- San Jose Sharks’ veteran forward Alexander Wennberg is a game-time decision for tomorrow’s game, per Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka. Pashelka goes on to note that there is optimism he will be able to suit up. In 64 games this season, the 30-year-old Wennberg has put up 31 points. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky added that the injury is something Wennberg has been dealing with for some time. Wennberg had been serving in a bottom-six role until the trade of Mikael Granlund to the Stars in February. Wennberg has since been serving as the team’s second-line center. He has one year remaining on his two year, $10MM AAV contract he signed last July.
- On Monday, the Los Angeles Kings honored former president and GM Dean Lombardi, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. After his first stint as a general manager fizzled out with the Sharks, Lombardi oversaw tremendous success in his time in LA, which resulted in two Stanley Cup winning teams. Lombardi saw success in developing draft picks (perhaps most notably with Drew Doughty) but also made aggressive trades for veterans like Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Since being let go by the team in 2017, Lombardi has served as an executive with the Flyers. During Monday’s celebration, as Friedman notes, Lombardi took time to state that he believes the game is getting too expensive for some children to play. He called it a “grassroots problem” that excludes some athletes from being able to pick up the game.
Sharks Rumors
Sharks Sign Cameron Lund To Entry-Level Contract
The Sharks announced today they’ve signed forward Cameron Lund to a three-year entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal begins immediately and will see him report to San Jose to finish the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports.
Lund, who checks in at 6’2″ and 195 lbs, was picked up by San Jose early in the second round (No. 34 overall) of the 2022 draft. The 20-year-old pivot, whose junior season with Northeastern University ended last night, led the school with 18 goals and finished second on the Huskies in assists (22) and points (40) in 37 appearances. All were career highs.
A two-time nominee for the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player (2024, 2025), Lund was also named to the Hockey East conference’s All-Rookie team in his freshman campaign in 2022-23. He ends his tenure at Northeastern with 36-57–93 in 107 games, tied for 26th in NCAA scoring over the last three years.
The sharp-shooting Massachusetts native would likely stand as a top-five prospect on more than a few teams, but he’s the No. 11 prospect in the league’s deepest system, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opined in February. However, he is the No. 2 ranked center in the Sharks’ pool who’s not currently on the NHL roster (Will Smith was ranked No. 1, while Macklin Celebrini wasn’t included as he’s played the entire year in a top-six role). Most of San Jose’s “next wave” is coming on the wings, defense, and in goal.
His ceiling likely isn’t much higher than that of a middle-six scoring forward – likely a third-liner, Wheeler opines – but he enters the Sharks’ ranks with a pro-ready game that should see him get an audition down the stretch. San Jose still has 13 games left on their regular season schedule, so it could be a longer run than usual for Lund compared to other late-season additions out of college.
Since Lund’s deal goes into effect immediately, it runs through the 2026-27 season – after which he’ll be an RFA. San Jose now has 47 contracts on their books, three short of the maximum.
Sharks Recall Lucas Carlsson
The Sharks have recalled defenseman Lucas Carlsson from AHL San Jose, according to the team’s media relations department. Jimmy Schuldt was returned to the Barracuda in a corresponding move.
Carlsson, 27, joined the Sharks on a two-year, two-way deal last summer. He finished last season in the Panthers organization on the injured list after ACL surgery and subsequently began the 2024-25 campaign on the non-roster list. San Jose’s medical staff cleared his return in early November, after which he cleared waivers and headed down to the minors. Since returning, the offensive-minded lefty has 10-13–23 in 44 games with 26 PIMs and a minus-one rating for the Barracuda.
The 6’0″ Swede has 60 NHL games to his name with the Blackhawks and Panthers, although he hasn’t appeared in a contest since November 2022. A fourth-round pick by Chicago back in 2016, he’s posted 3-8–11 with a plus-six rating while averaging just 12:50 per game.
