With the Sharks well into the training camp, head coach Ryan Warsofsky took a few minutes to chat about what’s stood out so far and where this team is headed.
When asked about which players have been catching his eye, Warsofsky didn’t single anyone out. Instead, he highlighted the ups and downs of the group as a whole.
“I think guys have stuck out in different areas, in different scrimmages, practices, some games … You see guys that jump off the page, and then you see some guys that take a step back,” he said. “Some guys have done a really good job of continuing to push forward.”
Postgame, last Sunday, Michael Misa said the team “Played with an identity.”
The identity that night was good teamwork, good vision, and good hockey. But that “push forward” is a theme for Warsofsky, who has been clear about what kind of identity he wants this team to have.
“It’s relentless on both sides of the puck,” he said. “We want it when we keep it, and when we don’t have it, we gotta go get it back and be ultra-aggressive. The next evolution of that is understanding where we’re at in the game.”
It’s a process the Sharks are still working through, especially with a mix of rookies and veterans on the roster.
“We do need to define some roles here going forward,” Warsofsky said. “We do have more vets this year than probably ever that can solidify those spots, and then we’ll mix in the young guys when we can.”
The veterans will be the ones driving the culture and setting the tone for the rest of the season.
“Our leadership group and our veterans … they’ll set the standard, they’ll create the culture,” he explained. “The best teams that do that, they kind of drive themselves. We’ll guide them, push them, and challenge them. they’ll get to a standard, and I’ll try to jump that standard even higher.”
He also gave a nod to several players who have stepped up off the ice, whether they wear a letter or not.
“We have our younger guys, Mac and Ekky, who have some leadership capabilities. Then you get guys that have been around for a long time, Toff [Toffoli], Wennberg, Gooodrow, Reavo [Reaves], even Klingberg, who’s played a lot of winning hockey. We’re going to rely on him to push that back end to play the right way. Nick Leddy, too. We have a lot of guys who may not wear letters, but they’re leaders.”
Warsofsky’s focus is clear: take it day by day, grow as a group, and let the players drive the standard. If they can do that, the Sharks might just be one of the most relentless teams on the ice this year.
