San Jose Sharks
Sharks Locker Room: What Makes Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith Line Click?
Will the San Jose Sharks regret sending Igor Chernyshov down in mid-January?
Based on Chernyshov’s impact on the Sharks this season, his immediate chemistry with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, and where San Jose is in the standings — just two points behind the Nashville Predators for the last wild card spot in the West, with two games in hand, after a thrilling 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday — probably yes.
For what it’s worth, there was never a sense that sending Igor Chernyshov down on Jan. 22 — after three goals and 11 points in his 15-game NHL debut — was punitive, at all.
From GM Mike Grier’s perspective, the San Jose Sharks had a glut of forwards then. Will Smith had just returned from injury, Philipp Kurashev was about to, and forwards like Jeff Skinner, Adam Gaudette, and Ryan Reaves were getting healthy scratched. Pavol Regenda’s January scoring binge and the acquisition of Kiefer Sherwood also added to a good Sharks’ problem.
“We’re getting healthy, so there will be, probably some more roster decisions to come in the next week to ten days,” Grier said then.
But that said, even back then, Chernyshov seemed too good for the AHL, even if there was value in sending him back. The San Jose Barracuda, for example, used Chernyshov as a top penalty-killer, no doubt a worthwhile experience.
So it might’ve been easy for Grier to fall into a common GM trap of prioritizing the maximization of asset value, more than anything. Remember, before the Trade Deadline, there’s a strict 23-man roster, unlike post-Deadline. So maybe Skinner could still get a draft pick back in the trade? Kurashev is an RFA, so you want to keep his rights? There were credible players, like Regenda, taking Chernyshov’s potential roster spot.
It’s easy to armchair quarterback now, of course.
But Skinner was eventually waived in mid-February, cleared, agreed to a contract termination, but no one signed him as a UFA. Kurashev is riding the pine during the Sharks’ current three-game points streak.
And Chernyshov?
Well, to quote San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky recently, who is blamed online, but my guess, had no real part in sending Chernyshov down, “He’s a man out there.”
Anyway, in the end, Chernyshov missed just 14 San Jose Sharks’ games, from when he got sent down on Jan. 22 to his Mar. 12 recall. That was obviously by design, a three-week Olympic break in the middle of it, and eight Barracuda games during that break. Chernyshov probably did get better in those two months in the AHL, too. Perhaps Grier saw him as something of a Trade Deadline “acquisition”.
The Sharks, by the way, went 6-5-3 without Chernyshov. Not bad, but they probably could’ve used the big and skilled Russian winger, especially during that five-game losing streak stretching from before the Olympics and after. Even if that meant waiving Skinner sooner, or the cost of a tough roster decision on Regenda.
Chernyshov has been, simply, that good in the NHL. So good, NHL scouts were openly wondering what he was doing back in the AHL back then.
Chernyshov has provided an instant impact in his return to the Sharks, notching two goals, including the game-winner, against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. He didn’t record a point against the Blues on Monday, but his impact was obvious.
“He’s so big, he’s so fast. I think the D, they panic when he’s on them, because he’s such a big body,” Celebrini said. “As long as he’s skating and doing his thing and creating turnovers, we’re gonna have a lot of success.”
That was especially evident in an early third period shift, about three minutes in, when Celebrini, Smith & Chernyshov pinned St. Louis down for a good minute.
We got to see their blend of skills, and also, how they complement each other.
Like Celebrini, Chernyshov is a heavy forechecker, can carry the puck from blueline to blueline, and is a force along the boards — this allows Celebrini to play off the puck more, and vice versa.
Smith is more of a finesse playmaker, but on a line with two heavy players, instead of just one, that frees him up to do what he does best.
Chernyshov, besides arguably William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli, has shown to be most capable on the San Jose Sharks of playing at the pace that Celebrini and Smith play at. Celebrini wants to play fast and Chernyshov can accommodate.
Smith can also afford to be more deliberate because of the speed that his linemates play at, and the space they occupy. Smith, with time and space, is as dangerous a Shark as there is.
Chernyshov is a player who takes a little load off Celebrini, which the superstar center needs, with all the defensive attention that he gets.
It’s been basically just four games together as a line, if you don’t count the concussion that Chernyshov suffered on the opening shift of the Mar. 14 4-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens.
But even before this, something about Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith just seemed to fit. And sometimes, what looks good on paper, looks just as good in real life.
And remember, Smith is 21, Chernyshov is 20, and Celebrini is 19, so they’re just scratching the surface of their potential.
Just dominating shift from the Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith line. Welcome to your next decade, Western Conference.
