund held onto a top-line role, and David Perron into a second-line role, in Tkachuk’s absence. Perron has managed four goals and five points over his last 10 games, while Zetterlund has recorded just one assist – hardly enough to make up for Tkachuk’s 11 points in 15 games since the start of march. The Senators’ captain is up to 29 goals and 55 points in 71 games on the season. Tkachuk is on pace for 64 points on the season – which would be the lowest he’s scored since breaking out with 67 points in the 2021-22 campaign. But even in a down year, the Senators will need to find a way to make up for Tkachuk’s net-front presence in his absence. They currently have a firm grip of the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Utah Hockey Club forward Dylan Guenther is going to stick in the lineup despite breaking his nose in Tuesday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers, shares Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune. Guenther took a puck to the face but opted to play through Tuesday’s game, telling Fraser after that his nose is a far away from his legs after the game. He added earlier today that he had to get nine stitches and that his breathing is at about 70 percent, but neither fact will hold him out of the lineup on Thursday. Guenther has three points in his last five games, and a dazzling 26 goals and 52 points in 63 games this season. He stands as Utah’s leading goal scorer – at the young age of 21 – and should continue to contribute to Utah’s playoff race. Utah currently sits nine points out of the Western Conference’s second Wild Card, with one game in hand.
  • San Jose Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun has confirmed that he’ll be returning to the lineup on Thursday, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. Thrun has been out of the lineup since February 27th with an upper-body injury, save for making a spot start on March 8th where he reaggravated his injury. Thrun was finding his NHL legs in the games leading up to his injury, and even played in a career-high 24 minutes of action in San Jose’s February 24th loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He’s recorded 10 points, 30 penalty minutes, and a minus-16 in 52 games this season. Those marks fall just narrowly shy of his 11 points, 16 penalty minutes, and a minus-22 in 51 games last season. Thrun is expected to return to San Jose’s third pair alongside veteran Marc-Edouard Vlasic on Thursday.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins embarked on a three-game road trip on Thursday. They brought with them star Evgeni Malkin, who hasn’t played since March 23rd, while leaving behind Thomas Novak and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, per Penguins play-by-play voice Josh Getzoff. The pair of depth skaters will be forced to miss the next few games with undisclosed injuries. In the meantime, Malkin will look to make his return on Pittsburgh’s final multi-game road trip of the season. He’s continued to be a force in the Penguins lineup, with 15 goals and 46 points in 62 games this season. That’s the lowest scoring pace of Malkin’s career, though he still ranks fifth on the team in total scoring. Of the missing duo, only Joseph has managed a point – netting one assist in 24 games -while Novak has no scoring in two games with Pittsburgh. With two holes to fill, Pittsburgh is expected to enter Joona Koppanen and Ryan Shea back into the lineup.

Sharks Recall Jack Thompson

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The San Jose Sharks have made their corresponding recall after reassigning two skaters earlier this morning. The team has called up rookie defenseman Jack Thompson from the AHL. Thompson is in the midst of a hot streak in the minors, having recorded five points, a plus-two, and 11 shots on goal over his last four games. He will now return to the NHL for the first time since being reassigned to the minors on March 6th.

Thompson’s playing time this season has been nearly perfectly split between the major and minor league rosters. He made the Sharks lineup out of training camp and recorded three points in his first three games of the season. That was enough to hold onto San Jose’s extra defender role through mid-December, but Thompson was reassigned to the minors after netting just five total points through his first 14 games of the NHL season. He quickly adjusted to the minors and scored nine points across 16 games.

With San Jose’s blue-line in flux around the turn of the year, Thompson’s hot scoring quickly made him the Sharks’ de facto call-up. he bounced between the NHL and AHL lineups through January, February, and March. The frequent movements coincided with Thompson netting just one point – an NHL goal – through 18 combined games between January 27th and March 19th. His recent scoring streak has marked a resurgence from that slump, and the Sharks will now reward Thompson’s resilience with a return to the top flight.

Thompson should step directly into the lineup after Cagnoni was reassigned. He could be in store for an immediate top-four role ahead of left-shot defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who has spent the last few games playing on his off-hand. Those minutes could soon sap up, though, as more fellow blue-liners Henry Thrun, Vincent Desharnais, and Jimmy Schuldt work their way back from injuries of varying severity.

Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni, Patrick Giles

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The Sharks have reassigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni and forward Patrick Giles to AHL San Jose, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The moves indicate fellow rearguard Vincent Desharnais is likely to return tomorrow from the upper-body injury that’s kept him out of the last two games, while sending down Giles gets San Jose back down to 14 healthy forwards on the active roster after signing Cameron Lund out of college earlier this month.

Cagnoni returns to the Barracuda after receiving his first career recall on March 18. The 5’9″ lefty is receiving NHL ice time ahead of schedule after being selected in the fourth round less than two years ago. Still, he’s forced his way into consideration amid a standout offensive rookie campaign in the minors. The 20-year-old had 13-31–47 through 56 AHL games before getting called up, ranking second on the team in scoring.

His NHL debut went about as well as expected. He suited up in a couple of blowout losses but managed an even rating in last night’s 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Kings. He posted one assist through five games but was extremely involved offensively, posting seven shots on goal and 23 shot attempts. Averaging 17:37 per game, his 4.60 shot attempts per game rank fourth on San Jose this season behind Macklin Celebrini, the since-traded Jake Walman, and Tyler Toffoli. It was difficult to gauge his defensive impact in sheltered minutes, but early returns on his play-driving ability are good.

Giles, acquired from the Panthers for Vítek Vaněček earlier this month, gets demoted for the first time since the move. The 25-year-old Maryland native was a healthy scratch for the first time in his Sharks tenure last night, so it’s not unforeseen. He has a goal in eight games in a San Jose uniform, his first NHL point after going scoreless in nine games with Florida to begin the year. The 6’5″ pivot continues to struggle in the faceoff dot, winning 38% of his draws since the trade, so his utility down the middle remains limited and doesn’t make him the most appealing bottom-six option for the Sharks at present. He had just 5-2–7 in 39 games with AHL Charlotte before the trade, so the Barracuda shouldn’t be expecting a meaningful offensive impact from Giles down the stretch.

San Jose Sharks Recall Jimmy Schuldt

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Veteran defenseman Jimmy Schuldt is getting another look with the Sharks.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Schuldt from AHL San Jose; it’s his fourth recall of the month.

The 29-year-old is in his first season with the Sharks after signing a one-year, two-way deal with them last summer.  He has seen his first NHL action since the 2018-19 campaign with Vegas so from that standpoint, the choice was a good one.

Schuldt has suited up in five games for the Sharks this season, all of which have come this month.  He has been held off the scoresheet in those outings while averaging a little under 15 minutes a game of playing time.  Meanwhile, with the Barracuda, Schuldt has six goals and 14 assists in 59 outings, his second straight year of declining offensive production in the AHL.

Schuldt is expected to add to his NHL games played total tonight against the Rangers as it’s believed he’ll draw in for the injured Vincent Desharnais.  However, his recall will likely be short-lived as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays (Twitter link) that it appears that blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic will be available to play Sunday versus Los Angeles.  At that time, the emergency conditions for Schuldt’s recall will terminate, meaning he’ll either have to return to the Barracuda or be converted to one of San Jose’s four post-deadline regular recalls.

Sharks Defense Notes: Thrun, Desharnais, Vlasic

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If being on the cusp of losing 100 games over the last two seasons wasn’t bad enough, the San Jose Sharks are playing with a battered defensive core. Thankfully, they should get one of those defensemen back fairly shortly.

In an update from head coach Ryan Warsofsky, shared by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, defenseman Henry Thrun has been upgraded to a day-to-day recovery timeline. Peng adds that Thrun “probably” won’t play this weekend, but his return is nevertheless on the horizon.

Thrun suffered an upper-body injury earlier in March against the New York Islanders, and he’ll have missed eight games by the end of the weekend. He wasn’t having a stellar season by any stretch of the imagination before going down with the injury. Still, he has logged the fifth-highest average ice time for any Sharks’ blue liner who’s amassed more than 20 games played and is still on the roster. Should Thrun return by the beginning of next week, he should break his single season career-high in points (11), which he set last campaign.

