In a previous post, we looked at some logical choices the Sharks could have made to improve the defense without risking too much of the future. However, Macklin Celebrini’s breakout performance at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina seems to have sped up the team’s timeline, and it truly feels like a strike while the iron’s hot situation. Celebrini has put the Sharks on the radar of disgruntled players everywhere, and the players with term may be looking at San Jose with interest as the deadline approaches.
San Jose, in turn, should be looking to capitalize on the publicity that Celebrini brought the team with his Olympic performance. With only two NHL-level defensemen signed through next season — three if you count Luca Cagnoni, and four if you count the contract we expect Eric Pohlkamp to sign soon — the blueline looks sparse. The Sharks need to take advantage before people forget about the West Coast again.
With that in mind, what can the Sharks do?
The desperation move(s)
While not recommended, there are some moves that the Sharks can make, call them band aids if you will, that will kick the can down the road and allow the team to try and draft and develop the team’s next best defenseman. With two first-round picks and a second-rounder this year, General Manager Mike Grier will likely add another defenseman at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Add that player to the likes of Leo Sahlin Wallenius, Mattias Havelid and Haoxi Wang and the Sharks have a good base of young defensemen to develop and potentially turn into top-four, impactful players.
The trouble is that development takes time. Adding one of the players below will give the Sharks some breathing room, allowing them to go at their own pace.
Dougie Hamilton
Puck possession is the name of Hamilton’s game, and it’s definitely something the Sharks could use right now. The 32-year-old Hamilton is an upgrade on the blueline over what the Sharks have at the moment, even in his limited role on the New Jersey Devils. Looking at his Evolving-Hockey Regularized-Adjusted Plus-Minus (RAPM) chart, you can see that he’s an impactful player for the Devils.
Yes, Hamilton reportedly blocked a trade to the Sharks previously, but things aren’t going well in New Jersey and the team is pretty much out of the playoffs this season. The Devils have made it pretty clear that Hamilton is not expected to work into the team’s plans for now or in the future and that’s not expected to change in the summer.
Given how Celebrini played on the world stage, which Hamilton was most certainly watching, you have to wonder if he’s reconsidering his stance on the Sharks. You can also bet that he’s talked to some of his Canadian buddies since then, especially the ones who played with Celebrini on Team Canada. If Hamilton is willing to consider a trade to San Jose, the Sharks could well be in the running. San Jose is in a position to offer a very good deal to New Jersey. Unlike other teams, San Jose can absorb the full cost of Hamilton’s contract, and as a result, the team may have to give up fewer prospects. In this cap era, that value cannot be overlooked.
Hamilton has two years left after this season on a deal that pays him $9 million per season.
MacKenzie Weegar
If the Sharks are taking a flyer on older players with term, then 32-year-old Weegar is a … choice. While I’m not high on this one because his deal is long and arduous, with the cap going up and the amount of cap space the Sharks have, it’s something the team might be able to swallow while still taking the production he can manage right now.
Weegar’s deal expires in 2030, so it’s twice as long as Hamilton’s, but it’s also cheaper. It has a cap hit of $6.25 million per season. Given that the Sharks can swallow the entirety of the deal without Calgary retaining any of the money, San Jose may have an advantage in negotiations over other buyers and might be able to give up fewer prospects to make the deal happen.
Weegar, for his part, is still a serviceable defenseman on a very bad team.
Looking at his RAPM from Evolving-Hockey, you can see that he helps his team in puck possession and is impactful on the power play. Like Hamilton, Weegar will move the puck better than most of the players the Sharks have right now, and that is a major plus. His expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60) and his Corsi for per 60 minutes (CF/60) show that while the goals aren’t coming, he’s still creating opportunities for his team.
Imagine what would happen if Weegar had finishers on the other end like a Celebrini or a Will Smith.
Morgan Rielly
Like Weegar, 31-year-old Rielly is heading toward the backend of his career, but there’s certainly still a lot there to recommend him as a player, and given how poorly things have gone in Toronto this season, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the Maple Leafs decide to blow the whole thing up. If that’s the case, then the Sharks could do worse than Rielly, who still has a lot to offer in terms of offensive generation.
Like the two players mentioned before him, Rielly can move the puck and generate offense, two things that the young players upfront desperately need. Looking at his Evolving-Hockey RAPM chart, you can see just how impactful he is as an offensive defenseman.
Rielly’s contract expires in 2030 when he’s 36. It has a cap hit of $7.5 million per season, something that could definitely fit into the Sharks’ cap situation. Like the other two players, the Sharks can take the full brunt of the contract without asking the Maple Leafs to retain, something that would certainly appeal to Toronto.
Unlike the two previous players, Rielly is a left-shot defenseman, but that’s okay for the Sharks. San Jose could always play him alongside Eric Pohlkamp and let the good times roll!