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Alex Wennberg
Wennberg, on if Celebrini puts a lot of pressure on himself: "I think so. But that's also what separates him from the rest of us…He's working extra-hard, harder than everyone else, and that's why you see he's one of the best players in the league right now. For sure, he puts…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Macklin Celebrini
Celebrini, on Chernyshov's forecheck impact on his line: "He's so big, he's so fast. I think the D, they panic when he's on them, because he's such a big body. As long as he's skating and doing his thing and creating turnovers, we're gonna have a lot of success."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Celebrini, on Leddy: "He's meant a lot to our younger group. I mean, our whole group, but especially our younger group, just his leadership, just the guy he is. He's one of the best guys. We've gotten pretty close to him. It sucks when he was getting sent down and stuff, but now…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Adam Gaudette
Gaudette on his GWG: "Chucky wins another draw. Play was just get a strong-side win. Just get it out. I think it was Mar who threw that out. It just happened to land on my stick. I was shooting that the whole way. I heard Chucky yelling (laughs) We had a ton of chances tonight,…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Gaudette, on Ostapchuk's growth from last year, and Goodrow too: "He's come a long way. What I notice the most is his confidence level has gotten a lot higher. He's not timid out there anymore, and he just plays hard. He's a big guy. He can skate like the wind.
"We've been…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
Ryan Warsofsky
Wennberg was hard-matched against Robert Thomas tonight.
Warsofsky: "Wenny had a really good game tonight, he had a tough assignment, and he's done it all year long…He has to go down as one of the best shutdown centers in the game right now."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2026
I didn’t mind Chernyshov getting sent down, but unfortunately the duration of it was ridiculous. I really do believe in the benefits of getting a breather after getting shock-dunked in the ice bath of the NHL (or whatever the equivalent thing is in anyone’s life). Regather yourself and come back ready to jump in and get to the next level. That’s why I don’t worry about Dickinson yet, because his situation doesn’t allow for that this season and so his reset will be this offseason. And then his development can start being judged more critically. Doesn’t need to be a… Read more »
Your take on Dickinson is just so crazy, I don’t understand how you aren’t seeing the massive steps he is taking. He’s not perfect every night, but he’s doing a lot of high end things, and he’s starting to make a dent on offense, too. It’s almost there and if it clicks, we could be looking at a true 1D. He’s 19 freaking years old. We were slightly worried he would have to go back to London again, but instead he’s getting fired in the kiln of the NHL, and he’s adapting and learning and he’s staying mentally on top… Read more »
Maybe I’m missing it but I don’t see Al being negative on Dicky in this comment..?
“His situation doesn’t allow for it” and “reset this offseason” are the things I’m focused on. To me, he’s taken it as a given that there has been no progress and he’s moved on to solving our problems for us
You’re reading something that isn’t there. A reset is a good thing. Most players benefit from it.
Agree to disagree, I suppose. We’ve been agreeing way too much lately anyways, so good to get a reset ourselves.
You know I would never miss a chance to jump on him for being needlessly negative, but I’m just now seeing it here. At least not until the end with Leddy and Goody.
Goody and “Delly”..:🙄
Dickinson has taken great steps, but he has had some blunders this past month, including some that were starting to accumulate as a natural consequence of rookie season fatigue. He didn’t deserve to be sent back to London or anything like that, but it was surprising when Mukh was getting sat for less – even a one-game reset here or there could have helped Sam imo. It’s a little odd that Grier/Warso’s ice time management for rookies has focused on easing them in the first half of the season, but fully trusting them down the stretch, when a lot of… Read more »
I think we are in near lock step agreement on what we are seeing. I’ve been reading Scott Wheeler’s system rankings and I think the Sharks defense first philosophy is actually somewhat unusual in the league. You read about a lot of defensemen that come up strong on the offensive side but the defense lags behind and the Sharks seems to try to nip all that in the bud early in development to build two way players. It’s an approach that I have fully bought into because we have seen it working. I would also have loved to see Mukh… Read more »
Shak is older and clearly the coaching staff agrees there is a difference in self confidence between them. Not all players can be handled the same way.
Frequently over the last couple weeks, the consensus here has been that Dickinson should sit a little as he’s been playing so poorly.
I don’t know why you seem to interpret my take on him as disappointment or something. It’s just the development path I see him on, and not a surprising one.
Agree with most of this but Dickinson is light years better than he was at the beginning of the season. Way more assertive and confident. Agree though that the off season will likely be a massive transformation for him. I fully expect him to come to camp and earn big minutes in a top 4 role.
the Goidy and Delly take is your typical silliness though. Goody was a valuable part of this last win. Delly was a big part of the November win streak.