Other notes from the Bay Area:

  • In another update on the Sharks’ blue line, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reported that Vincent Desharnais is questionable for San Jose’s contests this weekend. According to Pashelka’s report, Desharnais, one of the newest Sharks’ defensive core members, is dealing with a “fairly significant upper-body injury.” Since moving to San Jose after a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Desharnais hasn’t registered a point as a Shark in seven games, despite averaging 17:49 of ice time per game.
  • In a separate report from Peng, the oldest defenseman on the Sharks’ blue line, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury but could play this weekend. Vlasic is no stranger to missing time with injury, as he’s only featured in 17 of San Jose’s 71 games this season. Still, despite averaging his lowest ATOI since the 2021-22 campaign, the 19-year veteran has already blocked 29 shots in those 17 contests.

Sharks Sign Noah Beck

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The Sharks announced today that they’ve signed defenseman Noah Beck to a one-year, entry-level contract starting for the 2025-26 season. Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal said yesterday the signing was likely to happen. Per PuckPedia, Beck’s deal carries a $975K cap hit and breaks down to a $877.5K NHL salary, a $97.5K signing bonus, and an $85K minors salary. He’ll join AHL San Jose on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.

Beck, 24, spent four years with Clarkson before transferring to Arizona State last summer for his fifth and final collegiate seasons. The decision paid dividends, as Beck posted a career-high 33 points (5 G, 28 A) on the upstart Sun Devils to lead their blue line in scoring. That was enough to get him selected to the All-NCHC Second Team as Arizona State narrowly missed out on a berth in the national tournament.

The 6’3″ lefty was quite inconsistent over the bulk of his collegiate career with Clarkson. While he combined for just 4-7–11 in 50 games during his freshman and senior seasons, he led their rearguards in scoring in his sophomore and junior campaigns with showings of 22 and 23 points, respectively. He was named to the ECAC’s All-Academic Team in those two strong showings. He ends his NCAA career with 20-69–89 in 161 games with a +10 rating.

That inconsistency at Clarkson was enough to scare off the Blues, who selected Beck in the seventh round of the 2020 draft, from giving him an ELC. His exclusive signing rights expired on Aug. 15 last year, making him an unrestricted free agent and free for any team to sign.

On the older end of the prospect scale, Beck doesn’t have a clear pathway to NHL minutes in arguably the league’s deepest pool. With emerging lefties like Luca Cagnoni, Sam Dickinson, and Leo Sahlin Wallenius ahead of him on the Sharks’ depth chart, he’s likely destined for a full-time AHL role and doesn’t project as much more than a replacement-level defender at his peak.

Beck will be a restricted free agent in 2026. The Sharks now have 28 contracts signed for next season.

Sharks Notes: Eklund, Vlasic, Thrun, Lund, Wennberg

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Sharks forward William Eklund has had discussions about playing for Sweden in the upcoming World Championship in his native Sweden, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News.  The 22-year-old is having the best season of his young career with 15 goals and 35 assists through 64 games, good for a share for first in team scoring with Macklin Celebrini.  That should have him in line to play a prominent role for his country with several of Sweden’s top players expected to be unavailable due to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Elsewhere in San Jose:

  • Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is expected to get more imaging done soon on the upper-body injury that is plaguing him once again, Pashelka relays in the same column. The veteran is dealing with a recurrence of the injury that kept him out in the first half of the campaign.  Vlasic has played in just 17 games this season where he has two assists and 29 blocks in 15:28 of ice time per game, which is the second-lowest average of his career.  Head coach David Warsofsky indicated that it’s too early to know if this injury will be a season-ender for the 37-year-old.
  • Pashelka also mentions that blueliner Henry Thrun is expected to return to practice on Monday. He was initially listed as week-to-week after suffering an upper-body injury on March 8th.  Through 52 games this season, the 24-year-old has a goal and nine assists in just under 17 minutes of playing time.
  • While recently signed forward Cameron Lund is burning the first year of his entry-level contract this season, he’s not expected to report to the team for a few more days, Pashelka reports (Twitter link).  Lund had 40 points in 37 games at Northeastern this season and should get into at least a few games down the stretch.
  • Center Alexander Wennberg should suit up tonight against Boston, reports Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link). He has been dealing with a lingering lower-body issue lately although it hasn’t caused him to miss any time recently.  Wennberg has eight goals and 23 assists through 64 appearances in his first season with the Sharks while logging over 18 minutes a night of action.

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