Usually a capable minor-league presence, Carlsson is two years removed from leading the AHL in goals by defensemen with 20 in 61 games with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte. He’ll now get the chance to slot into the San Jose lineup, likely on a pairing with Timothy Liljegren, as Jan Rutta (lower body, indefinite), Henry Thrun (upper body, week-to-week), and Marc-Édouard Vlasic (back, day-to-day) remain injured. Because they need Carlsson to ice six healthy defenders against Boston this weekend, he qualifies as an emergency recall.
Heading back down in Schuldt, who’s frequented the transaction wire this month. First recalled before the trade deadline on March 3, he was returned to the AHL on deadline day to maintain his eligibility for the Calder Cup Playoffs. He’s now been recalled and reassigned twice since then. The 29-year-old lefty has no points and a minus-one rating in five showings this year, averaging 14:28 per game while controlling 44.4% of shot attempts at even strength.
Askarov Could Return To Practice Next Week
- Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is hoping to be cleared to skate with the AHL’s Barracuda next week as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has a 3.10 GAA and a .896 SV% in 13 games with the Sharks this season and is likely to be recalled at some point down the stretch to get a few more games in with the big club.
San Jose Sharks Recall Jimmy Schuldt
According to a team announcement, the San Jose Sharks have recalled defenseman Jimmy Schuldt from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. Without any corresponding roster move, Schuldt’s recall brings the Sharks to eight defensemen on the active roster and 25 players total.
The transaction ends a one-day stint in the AHL for Schdult. Since March 3rd, Schuldt has only spent four days off the Sharks’ active roster. His relatively frequent stay with San Jose of late allowed Schuldt to play in his first NHL game since the 2018-19 season. Throughout March, Schuldt has appeared in four games for the Sharks, posting a -1 rating while averaging 14:36 of ice time per game.
With that, Schuldt has been far more active in the AHL over the last few seasons. Schuldt has never been a high-scoring defenseman throughout his professional career, but he’s maintained a certain level of consistency.
Since debuting with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019 after finishing his collegiate career at St. Cloud State University, Schuldt has scored 35 goals and 126 points in 345 AHL contests split between the Chicago Wolves, Henderson Silver Knights, Coachella Valley Firebirds, and Barracuda. That output brings his career point-per-game rate to 0.37, just above his 0.33 pace this year.
Sharks Recall Luca Cagnoni For NHL Debut
The Sharks announced they’ve recalled defenseman Luca Cagnoni from AHL San Jose. The 20-year-old will make his NHL debut when San Jose faces the Hurricanes on Thursday since the team reassigned Jimmy Schuldt to the minors in a corresponding move.
It’s a quick ascension for Cagnoni, whom the Sharks nabbed in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. The pick was almost universally lauded as a steal – while some were concerned about how projectable the lefty’s 5’9″, 181-lb frame was to the professional level, his offensive dominance with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks had some public scouting outfits tout him as high as an early second-round talent.
Cagnoni returned to the Winterhawks for his post-draft season but signed his entry-level deal last May, paving the way for the December-born defender to jump to the pros with the Barracuda for 2024-25. The British Columbia native has dominated out of the gate, posting 13-34–47 in 56 games to rank second in scoring among AHL defensemen behind veteran Derrick Pouliot. While by no means defensively dominant – his minus-six rating is tied for fifth-worst on the club – he’s been a major part of the Barracuda’s resurgence as San Jose’s farm team looks to finish above .500 for the first time since 2018-19.
He’ll presumably take Schuldt’s third-pairing spot in his debut later this week, meaning hulking 6’7″ righty Vincent Desharnais should serve as quite the insular partner for Cagnoni’s first taste of top-level hockey. Schuldt, 29, has no points and a minus-one rating in four games for the Sharks this year in his first taste of NHL hockey since debuting with the Golden Knights in 2019.
In the interim, the Sharks hope Cagnoni can replace some of the puck-moving ability they lost when second-year defenseman Henry Thrun exited the lineup earlier this month with an upper-body injury. Cagnoni, whose recall amounts to the third of San Jose’s four allotted post-deadline recalls, is under contract through the 2026-27 season at a cap hit of $895K.
Cagnoni checked in as the No. 5 prospect in the Sharks’ league-leading system in this year’s midseason rankings by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Could Sharks Walk Away From Kovalenko This Summer?
