Former San Jose Sharks in the 2025 Conference Finals

The San Jose Sharks are not one of the four teams in the Conference Finals that begin on Tuesday, but they will be able to cheer for many of their former teammates. Each of the remaining four teams has at least one former Shark on their roster, and three have at least one player who played in San Jose at some point this season. These players represent different eras, including the Sharks’ recent shortcomings as a franchise, and the direction in which they want to go in the future.

Ex-Sharks Make Massive Impact on Playoffs

Despite not making the postseason, some former Sharks are having a huge impact in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even though he turned 40 earlier this season, Brent Burns is still a crucial defenseman for the Carolina Hurricanes. He’ll face off against former Sharks Nico Sturm, Jonah Gadjovich, Vitek Vanecek and the rest of the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. While Vanecek has not played in the postseason, Sturm and Gadjovich have been reliable bottom-six forwards.

In the Western Conference Final, Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci have been critical to the Dallas Stars’ success, scoring a combined 10 points in 13 playoff games. They’ll take on the Edmonton Oilers and their former teammate Jake Walman, who has posted an incredible plus-13 rating in 11 games during the first playoff run of his career.

Even the trades the semifinalists didn’t make with San Jose have had an impact on this postseason. The Oilers were one of the main teams in play for Mackenzie Blackwood when he went on the trading block early in the season, but the Sharks dealt him to the Colorado Avalanche. Now, Edmonton has the shakiest goaltending of the remaining teams, and they have to wonder if their chances would be better with Blackwood in net.

All these former Sharks represent different phases in the team’s trajectory. Burns represents the era when they were Cup contenders, while trading him marked the beginning of their teardown. Gadjovich never found his place in two seasons in San Jose when management wouldn’t fully commit to a rebuild. The others were part of one of the most difficult stretches in franchise history. Sturm, Vanecek, Granlund, Ceci and Walman did their best to serve as veteran leaders and keep the Sharks respectable, but they proved more valuable as trade assets as the front office focused on building up their young core.

This is hardly the first time in the last few years that the playoffs have forced the Sharks to confront their shortcomings. But this deep into the playoffs, a former Shark is guaranteed to win the Stanley Cup, and possibly someone who played for them this season.

Sharks Hope to Return to the Playoffs Themselves

Not long ago, the Sharks were regular contenders, making 19 playoff appearances from 1997 to 2019. They haven’t made a postseason appearance since, parting ways with many players, many of whom are still competing for a championship this season, as they tried to rebuild.

As they continue to chase their first Stanley Cup, the Sharks have formed one of the most exciting groups of young players in the NHL, but they can’t be a playoff team with just youth. They’ll need veterans to round out the roster, and while they’ve brought in a few, they’ve had to get rid of far more. Many of those players are proving the value of experience on a playoff team, and soon the Sharks will have to replicate that.