The 2025-26 National Hockey League season has come down to the wire. With five weeks left in the regular season, teams must finalize rosters before the March 6 trade deadline.
The trade deadline is a pivotal point in the season, offering teams a chance to evaluate whether they’re buyers or sellers, largely on their record.
If a team has more losses than wins, it may consider taking trade offers that include young talent or draft picks in exchange for veteran players, making it a seller.
Buyers, on the other hand, look to strengthen their roster by addressing weaknesses, whether by improving defensively or adding offensive firepower.
The San José Sharks have been frequent sellers in recent seasons, posting a losing record each year since 2019-20.
From the 2019-20 season through the 2024-25 season, the Sharks compiled a 170-271-66 record, marking the franchise’s longest playoff drought and forcing the organization into a full rebuild, according to NHL.com.
What made the Sharks sellers in the past was trading away top performers and star players in exchange for other players or future draft picks.
Sharks fans have watched familiar names depart, including Patrick Marleau, who was traded during the 2019-20 season to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Timo Meier, who was dealt to the New Jersey Devils in a multiplayer trade in 2023, according to PuckPedia.
Additional trades involving Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Tomáš Hertl stripped the roster of veteran leadership and left the organization searching to fill those voids.
Trading Karlsson was a punch in the gut for the Sharks, as they only acquired him in 2018, and after his $92 million contract extension, he suffered multiple injuries in his time in San José.
After years of being sellers, the Sharks were able to find a player to build their team around after winning the 2024 draft lottery and taking Macklin Celebrini at the No. 1 spot.
This season, the Sharks have made some trades to keep the team young, but also added veteran players to the roster, according to an article published by NBC Sports Bay Area.
They’re now considered “cautious buyers,” according to the same source.
The Sharks’ most notable trade this season was for Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks for Cole Clayton and second-round picks in the 2026 and 2027 drafts, according to NHL’s website.
For the last nine seasons, the Sharks have not made an appearance at the Stanley Cup Final since the game six loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016.
Back then, the Sharks had Burns, Karlsson, Hertl and Marleau, but also had veterans such as Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Logan Couture in the lineup.
There were more trades made by the Sharks that were for players than draft picks this year, but did not give up any core players, which is a huge change in favor of San José.
From the start of the 2025-26 season, the Sharks made six trades this year, acquiring five players and three draft picks, but trading away seven players along with four draft picks.
The Sharks are only a few points out of a playoff position, and with approximately 20 games left, every point counts to secure a wild-card or top-seed ranking, and the players that get you there matter more than ever.
I think the Sharks are buyers this season after years of being sellers they finally have a team to prepare them for playoffs.