Yeah, the part that rubs me very much the wrong way is when the narrative of “nobody is improving” starts bubbling up. With very few exceptions, EVERYBODY is improving and the team results show it. The team is already 23 points above last year’s output with 10 games left. 7 of those 10 are against the bottom 3rd of the league and the other 3 are against teams in the bottom half. The Montreal and Boston games gave me somewhat false hope that the team had figured out a winning formula, so I’m not going to get my hopes too… Read more »
well you’re right they have the formula. But you aren’t going to get those ingredients every night with so many young guys in the lineup and an under talented D core. No shock that they snapped their losing streak when Dicky and Shak started to play better. Throw Leddy in there too. Now if Orlov can resist throwing dumb passes they might have something. Back to back games with awful passes that result in goals against I think? Deharnais is playing great for what he is and Ferraro isn’t noticeable for spazzing out. If Shak can continue to play aggressively… Read more »
The D is just bad and generally low on talent aside from Shak and Dickinson who are on development curves. This is just a basic fact that we have to watch play out like a car wreck in slow motion every night. I think the coaching staff is doing a pretty great job with this group all things considered.
Imagine if they had 3 more guys who could calmly and clearly dig pucks out and make the first pass to streaking forwards. That sounds good to me.
A senior legit #1D would make all the difference in the world with this group.
Wennberg does deserve a major shout out, he was great and his line shut down the Thomas line all night at 5 on 5. I watched the St Louis feed and their broadcasters were talking about it all game how the Sharks were limiting the top line. And he also had 2 goals and an assist. Pretty pretty pretty good. Glad Grier kept him. There was no replacing him and even two late round 1sts wouldn’t come close to returning the value they are getting. He’s turned himself into a very valuable player and his contract is a bargain. Once… Read more »
I’d been kinda bummed out seeing Chicago get to unwrap all their new toys recently but Cherny coming back and the presumption of Pohlkamp coming soon has perked me right up.
Pohlkamp was a late round pick which means he’s either a poor skater or really small. Don’t be surprised if you are underwhelmed.
I watched their game over the weekend. I’m not drawing any big conclusions from it, but I did actually take note that he almost fell over several times without anyone causing it.
Wierd. In the prospect scrimmages he seemed quite fast. I always got the impression he was like a better Ferraro.
Pohlkamp is fast. Watching him play at Denver, really interesting. The Denver forwards are really good, so Pohlkamp doesn’t need to press for offense. He hangs back at the blue line a lot, not overly aggressive. Disciplined player. Almost felt like he was in an “I’m here if you need me” role. Make no mistake, he’s always ready to pull the trigger. But he played a surprisingly conservative game for someone that’s as dynamic as he is. He understands the game situation. Saw this in both his playoff games this past weekend. And fwiw, the assist he had in the… Read more »
Oh shit! That was to an ex Winterhawk! My kid has his autograph on his hat.
he is not big, 5 10 I think
Elite Prospects has him at 5 foot 11 but most things I read put him at 5 foot 10. Might be like Celebrini where he was over 5 foot 10 but just not 5 foot 11. lol. He is listed at 205 pounds but I would not be surprised if he is more towards the 210 range now. In regards to his physical makeup, he is built like a tank. He is thick and loves to hit. After watching him over the last two seasons he seems fast and mobile. Seemed to take on a bigger offensive role this season… Read more »
He’s Macklin-sized, I’m not expecting the second coming of Bobby Orr from a fifth-round pick. But after such a quiet deadline and with Lund out and Musty/Cags/Bystedt seemingly not ready, it’ll just be fun to potentially see some new blood.
Cele is 2 inches taller.
Kinda like if Cags was 4 inches taller he’d be a first rounder
Draymond Green once said if he was 6’11” he would be Anthony Davis. I’m rooting for Cags, I hope I’m wrong. I really do.
If only Cags had a Graf growth spurt…
I’m hoping for “Orlov on the Right Side” upside with Pohlkamp, and if he becomes a 3rd pairing RHD, I’d be very happy. He’s got some tools to work with. As long as his skating is adequate, I don’t think size will be a problem since he’s 5’10” which means he’s not gonna have that long reach, but he’s stout, so I’m hoping he can hang on the wall and behind his own net. We saw last night what 6’6″ looks like where Parayko was just outreaching the Sharks all night. I want more big guys too, but this is… Read more »
Parayko is a guy that could be a good bridge if he’s not too expensive.
