Sharks Locker Room: On Graf’s Growth & Why It’s So Important

It’s been a long time since the San Jose Sharks have developed an excellent two-way middle-six forward.

It’s the type of player that essential to winning, and of course, the Sharks haven’t won a lot in the last six years.

But in Thursday night’s 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, Collin Graf showed why he might become the franchise’s first true two-way middle-six forward development success since prime Barclay Goodrow in 2019-20.

Forget Graf’s two goals — plays like these are why the 22-year-old winger has vaulted ahead of offense-first San Jose Barracuda prospects like Danil Gushchin and Thomas Bordeleau, for example, on the depth chart.

Graf (51) is in good defensive position, above the puck, with two Sharks forwards Will Smith (2) and Alex Wennberg (21), along with defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (85) forechecking. The puck squeaks past Graf, but the winger reads the situation, that Connor Bedard (98) doesn’t have help, so he’s able to target the always-dangerous Bedard and mug him for the puck. The winger then connects with Smith with an easy entry pass, good defense leading to good offense.

Graf was the second most-used San Jose Sharks forward, 20:13, after Macklin Celebrini, skating in all situations, and also helping to finish the game when Chicago pulled their goalie.

No Barracuda prospect has made a greater leap from last year than Graf, who’s gone from finesse NCAA free agent signing last March to potential future coach’s pet.

“He really worked hard this summer,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He gets rewarded with goals tonight, but he does the little things that probably a lot of people don’t see…he’s gained a lot of trust from the coaching staff, and from his teammates, on how to play the right way.”

“He does the little things.” Plays “the right way.” Sprinkle some real playmaking and finish and hockey IQ on top of that, and Graf, who still needs to add speed and strength, could be a mainstay in a winning Sharks’ line-up for the years to come.

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on if Graf made the biggest leap from last year of any of his San Jose Barracuda-level prospects:

For sure.

He really worked hard this summer. He came in, in great shape. You could tell he worked on his skating, he worked on his conditioning. We saw that in training camp.

His hockey sense really helps him at this level of staying here, because you trust him in the line-up. Obviously, he gets rewarded with goals tonight, but he does the little things that probably a lot of people don’t see.

He’s the first guy over the boards on our penalty kill. And again, he’s gained a lot of trust from the coaching staff, and from his teammates, on how to play the right way.

Warsofsky, on Barclay Goodrow standing up for Macklin Celebrini after Dickinson’s high hit:

We’ve done it all year. Goody’s done it all year. We have some other guys that can do it.

I give a lot of credit for Goody. He’s been a great veteran for this team. He’s a true pro in every sense of the word. He gives you everything he’s got every single night. You know he’s going to show up, sticks up for his teammates.

I love him. He’s just a heart-and-soul guy. I know he had a lot of success here before, and he’s won a Stanley Cup.

What I see first-hand right now, it does not go unnoticed, because he does all the little things. He’s good for these younger players. He stands up for people. He’s been there since training camp in day one. So we’re happy he’s on our team.

Warsofsky joked, on Georgiev thinking about going for the empty net goal: “That’s why I’m going bald.”

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 14, 2025

Collin Graf

Graf, on thinking about the hat trick on his partial breakaway:

I mean any hockey player, if you’ve got two, you’re thinking about the third.

Graf, on Alexandar Georgiev going for the empty net goal:

I was like, holy shit. (laughs) I’ve seen it on video, but I’ve never seen a goalie goal in person.

Will Smith

Smith, on playing with Wennberg:

He’s awesome at entering the zone with the puck, and obviously attracts guys to him. He does that, obviously stuff’s gonna open up. When two guys go on him, that means there’s gonna be some more open ice for me.

Will Smith laughed, about if it felt good to score on Spencer Knight: "He's a BC boy though. So not too good."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 14, 2025

Alex Wennberg

Wennberg, on Graf:

I feel like every game, he’s just getting better and better, and it’s fun to see, like he’s not only playing offensively, he’s playing PK, making great plays defensively. Those players that kind of play all over the eyes, 200-feet game, it’s really important to have.

Wennberg, on San Jose Sharks’ 1-1-3 neutral zone forecheck:

I feel like it’s been a good adjustment. Obviously, we’re kind of standing up, waiting for them a little bit, but it makes them, if you ask me, slow them down a little bit, maybe force a rim or something.

Wennberg, on Sharks’ consistently strong efforts through a lot of change over the last month or so:

A lot of stuff that happened. A lot of players had left, but the ones that are still here, everyone here is fighting for one another. No one is checked out. No one is here just to finish [the season] off. Everyone is working as hard as it gets. That just shows the character that we’ve built on this team, and that’s what you want to build on for the last couple of games here, but also next season.