Projecting Sharks’ Power Play Quarterback for 2026-27 – The Hockey Writers – San Jose Sharks

The 2025-26 season marked an incredible step forward in the rebuild for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks leapt from 52 points in the standings, which marked them dead last in the NHL in 2024-25, to missing the playoffs by just four points this past season. Defense was their glaring weakness that kept postseason play out of reach, but their mediocre power play also didn’t do them any favors. 

If the Sharks want to end their playoff drought this season, their power play needs to be better than dead in the middle, 16th-best in the NHL. The power play clicked at a modest 21.2%, carried primarily by Macklin Celebrini putting the puck in the net himself and setting up teammates for prime scoring chances. A proper power-play quarterback is what is holding their unit back. 

San Jose’s power-play QBs in 2025-26 were John Klingberg, who struggled mightily in what may have been his last season in the NHL, and Dmitry Orlov, who is a solid veteran piece for the Sharks but is not someone who should have power-play minutes on a playoff-caliber team. 

The Sharks are a young team on the rise, and with the room they have currently constructed, they will have to give the keys to the power play to a younger defenseman. The question is, who takes it? Training camp will be paramount in determining who will seize the opportunity. So, who are the candidates to get the bulk of the power-play minutes? There are three players who could run with the opportunity. 

Sam Dickinson

The first player who should get a serious look is Sam Dickinson. The 11th-overall selection from the 2024 Draft had significant hype around his game because of his outrageous offensive production. In his age-18 season for the London Knights, Dickinson lit the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) on fire, recording 91 points in just 55 games with 29 goals.

He was a highlight machine, but produced little offensively in his rookie season for the Sharks, tallying 14 points in 72 games. His lone goal was against the Detroit Red Wings in early November. 

According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Dickinson said in his exit interview, “It’s hard to say that I’m not pretty happy and proud of myself with how this first season went. I understood coming in there was going to be a lot of work to be done [to] be a shoo-in guy and a guy who can play every night in his first year.

To have that through that second half of the year was a big confidence boost to know that the coaches trust me to be in the lineup every night, and as the season went on, to take on a bigger role, get more minutes, get some more high-pressure situations as well. It’s definitely great for my confidence and the kind of thing that I’ll look to take now and keep with me through the summer.”

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky took heat from fans for various lineup decisions throughout the season, which also included not utilizing Dickinson on a power play that needed a boost from the blue line. Despite the negativity around the decision, the coaching staff’s approach to how they used Dickinson was correct.

There were zero playoff expectations heading into last season, so the best thing for Dickinson’s development was dedicating the full season to his defensive game and experiencing as many growing pains as he could. That approach will pay off this season. 

Dickinson will have a new set of challenges as he gains more responsibility offensively, and he will make mistakes as a 20-year-old defenseman is prone to make, but he will also show growth more quickly and tangibly the more reps he gets on the man advantage. Celebrini should be able to carry the unit long enough for Dickinson to settle in, then the sophomore defenseman can show off the offensive talent that made him an incredibly hyped prospect.

Michael Kesselring

Michael Kesselring is coming off a season he’d like to forget with the Buffalo Sabres, where his injured quad tendon hampered his skating for most of the season, and he didn’t seem to fit into their culture. Now in San Jose, a change of scenery might be the best thing for his career. 

The draw to the Sharks for Kesselring is more than just an opportunity. He is already friends with skilled forward Will Smith, who he skates with in the summer, and he notably loved playing for Warsofsky when he and the USA won gold at the 2025 World Championship. This feels like a smart risk for the Sharks, betting on a player with physical gifts who is stepping into a situation where he is going to start the season healthier and with some familiarity.

Kesselring was interviewed on NHL Tonight with Jamison Coyle and Mike Rupp shortly after his trade to the Sharks where he said, “San Jose was one of the spots I had circled,” and “I felt like [Warsofsky] sees a lot of potential in me and that’s all I want from my coach, is to think I can keep growing and become a really good top-four D.”

The sample size that general manager Mike Grier is gambling on is Kesselring’s 2024-25 season for the Utah Mammoth. Kesselring played all 82 games, recorded 29 points and played some minutes on the second power-play unit with just under 70 minutes of ice time. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-shot defenseman demonstrated he can move the puck, jump into play and cover ground in his own zone. 

The reason for the belief that Kesselring can fit in well with the power play is his combination of speedy skating at his size, his ability on the rush and his lethal shot. In his breakout season in Utah, he made headlines for recording the then-hardest shot in the entire NHL in 2024-25 with a 103.8 MPH one-timer off the pipe in a game against the Colorado Avalanche. 

Utilizing that kind of bomb from the point with skilled forwards like Celebrini, Smith, and most likely rookie Ivar Stenberg to clean up the rebounds that don’t already go in the net, and the skilled young passers the Sharks have could set up Kesselring for opportune one-timers that could be difficult to deal with. If Kesselring comes to camp firing, he could be the element that elevates the power play significantly. 

Luca Cagnoni

The next player who could very well end up running the Sharks’ top power-play unit is a player who, frankly, is going to need to be special on the power play to make the team: Luca Cagnoni. 

The Sharks made splashes to fill the gaping holes on their blue line following the end of the season by adding Kesselring, Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse. With Dickinson and Orlov already on the roster, that leaves one more spot for a starting defenseman. Cagnoni’s power-play proficiency in the American Hockey League (AHL) will be how he cracks the roster to start in 2026-27.

While the power-play quarterback for the San Jose Barracuda, Cagnoni recorded 52 and 43 points in the last two seasons. Statistically, he took a small step back, but since talented players like Collin Graf and Igor Chernyshov were promoted to the Sharks and AHL MVP Andrew Poturalski departed, there was less talent around him, which makes a small point reduction understandable. 

Cagnoni thrived as the quarterback for the Barracuda, leading San Jose’s AHL-best power play in 2024-25 and was personally second in 2025-26 with 23 power-play points. Cagnoni excels offensively not because of any elite physical traits, as he is only 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, but he knows when to crash the net, keeps plays alive in the offensive zone and has a sneaky shot that fools goaltenders. 

It might seem crazy that someone with so little NHL experience could realistically run the power play for a team that has playoff hopes, but Cagnoni’s pro experience running the top unit in the AHL the last two seasons may be what pushes him over the edge to make the team as a third-pair defenseman. 

This, of course, is all speculation at the moment. Sharks prospect Eric Pohlkamp will be competing with Cagnoni to take that last spot on the blue line, and their respective performances will be imperative to whether they make the Sharks or play for the Barracuda. 

The projection right now is that Cagnoni will make it because Pohlkamp is fresh from the NCAA, is still getting over hand and foot injuries and will likely need some seasoning in the AHL to adapt to the pro game. Still, keep an eye out for Dickinson and Kesselring.