- Following the recent acknowledgment that contract talks for Sharks winger Nikolai Kovalenko won’t start until after the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wonders if the 25-year-old will be in San Jose’s plans moving forward. Since returning from a lower-body injury earlier this month, he’s only logging 11 minutes a game and was healthy scratched on Saturday. With San Jose getting a look at some other players, it’s possible that they could determine that he’s not the right fit moving forward while his arbitration eligibility could also be a dissuading factor. Kovalenko will be owed a qualifying offer of just under $814K and has 17 points in 49 games this season.
Still No Timeline For Couture's Return, Kovalenko Contract Talks To Come In Offseason
- Out of the lineup for nearly 14 months now, there remains no timetable for Sharks center Logan Couture to return to the ice, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 35-year-old last played on January 31st, 2024, and has been dealing with osteitis pubis since then. With just 15 games left on the season and the fact he hasn’t returned to the ice, it’s looking like Couture won’t suit up at all in the 2024-25 campaign. He’s signed through the 2026-27 campaign at a $8MM cap charge.
- Still with San Jose, speaking with Responsible Gambling’s Sergei Demidov, former NHL winger Andrei Kovalenko provided an update on his son’s contractual situation. He noted that the Sharks planned to discuss a new contract with Nikolai Kovalenko’s agent during the 4 Nations break but when the 25-year-old was injured, those plans were shelved. Instead, the sides agreed to push contract talks until after the season. Kovalenko has six goals and 11 assists in 49 games between Colorado and San Jose in 2024-25 in just under 12 minutes a night of playing time.
Sharks Recall Zack Ostapchuk
The San Jose Sharks have recalled recently-acquired center prospect Zack Ostapchuk to the NHL. The Sharks acquired Ostapchuk in a Trade Deadline move that sent Fabian Zetterlund, Tristen Robins, and a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor, and a 2025 second-round pick. This roster move will set Ostapchuk up to play his first game as a member of the Sharks organization.
Ostapchuk split the early season between Ottawa’s NHL and AHL rosters. He didn’t originally make the NHL roster out of training camp, but earned a call-up just three weeks into the season after scoring five points in his first six AHL games. Ottawa brought him up for their October 29th matchup against the St. Louis Blues, where Ostapchuk recorded an assist as part of an 8-1 Ottawa win. He went without any scoring in five games after that, prompting a return to the minor leagues that Ostapchuk quickly forced Ottawa to reverse – on the back of three points in three more AHL games. He was brought back to the NHL roster on November 25th and went on to tally one goal and two assists across 40 NHL appearances, while operating off of Ottawa’s fourth-line.
The Senators again returned Ostapchuk to the minor leagues on February 24th. It was in the AHL that he finished out his tenure in the Senators organization, which allowed him to be immediately assigned to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda following his deadline move. San Jose will now follow in the footsteps of the Senators, and bring Ostapchuk up to the NHL roster on the back of three points in his last seven AHL games.
Ottawa drafted Ostapchuk with the 39th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft – drawn to his full-sized frame and leadership role with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. Ostapchuk followed his draft selection with two more seasons in juniors, and ultimately totaled 134 in 187 games and five seasons in the WHL. He made his pro debut last season and spent the bulk of the year with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, where he managed 28 points in 69 games. He’s far surpassed that point production this year, with 11 points in 15 AHL games. Ostapchuk also served as one of Belleville’s alternate captains this year, at just 21 years old. It will be that boosted scoring and leadership presence that San Jose looks to tease out with this move.
Noah Gregor Cleared To Play Following Visa Issues
- Noah Gregor will kick off his second stint with the Sharks tonight after resolving his work visa issues, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. Gregor, acquired from the Senators in the deadline day Fabian Zetterlund deal, was unavailable for San Jose’s last two games while getting his documentation sorted. The 26-year-old played parts of four seasons for the Sharks from 2019-20 to 2022-23, compiling 26-25–51 in 178 appearances for the club. He’d struggled in Ottawa this year after signing in the Canadian capital as a free agent last summer, posting 4-2–6 in 40 games with a -12 rating.