The San Jose Sharks had an interesting decision to make this weekend, one that a lot of fans were watching: whether or not to play defenseman Sam Dickinson in his 10th NHL game. The 10th NHL game has long been a milestone of sorts for young players looking to break into the league, especially teenagers. That’s because it’s an indication of whether the player is ready to play at the sport’s highest level or if he needs more time to develop. A team that thinks the player needs more time to develop will often decide to send the player back to his junior team before that 10th game, preserving the first year of the player’s entry-level contract (ELC) for another season. However, if a team plays a player for that 10th game, it has used the first year of the player’s ELC, starting the clock on the player’s career. It’s a decision the Sharks made on Sam Dickinson on Sunday and one that the team will have to make on Michael Misa later this season. However, on his “32 Thoughts” podcast this Monday, Elliotte Friedman brought up an interesting new milestone, one he thinks more teams will start targeting. The team’s 40th game.
”The 40 means you’re on the roster for 40 games, whether you play or not, and that 40th game gives you a year towards arbitration and unrestricted free agency,” said Friedman. “So, I think it’s a situation where most of these teams care more about the 40th overall game than they do about the player’s 10th game. Some of these teams say, ‘Okay, we’ll burn that first year because two or three years down the road, we don’t think it’s really going to matter in terms of your contract.’ But you burn that year towards arbitration or UFA, that one absolutely matters.”
The 40th game on the Sharks’ calendar happens at the turn of the new year, Dec. 31, 2025 against the Minnesota Wild. This may be a better date for Sharks fans to circle on the calendar because it will indicate the direction the Sharks are taking with Dickinson and Misa. If both players are on the roster on those days, then it indicates that the team has no problem burning that first year towards arbitration and unrestricted free agency. However, if the team feels like there’s more development that’s needed, then look for the players to be sent back to their junior teams before Dec. 31, 2025.
What about that housing letter?
Now, Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller reported that Dickinson received a housing letter from the Sharks to stay in San Jose.
Sam Dickinson got his housing letter to stay in SJ this morning #SJSharks
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) November 4, 2025
What does that mean? While that’s a good sign that he’s getting a longer look from the Sharks, you don’t want to read too much into that. It just means that Dickinson can go ahead and get a place to live, and if he gets sent back to juniors, the team will cover the costs of his housing.
What’s interesting to study is the difference between how the team has handled Dickinson and how it has handled Misa, as well as how it has handled Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini over the past few seasons. It’s probably a clearer indication of where the Sharks believe Dickinson is in his development compared to the other three players.
The Sharks placed Misa in a stable housing situation with the Toffoli family, much as they did with Smith (the Marleaus) and Celebrini (the Thorntons). It shows that the Sharks believed that Misa was ready and will stick with the big club throughout the season. It’s also likely why San Jose isn’t rushing to put Misa on the ice. There’s no time clock here because the team already knows it will burn that first year of ELC, arbitration and unrestricted free agency.
The same likely can’t be said for Dickinson. It’s possible the Sharks weren’t sure how well the defenseman would acclimate to the NHL, and so these games truly were a test run to see how the defenseman would adapt to the speed and play at the sport’s highest level. He’s still here on a trial basis and, until that 40-game marker—i.e., New Year’s Eve —fans should keep an eye out to see if he will be sent back to the London Knights in the OHL.
After New Year’s Eve, well, that’s when we can breathe a sigh of relief and truly know whether Dickinson has arrived.
