SAN JOSE – After watching preseason games and training camp practices for the last two-plus weeks, Sharks general manager Mike Grier will soon be faced with some critical and potentially uncomfortable personnel decisions.

A few will be finalized in the next two days as the team gets its group down to 23 players before Monday’s NHL roster deadline. Others could come in the first few weeks of the regular season.

Both indicate that the Sharks now have a bit more talent to choose from than they did before.

The Sharks had 38 players in training camp as of Friday and will likely need to place multiple players on waivers over the next few days to reduce their roster to the 23-player limit.

If top prospects like center Michael Misa and defenseman Sam Dickinson make the team out of camp, forwards Egor Afanasyev, Pavol Regenda, and defenseman Jack Thompson — all of whom have NHL experience — will likely be waived and potentially claimed by other teams.

Those players will be in the lineup Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Sharks’ penultimate preseason game. The Sharks are then expected to dress close to a full NHL lineup in Saturday’s road game against the Utah Mammoth in advance of their regular season opener at SAP Center against the Golden Knights next week.

“There’s still a lot to play for individually. There are jobs to be won here,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Friday. “Guys have put themselves on the map through their training camp, and this is the final test, potentially, for some of these guys.

“Do they make our team and start with us? Do they become the first call-up? There’s guys that may have to go waivers, and there are 31 other teams watching, so I think there’s a lot to play for tonight.”

If Dickinson makes the 23-man roster, that likely means the Sharks will start the year with eight defensemen and 13 forwards. If that’s the case, and Misa is on the roster as well, that likely leaves only one spot open for two forwards – Collin Graf and Carl Grundstrom.

The 27-year-old Grundstrom, who played 56 games with the Sharks last season, would need to be waived to be assigned to the Barracuda, but Warsofsky liked his camp. Graf, 23, does not need to go through waivers to be assigned to the AHL, but Warsofsky has been effusive in his praise for the winger, who, last season, became one of the team’s top penalty killers while chipping in 11 points in 33 games.

“He’ll be a guy probably first over the boards in penalty kill, and we believe there’s more offense,” Warsofsky said of Graf.

Grier said at the start of training camp that he would not hesitate to make room for Misa, Dickinson, or any other young player on the roster if they outperformed a veteran. That could be put to the test before Monday.

“If those are the best players and the most deserving players to be there and we think they can help us win games and they’re ready to learn and develop and play at the NHL level, that’s the opportunity we’ll give them,” Grier said. “We’ll figure it out if those guys show they’re ready and deserve to be up.”

If everyone San Jose puts on waivers remains with the organization, and Dickinson and Misa play 10 or more NHL games this season, the Sharks would have to move out a contract not to exceed the NHL’s 50-contract limit. That could be as simple as trading a player who was waived or assigned to the Barracuda earlier in camp for a draft pick or future considerations.

CELEBRINI UPDATE

Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will not play Friday, and Warsofsky said he would be OK if the 19-year-old also didn’t dress for the team’s exhibition finale on Saturday, either.

Celebrini, who missed time at the start of camp with an undisclosed illness, once again skated without any restrictions on Friday morning at the team’s practice facility.

“I haven’t received an update from the training staff to see how (Celebrini) felt,” Warsofsky said early Friday afternoon. “But I think we’ll see most of those guys (who didn’t play Friday) in the lineup tomorrow.”

Celebrini’s recovery from his illness cost him a chance to dress for any of the Sharks’ first four preseason games. The Sharks played their final home exhibition game on Wednesday, dressing a mostly NHL-caliber lineup, in a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Related Articles

What Sharks’ Ryan Warsofsky said about Macklin Celebrini as camp wraps up

Amid so-so camp, Sharks want 20-year-old forward ‘to start taking it to another level’

Second-period miscues haunt Sharks in another preseason loss to Ducks

As Sharks’ preseason nears end, Macklin Celebrini believes he’ll play soon

Was Sharks’ demotion of 2022 first-rounder just part of his development or a red flag?

Celebrini said earlier this week that he wanted to play in at least one exhibition game before the regular season begins next Thursday against the Golden Knights, which starts off a three-game homestand that includes dates against the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes.

“Every guy wants to play,” Warsofsky said. “We’re at that moment where, especially our veterans, they’re over training camp. They’re over the exhibition games. They want the live bullets.

“I know (Celebrini) hasn’t played yet. We know that. If he doesn’t play, we’re comfortable. If he does, I know he’ll act like it’s game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. And that’s the mentality we want. So we’ll see.”