Now that we're approximately a quarter of the way through the season, it’s a good time to look at the individual players on the Sharks and give grades for how their seasons have gone. Since there are many players to cover, I will split this article into three parts: forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders, along with my overall grade for the Sharks.
Additionally, I won't be grading players not currently on the Sharks roster or on IR. Let's get into it.
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov - Grade A+
Askarov has been a big reason for the Sharks' success this season and has been their 2nd most important player behind Celebrini. He has stolen multiple games this season and flashes franchise goaltender upside. It’s not a stretch to say he could be the Sharks' best goaltender since Evgeni Nabokov by season's end. Askarov gets an A+ despite a ghastly start to the year; he has bounced back to post a 910% through 16 games with nine wins, and is a dark-horse threat to challenge for the Calder. If the Sharks make the playoffs, he could actually take it home. That's if he can maintain a strong level of play and not revert to his early-season October form. Overall, the Sharks look to have their franchise netminder in place for the future.
Alex Nedelkjovic - Grade B-
Nedeljkovic has been solid for the Sharks; he has posted a 902 save percentage through 10 games, and, like Askarov, his play has improved after a tough start to the year and has cleaned up his puck play, which plagued him through October. He should be asked to play on a less frequent basis, given Askarov's ascent, but he will still likely crack 30 games for the Sharks this year. Overall, he is a solid veteran Backup and stylistically a good mentor for Askarov.
The San Jose Sharks - Grade A+
Through 25 games, the Sharks get an A+. I don’t think you could have expected much better given their recent results. Simply being in the race at this point is a massive improvement, and the Sharks definitely look ahead of schedule in their rebuild. Will it translate to playoff success this season? Probably not, but they're only a point out of a wild-card spot. Since their 0-4-2 start, they are 12-6-1, winning half of their games. If they keep this pace, the Playoffs should be in reach. They have been propped up by insanely hot goaltending and are still getting outplayed most nights, but with an Elite talent like Macklin Celebrini in the fold, anything feels possible. In just two seasons, he has come in and changed the entire vibe around the organisation, which had been marred by its unwillingness to pull the plug and rebuild for about three seasons too long. It goes to show just how important not just winning the lottery, but winning the right year is to a team's future. No disrespect to the other Sharks in the fold, but things would be drastically different if they won the lottery in a year like 2021 or 2022 instead of 2024. With Celebrini as the nucleus, the one guarantee is the Sharks will be interesting this season, whether they keep up their current pace or not.