To some surprise, the Sharks are turning to Alex Nedeljkovic on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights instead of Yaroslav Askarov, their 23-year-old goalie of the future. The 29-year-old Nedeljkovic signed with San Jose in the offseason after spending his previous two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nedeljkovic posted a 3.12 GAA and .894 SV% in 38 appearances last season (14-15-5). The Sharks have some exciting young talent on their roster, but still enter Thursday's contest as +180 home underdogs against a Golden Knights team coming off a 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night.

Afanasyev was battling for an opening night roster spot on the Sharks but will likely start the 2025-26 campaign sidelined due to a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old spent the entirety of the 2024-25 season in the KHL, where he scored 21 points (7G / 14A) in 53 games with CSKA Moscow. He is considered day-to-day.

Thompson is battling a lower-body injury and will likely be unavailable for San Jose's season opener after being announced day-to-day on Tuesday. The 23-year-old defenseman played a career-high 31 games with the Sharks last season, tallying 10 points (4G / 6A).

San Jose has acquired the contract of Ryan Ellis, and a 2026 6th-round pick from Philadelphia for Carl Grundstrom and Artem Guryev. Ellis is in the 7th year of an eight-year, $50 million contract, but is not eligible to play due to a significant back injury, making this trade a salary dump for Philadelphia. Ellis's last NHL appearance was in the 2021-22 season.

San Jose has their first significant injury of the 2025-26 season after it was announced Colin White is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old's hopes of cracking the opening night roster were cut short on Monday after he appeared in three games with the Sharks in 2024-25. The 28-year-old is entering his 10th NHL season and 2nd in San Jose.

After one preseason game, John Klingberg is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss the Sharks' upcoming game on Friday. The 32-year-old was signed to a one-year, $4 million contract in the offseason after appearing in 30 games with Edmonton in 2024-25 across the regular season and playoffs.

Misa was the 2nd overall selection in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with San Jose on Wednesday. The 18-year-old is expected to compete for a spot on the Sharks' opening night roster after an impressive 62-goal, 134-point campaign with Saginaw (OHL) across 65 games last season.

Price and his $10.5 million contract have been acquired by the San Jose Sharks on Friday, alongside a 2026 5th-round pick for defenseman Gannon Laroque. This move is nothing more than a salary dump for Montreal and allows San Jose to stay even more above the cap floor than they already were, in case of trades down the line. Price played his last NHL game on April 29th, 2022 and is not expected to ever return from a significant knee injury.

Olausson, 22, was a first round pick (No.28 overall) in 2021 and has appeared in just four NHL games since then. In 2024-25, he spent most of the season in AHL, where he had 11 goals and 15 assists (26 points) in 61 games. He'll likely see some NHL action at some point during the 2025-26 season, but will likely start the year back in the AHL.

Skinner signed with the Oilers last summer but struggled in 2024-25, recording 29 points (16G / 13) while averaging just 13:00 TOI/gm. In San Jose he should have a larger role, likely in the top-6 and will look to get back to 20-plus goals for the 11th time in his career.

San Jose acquired some grit and toughness late Thursday night when they announced they had traded 24-year-old defenseman Henry Thrun to Toronto for forward Ryan Reaves. Reaves is a 38-year-old enforcer entering his 16th NHL season and should find a spot in San Jose's bottom-six. He struggled to stick with Toronto last season, collecting just two assists and 28 PIMs in 35 games played.

San Jose added to their goaltending depth on Thursday after adding 25-year-old netminder Jakub Skarek on a one-year, two-way contract. The Czech goaltender made his NHL debut in 2024-25 with the Islanders, but struggled with a 0-1-0 record, .872 SV% and 3.94 GAA. He is expected to start the 2025-26 season with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL).

After four seasons in St. Louis, Nick Leddy was placed on waivers by St. Louis and claimed by San Jose on Thursday. The 34-year-old smooth-skating defenseman is in the final year of a four-year, $16 million contract ($4 million AAV). He will add another veteran presence to San Jose's blueline after they signed Dmitry Orlov earlier in the afternoon.

After two seasons in Carolina, Orlov inks a two-year pact with a young Sharks term. Orlov brings 13-years of NHL experience and is coming off of a 28-point season (6G / 22A) in 76 games. The veteran is a solid two-way blueliner, who will join other veterans like Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg and Nick Leddy in San Jose.

Bowers was a first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft but the 25-year-old has not been able to establish himself at the NHL level, limited to only 13 career games. He had 17 points (3G / 14A) in 65 games with the Utica Comets (AHL) last season.

Regenda spent 2024-25 split between San Diego (AHL) and San Jose (AHL), but has found a home in the Barracuda after signing a one-year, two-way contract to remain in San Jose on Wednesday. The 25-year-old is expected to return to San Jose (AHL) for the start of the 2025-26 season, where he had 13 goals and 41 points in 72 games played last season.

After four successful seasons in Cleveland (AHL), Cole Clayton will join his second NHL organization after signing a one-year, two-way contract with San Jose. The 25-year-old defenseman appeared in 63 games with Cleveland last season, picking up a goal, 15 points and 37 PIMs. He will start 2025-26 with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL).

San Jose added another depth piece for the Barracuda (AHL) on Tuesday after signing Samuel Laberge to a one-year, two-way contract. The 28-year-old forward struggled to find any sort of offensive touch in Utica (AHL) last season, scoring just three goals, four points and 76 PIMs in 38 games played.

San Jose added to their depth in the minors by signing 26-year-old forward Jimmy Huntington to a one-year, two-way contract. The Quebec native was limited to only four games in 2024-25 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) due to injury, but still has 17 goals and 37 points across 71 games in the AHL in the last two seasons.