SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks might have woken up Monday morning at the start of a new week, peeked at the NHL standings, and noticed something slightly different for this time of year.

It’s early November, and they’re still within earshot of a playoff spot.

The Sharks improved to 4-6-3 this season with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night and entered this week with 11 points, three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second and final wild card spot in the still-crowded Western Conference.

San Jose was still tied for 13th out of 16 teams in the West, but it’s a better spot than they’ve been in the last two years, when by Nov. 3, they were an average seven points out of a postseason position and already out of the mix.

“The confidence is coming, and the belief is coming. Still, again, we can get better,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We can get a lot better. I know we’ve got some results, but I think there’s a team in there that can really be consistently very good night in and night out.

“We keep pushing and challenging to get to that standard. We’ve done some good things. We’ve gotten the results. But there’s more. There’s better hockey in us coming.”

FIVE MUSINGS FOR THE WEEK

Defense corps questions remain: The Sharks told rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson on Saturday that he would be staying in San Jose past his ninth game with the team. A day after he received that news, he scored his first NHL goal, finding some space between the circles, taking a pass from Will Smith, and beating Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot for his first point as a professional.

It was a special moment for Dickinson, who looks more comfortable with each game he plays.

But it doesn’t change the fact that the Sharks could soon have some roster questions to resolve. The Sharks are carrying eight defensemen on their active roster, and Nick Leddy, who is on injured reserve, practiced with the Sharks last week. He might not be far off from a return.

If the eight other defensemen remain healthy, then the Sharks would have to clear a roster spot for Leddy once he’s entirely up to speed. That could be as easy as placing Vincent Iorio on waivers, or the Sharks could move out a defenseman on an entry-level contract. We’ll see where it leads.

The Misa question: Now with Dickinson still in San Jose, the same questions he and the Sharks fielded in recent days will soon be asked about Michael Misa. Is he staying with the Sharks or returning to major junior?

Misa has played seven NHL games and could reach 10 games by the end of this week, although he is unlikely to play against both the Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

If Misa plays a 10th game, the first year of his entry-level contract will be burned. That would also put the Sharks at 51 contracts, one over the limit. So they would have to shed one, likely via trade, before Misa plays a 10th game.

Misa has looked good at times and has three points in his last five games. There are also times when he’s looked 18, and not totally ready for the NHL.

Paydays on the way: The new eight-year, $80 million contract for Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley last week served as a reminder that big paydays will soon be coming for Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.

Cooley had 109 points in his first 157 NHL games, and, going into Tuesday, has 12 points in 12 games for Utah. With his assist on Dickinson’s goal Sunday, Smith is up to 56 points in his first 87 games and, like Cooley, could be well over 100 points by the end of his second NHL season.

Smith, 20, played with Cooley, 21, on the U.S. National Development Team in 2021-22 and the World Championship in May.

“I think it’s good for the league,” Smith said of Cooley’s deal, which begins next season. “Obviously, you want to see guys sign good contracts, and obviously that’s great for him.”

That’s the reality of the NHL right now, as the game’s biggest stars stand to reap the most significant rewards as the salary cap continues to increase.

Asked if Cooley’s contract makes him think about what’s in store for him, Smith said, “Not really. Just worry about this season, to be honest.”

The entry-level contracts for both Smith and Celebrini expire after the 2026-27 season. But if both the Sharks and each player’s camp want to do a maximum eight-year extension, they’ll have to sign those by Sept. 15, 2026. After that, per the terms of the new CBA, the maximum length for any contract extension for players staying with the same team will be seven years.

Celebrini, meanwhile, now has 81 points in 83 career games, and entered Monday tied for fourth in the NHL with 18 points. If Smith’s next deal is similar to Cooley’s, Celebrini’s next contract could become the richest in Sharks history, clearing the eight-year, $92 million deal handed to Erik Karlsson in 2019.

Kurashev’s streak: Speaking of contracts, forward Philipp Kurashev’s one-year, $1.2 million deal he signed with the Sharks in July is looking like one of the better values in the NHL. Riding a five-game point streak, Kurashev has nine points in 11 games and is fifth on the team in scoring. On Monday, he was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.

Signing is an example of the Sharks finding an economical hidden gem in the free agent market, as well as the power of having some young up-and-coming players whom others want to play with.

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Improving goaltending: The Sharks have to like where their goaltending is at going into this week, as Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov have combined for a .940 save percentage in the last three games. Nedeljkovic stopped 58 of 62 shots in games against New Jersey and Detroit, and Askarov stopped 36 of 38 shots in the Sharks’ overtime win over Colorado.

Nedeljkovic and Askarov have played better when they have an extra day or two between starts, proof that the tandem approach is the way to go, for now. Askarov has an .809 save percentage when he has only one day of rest, but a .929 and .923 save percentage, respectively, when he has two or three days off between starts. Nedeljkovic has a .935 save percentage when he has two days off, and a .923 save percentage when he has three.

Don’t give these guys too much time off, though, as both goalies’ numbers are significantly worse with four or more days off between starts.