It remained unclear going into the preseason whether wingers Pavol Regenda and Ethan Cardwell would make the San Jose Sharks roster out of training camp.

Certainly, with the veteran additions the Sharks made to their forward group this offseason, their chances seemed remote.

Perhaps, though, Regenda and Cardwell gave the Sharks’ front office and coaching staff something to think about with their workmanlike performances Friday night, as both finished with four points in San Jose’s 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

Cardwell had a hat-trick, with all of his goals assisted by Regenda, against a Vegas lineup that was almost wholly comprised of NHL players.

The two also assisted on Egor Afanasyev’s second-period goal and saw goalie Alex Nedeljkovic make 29 saves, including 16 in the first two periods, as the Sharks won their second game of the preseason after three straight losses.

San Jose closes exhibition play on Saturday in Salt Lake City against the Utah Mammoth and begins the regular season at home on Thursday against the Golden Knights.

Cardwell’s first two goals came at the 1:18 mark of the first period and the 6:48 mark of the third when the Sharks took a 3-0 lead, and he finished the hat trick with an empty-netter with 2:08 to go in regulation.

“We worked hard and came in here with an attitude that we’re going to get pucks deep, get pucks behind them, and kind of skate as hard as we can to win loose pucks, recover them, and get to the net,” Cardwell said.

Takeaways from Friday’s game

1. MORE ROSTER QUESTIONS: So did the performances by Regenda and Cardwell on Friday make the Sharks’ roster decisions any easier, or more difficult?

Cardwell had a fine night offensively and was also one of the Sharks’ top penalty killers as the Golden Knights went 0-for-4 on the power play. While he likely will not be on the Sharks’ roster next week, as he remains waivers-exempt, he has perhaps made a case for himself that he should be among the first players recalled if injuries occur.

Regenda, though, must pass through waivers if the Sharks want to assign him to the Barracuda. If the Sharks really like Regenda and feel he can be an asset, they must weigh the chances of him being claimed by another team. The Sharks will have to make those determinations this weekend if they haven’t already.

The Sharks this summer, after not bringing back a handful of forwards from last season’s team, signed Jeff Skinner and Adam Gaudette as free agents, and acquired Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Reaves via trade. They also selected Michael Misa second overall at the NHL Draft in June.

With that in mind, Regenda, who was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in January for forward Justin Bailey, wasn’t necessarily thought to be in the mix for a roster spot. He had 25 points in 36 regular-season games for the Barracuda and three goals in six playoff games, but did not get called up to the NHL.

Regenda, 25, has three points in 19 career NHL games, all with the Anaheim Ducks, and is hoping he has earned another shot.

“I’ve been working my ass off every day, just trying to play simple,” Regenda said. “That’s what (the Sharks) expect from me, and I’m just trying to do what the coaches say and show them that I belong here. We will see.”

2. WHAT ABOUT MISA AND DICKINSON?: Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky had good things to say about defenseman Sam Dickinson, who was listed as having four giveaways but also logged a team-high 23 minutes in ice time as he played in all situations. It seems he did enough to make the Sharks’ roster out of camp.

But if the Sharks keep Dickinson and eight defensemen, that means they can only keep 13 forwards. If Misa is part of that group, then Regenda might not be, considering Collin Graf and Carl Grundstrom are also in the mix for NHL jobs. To us, it seems like Regenda had a better camp than Grundstrom.

What we think happens with Misa is that he breaks camp with the Sharks and plays nine games over the first four weeks. The Sharks, armed with more information, will then finalize a decision on whether to keep Misa and burn the first year of his entry-level deal, or return him to the OHL. The Sharks will know by then whether the NHL is the right spot for Misa this season.

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“Steady improvement,” Warsofsky said when asked what’s going to allow Misa to remain with the Sharks. “Similar to (Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini), he’ll go through his bumps in the road, and he’ll have to learn from it. It’s probably going to come down to the pace of the game, and if we feel comfortable playing him in an NHL environment where the pace is extremely high and you have to think and react really in a split second.”

3. NEDELJKOVIC SHINES: Alex Nedeljkovic showed that he is ready for the start of the NHL season as he stopped 29 of 30 shots, including six while shorthanded. The performance bookended an impressive preseason for Nedeljkovic, who also had a 24-save shutout in the Sharks’ 3-0 win over Vegas in San Jose on Sept. 21.

Perhaps it’s not out of the question, then, that Nedeljkovic starts the season opener against the Golden Knights.

To help keep both Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov healthy and keep the Barracuda goalies in the AHL, it might make sense for the Sharks to split the workload between the two netminders.