He didn’t want to go to Buffalo in season, but maybe he would come here. He would make a massive difference and I’m not just saying that because he’s a massive dude
What about stanley
Parayko is a right shot with a contract that takes him through age 37 at $6.5M AAV.
Stanley is a left shot, also big, but I don’t think nearly as impactful of a player. He will likely cost about the same AAV, I’m guessing
Stanley is UFA, so he could sign for just money, which means there isn’t technically anything from stopping the team from getting both guys.
I think Demers mentioned this guy on the podcast, but I’m somewhat intrigued by Andrew Peeke too. Another RHD
Maybe? I think you have to let Deharnais go if you sign him though..
I think there’s a few guys who would be open to moves in the off-season. I think San Jose is gonna become a desirable destination.
Sounds crazy but I wonder if Igor could skate backwards lol. He’s uber talented and it would solve our right shot big D man problem, we have a log jam up front. He could probably make more money if he transitions good too. Kinda like Burns in a way. Very similar types of players.
I’ve been clamouring for Celebrini to move to D, though I know there are a dozen reasons it’s not feasible. But that way he could play 30 minutes a night.
You can’t be serious. 1C is the premier position on the ice. It’s like playing your CF at 2B doing that.
Ya I don’t know if I could ever look at you that same after that one Fincoe 😂😂 just kidding . Igor has clear undeniable similarities to Burns and a lot of smooth skating big RHS D men.
I didn’t mean to go all McEnroe on him though haahahhaa
He was an overaged and not selected in his first draft eligible year. That does not make him any worse. Great great finding. He was a standout in every prospect camp. I really have high hopes and I think he will become more than a 5th D later in his career. Maybe a Demelo with additional offensiv potential. He has no clear wifi is dies the will hold him back like Cagnoni. He is only 5.11 but build like a tank with already listed as over 200 pounds. Relative to the draft position I cannot remember any prospect in the… Read more »
All the sites I’ve seen say 5’10”, 200. Oddly enough he’s exactly my size but obviously he has way more muscle.
My size is significant higher in both categories but I probably have less muscle than Joe Muldowney in his teens. 😂 The link I use to follow the prospects who are original drafted by the Sharks is the following. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00007877.html I like hockeydb because there are not so many annoying adds and commercials that distract from this information I seek. If you get to the hockeydb site of Eric they have him listed as 5’11. From the back of my head I thought I saw 5’10 before as well. Anyway it is around Dan Boyle size, maybe a bit shorter… Read more »
https://www.nhl.com/sharks/player/eric-pohlkamp-8484421
The Hockey Guy noted this about the Panthers:
Out/shutdown for the season: Barkov, Marchand, Reinhart, Lundell, Rodrigues, Mikkola, Gadjovich, Balinskis.
They’re playing the game Cup, Cup, Tank
Sounds like the game the Warriors played at the tail end of their run. Could be one more Cup run left in the Panthers as they strive for Two Timelines (which is not actually a thing, if we weren’t all clear by now)
They played in 3 cup finals in a row. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to not hit a wall after 3.
I think Tkachuk+Barkov out for so much of the season set the agenda for them.
I think in this article somehow the important point that Chenyshov would not be eligible to participate in the AHL playoffs if he was not send down over the trade deadline is not mentioned. That is important for the Cuda and player development. Last year Bystedt and Regenda where the most valuable players in the Cuda’s playoff run. Regenda can not participate this year. Cherny might help.
It wasn’t and isn’t a given that the Sharks make the playoffs.
Am I wrong about the AHL playoff eligibility?
You’re right. In an early draft of this story, I had mentioned it. I didn’t include it though, because I believe he just needed to be on the Barracuda before the Deadline and through it, so it’s not a “reason” why he missed 14 Sharks games.
Yeah I thought same thing…but really can only attribute the 4-5 games out of break as that being an important factor. But with 23 man roster still in effect and lots of guys that got healthy is main impetus. It was certainly a factor out of the break. Sending him down before, also think some guys got healthy and he sorta got little flat. That’s how these things play out sometimes. Roster and timing, guys played well in Olympics so probably hope they could fill those roles. Guys do not lose spots just because they are hurt, but they do… Read more »
Just wanted to say Sheng if you read this, the site is getting more and more difficult to read articles on. I usually click a link from Twitter and read on mobile (iOS) and the amount of ads constantly refreshing/reloading causes the screen to scroll up and down, usually not putting me back in the same place, and sometimes entirely resetting me back to the top. It’s really annoying!
Appreciate your work and will continue subscribing but just wanted to drop this cuz it was particularly bad reading this one lol
It does that when you have to re-login and makes it huge pain in the ass too. Not sure why that is necessary.