Felicia Keller
The San Jose Barracuda’s 11th season starts Saturday at Tech CU Arena against the Bakersfield Condors.
As the Sharks’ talented prospect pool has expanded in recent years, more and more of these exciting players have ended up with the Barracuda. This year is no different, with wingers Quentin Musty, Igor Chernyshov, Cam Lund, and Kasper Halttunen leading the charge.
That said, San Jose has lost some genuine stars too, like AHL MVP Andrew Poturalski to the KHL, AHL All-Star Yaroslav Askarov to the Sharks, and premier shutdown defenseman Jimmy Schuldt to free agency.
Barracuda general manager Joe Will and coach John McCarthy spoke about the upcoming season.
An NHL scout, not with the San Jose Sharks, also shared his thoughts with San Jose Hockey Now about the Barracuda’s off-season acquisitions.
What are the big storylines heading into the season, and who will step up into new roles?
Can Bystedt Become 1C?
With Poturalski’s departure, the 1C spot is up for grabs.
Filip Bystedt said two weeks ago that he wants to be the San Jose Barracuda’s top center. Veteran Colin White is right there too.
What does the San Jose Sharks’ 2022 first-round pick need to do to secure the job?
Bystedt can start by doing what worked last year in the playoffs, where he had three goals in six games. Will said he wants to see the 21-year-old maintain that momentum from the playoffs, and then run with it.
With center options like Colin White, Zack Ostapchuk, Patrick Giles, Jimmy Huntington, Shane Bowers, and Lucas Vanroboys, Will said the Barracuda have a strong group in the center of the ice for Bystedt to compete with.
For what it’s worth, UFA signing Huntington and trade acquisition Bowers, according to an NHL scout, top out as AHL third-line checking centers. Ostapchuk, Giles, and Vanroboys also profile as bottom-six pivots.
So all said, Bystedt and White have the most promising track records for AHL production in this group.
“[Bystedt is] only a second-year [AHL] player, and it’s generally a little bit harder to play a higher role as a center iceman. For him, it’s just really experience. He’s done well, and it’s just putting in the time for him,” Will cautioned. “He’s still very, very young, and to go down in this high role in the American Hockey League will be very, very helpful and it’s exactly what he needs right now.”
McCarthy wants to see Bystedt take a step forward in his game on both sides of the puck.
“Looking for him to be good on face offs, kill penalties, play an inside type of game, get to the net, while still keeping his ability to make a play in time and space. He can make a play off the rush, use his speed, so looking for him to take strides in those areas.”
Who Will Be Top Shutdown D?
The Barracuda have star offensive defensemen in Luca Cagnoni and Lucas Carlsson. Jack Thompson has also been an AHL All-Star.
But who will fill the role of top shutdown defenseman, which Jimmy Schuldt filled last year?
“We’ve added some size on the back end. As you can see, that’s a theme of what we’ve had in our additions, both up front and and on defense,” Will said.
Will offered up 6-foot-2, 198-pound Cole Clayton who wore an A for the Cleveland Monsters last season, in his fourth year in that organization.
An NHL scout sees Clayton as more of a bottom-pairing AHL defender though, albeit a solid one.
For better or worse though, Clayton will be leaned on, and it’s also a big opportunity for San Jose Sharks prospect Jake Furlong, and Barracuda prospects 6-foot-4 John Gormley and 6-foot-4 Braden Hache to help out.
What Does Skarek Bring?
It looks like the San Jose Sharks’ No. 3 goalie job is Jakub Skarek’s to lose.
UFA signing Skarek, 25, has tons of pro experience, playing 161 games over parts of six seasons with Bridgeport. He made his NHL debut last year, appearing in two games with the New York Islanders.
Skarek, however, has just a career .890 AHL Save %, for perennial cellar-dwellers Bridgeport. Regardless, Will says Sharks’ pro scouts like the Czech vet.
“His compete, his focus, athleticism, everything. They saw a lot of good qualities,” Will said. “You can’t control where you play, and the [Bridgeport] team struggled. In that situation, you look at the individual and what he did, and they really liked his perseverance and performance.”
Skarek has some competition though.
Sharks prospect Gabriel Carriere played credibly last year, often in relief of the sometimes-injured Askarov, going 10-9-3-2 with an .894 Save % and helping the Barracuda secure a playoff berth.
Barracuda signing Matt Davis enters the Sharks organization as a two-time national champion, fresh off four years at Denver. He was named the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player in 2024 and recorded a .924 Save % in his final collegiate season.
Will said an official designation of No. 1 goalie may take some time.
“It’s more up for grabs in that they’ve all played well. We only have two games in the first two weeks,” Will said.
The team is also prepared to utilize the Wichita Thunder and send one goaltender there to get in some work – as they did with Carriere for 25 games last season.
Shades of 2017?
There are questions about Barracuda center, defensemen, and goaltending depth. But there is no question about their talent on the wing.
Vets Egor Afanasyev, Pavol Regenda, and Oliver Wahlstrom have 20-goal AHL potential.
Prospect Ethan Cardwell has surpassed that mark too.
Musty, Chernyshov, Halttunen, and Lund, all recent first or second-round San Jose Sharks’ picks, are making their full-season AHL debuts.
Will compared this year’s wing depth to the 2016-17 Barracuda’s. That Western Conference Finals roster was loaded on the flanks with prospects Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, Nikolay Goldobin, and Marcus Sorensen, among others. McCarthy, a winger, was actually the captain of that squad.
“We have a really good balance of players throughout the line-up, and it’s going to actually be a hard team to stay in the line-up right now when we’re healthy,” Will said.
How Has McCarthy Evolved?
McCarthy is embarking on his fourth season as head coach of the San Jose Barracuda. The Barracuda and McCarthy agreed to a contract extension back in May, keeping McCarthy in San Jose.
After retiring, McCarthy spent half a season as an assistant coach and then two years as a development coach.
“When I first started coaching, and I did a couple years of development – but that’s not really bench coaching – I had a lot of misconceptions on what coaching is,” McCarthy said.
But now, he’s come to understand it as a people business, and his style has become one more focused on relationships.
“I’ve realized, instead of spending a lot of time in my office looking at video and X’s and O’s, it’s more about relationships with the guys,” McCarthy said. “Getting out of my office and spending some time. At times, we have to have uncomfortable conversations with people. It’s that much easier when you’ve established that relationship beforehand.”
From Will’s perspective, McCarthy is also a great teacher. And with so many key San Jose Sharks prospects poised to spend time with the Barracuda in the coming years, McCarthy is set to play a big role in the Sharks’ future.