November 21, 2025 | 11:04am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

SHARKS STICKING TO PLAN, HAVE PIECES THEY CAN DEAL

Mario Ferraro, defenceman

The San Jose Sharks are flirting with the playoff picture, right now, having won two straight and are one point back of a wildcard spot.

With a 10-8-3 record through 21 games, the Sharks are playing much better hockey than in previous seasons and are being led by their young stars, primarily Macklin Celebrini, who is currently third in the NHL in points with 31.

As the club continues to make strides this season, they do no seem to be interested in deviating from their plan simply because they are performing better than originally anticipated.

During Wednesday’s episode of “DFO Rundown Inside Edition,” Irfaan Gaffar and David Pagnotta discussed San Jose’s gameplan and how they are still willing to move some of their pieces, presumably on the blueline, to add extra young depth and draft capital.

“I don’t think it’s changed, by any stretch,” Pagnotta said. “Look, there’s a reason why they added contracts like Ryan Ellis and Carey Price (to stay above the cap floor if contracts are moved out). They have assets they’re willing to move. They sign a couple defenceman to one-year contracts, brought in Nick Leddy, as well, because the plan was, going into this season, this is the next step in our rebuild, we’re going to do better, but we still want to fill our cupboard up, we’re still going through these rebuild, steps.”

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Defencemen Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, John Klingberg, Vincent Desharnais and Leddy are all playing on expiring contracts and can become unrestricted free agents next July, and all five are trade targets this season.

Forwards Alex Wennberg, Ryan Reaves and Jeff Skinner are also pending UFAs, as is goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

Wennberg’s name popped up in trade speculation last month, as teams inquired, and Pagnotta noted that was because “some teams were just trying to figure out options.”

As for the five defencemen, Pagnotta stated “all five of those guys are going to generate interest as the season moves along.”