The costly move(s)
Obviously, if the Sharks want to add younger players who fit more into the team’s timeline, then it’s going to cost a lot more in terms of assets. That’s even assuming that these types of players are available, one of which may not be, at least for the Sharks. Below are two players that the Sharks should consider if the opportunity arises.
Adam Fox
Up until recently, we hadn’t included Fox in any of these lists because it didn’t seem like the defenseman was looking to go anywhere. However, in his first game back from the Olympic break, it became pretty darn clear that not playing in the Olympics for his coach and his general manager rubbed Fox the wrong way. The 28-year-old defenseman spent his time off doing some soul-searching, and it clearly did not go well.
Adam Fox was asked about his future with the Rangers
— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) February 27, 2026
"I'm just trying to focus on this year right now. That's a conversation when we're done playing games. We're just trying to win games, we didn't do that tonight. That's where my focus is right now" pic.twitter.com/XHCEBRQofK
When talking about a defenseman who could make a huge difference for the Sharks, Fox fits the bill. Looking at his Evolving-Hockey RAPM chart, even in an injury-ridden season like this one with the New York Rangers, you can see just how offensively impactful he could be with the Sharks.
Note that Fox’s CF/60 at 5v5 is in the upper echelon of defensemen. What’s more, his CF/60 on the power play is just as impactful. The defenseman has three years left on his contract at the end of this season with a $9.5 million AAV per season.
Make no mistake, it will cost San Jose a lot of assets to get Fox. He’s 28 and in the prime of his career. He’s still producing at a high level, and there will be teams lining up to get him. San Jose will have to bring a lot to the table to get him, and that’s even assuming that he wants to change coasts.
Even if he’s willing to do it, Fox may not be available until the summer; it seems like he’ll need time to wrap his head around the idea of leaving the Big Apple.
Pavel Mintyukov
Speaking of players that might cost a pretty penny, there’s 22-year-old Pavel Mintyukov. This one is a bit more of a risk. Mintyukov is projected to be a middle-of-the-lineup defenseman, but he has yet to prove himself as such, and he’s been passed a lot by the other players in the Anaheim Ducks’ system, which has left the defenseman looking for a new place to play.
The downside for the Sharks is that if Mintyukov hasn’t found a way to play for the Ducks, who’s to say he will have more success with the Sharks?
Mintyukov has had a so-so season with the Ducks. His xGF/60 is good, but his other numbers aren’t anything to write home about. Plus, he’s not getting top power play time. Those minutes are going to 25-year-old Jackson LaCombe, who just won a gold medal with the U.S. men’s ice hockey team.
Mintyukov’s minutes are shared on the second unit with Olen Zellweger. While Mintyukov’s age could certainly play a part, there’s reason to be concerned that, given how little we’ve trusted young defensemen so far, Mintyukov might suffer a similar fate if added to the Sharks’ lineup.
He’s a risk, to say the least, and so the Sharks should be wary of giving up too much in terms of assets on a defenseman who may or may not pan out at the NHL level.
Comparing apples to apples
And since we’re doing this exercise, we can take a moment to look at the two defensemen whom the Sharks are currently relying on for the heavy lifting offensively.
For the most part, 33-year-old John Klingberg has had the opportunity to play on the top power play unit for the Sharks, serving as the go-to guy for the Sharks and getting the top minutes with Celebrini, Smith, Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg. As such, you would imagine that any new defenseman brought in would be tasked with replacing Klingberg in that role.
Looking at Klingberg’s Evolving-Hockey RAPM chart (grabbed before the 2/28 game against the Edmonton Oilers), you can see that at both even-strength and on the power play, he’s less impactful than virtually all of the players on this list, most specifically when it comes to creating offense for the Sharks.
This is especially true on the power play, where the Sharks very much need Klingberg to help create offense on the first power play unit with Celebrini and the other young players.
Then there’s Dmitry Orlov, who has one more season with the Sharks. While Orlov hasn’t seen the results, he has created the offensive impact that the Sharks had hoped for, albeit on the second unit of the power play for the most part. At 5v5, Orlov has been defensively sound, creating most of his offensive impact on the man advantage.
While he’s not an elite offensive defenseman, he is a good middle-of-the-lineup defenseman, which is nothing to sneer at for this team.
Conclusion
For too many seasons now, the Sharks have tried to play players above their positions in the lineup, putting fourth-liners in third-liner roles and second-pair defensemen in top-pairing roles. With the addition and development of Celebrini, guys like Alex Wennberg, Michael Misa, Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund, the Sharks have finally sorted things out in the forward group. Players are now playing in their proper positions.
It’s up to Grier to figure out how to sort things out on the backend. It starts with bringing in a key piece on the blueline. He needs to find a player who can play a top-pairing role, or at least come closer to it than the Sharks currently have, so the team can develop that internally. He has some of the younger pieces to make it happen, but it’s time to start turning the corner with the defense corps, much the same way he did with the forward group.
