San Jose Sharks
Regenda on Slovakia’s Excitement for Olympics, Not Surprised by Chernyshov’s Success (+)
Pavol Regenda has only played four games with the San Jose Sharks in the 2025-26 season, and he’s been a prolific goal-scorer in his short time at the NHL level, scoring five goals.
This includes his first-ever hat trick on Jan. 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I have more goals now here than [with the] Barracuda,” Regenda quipped after the game. “Happy with this, I don’t even know what’s going on really, lately. I gotta thank God for it.”
The 6-foot-4 north-south winger has four goals and 12 points in 28 games with the San Jose Barracuda.
“I gotta stay hot,” Regenda joked, when recalled last week. “Probably the best soccer player in the [NHL] right now, [I scored my first two] goals with a foot, so hopefully it still stays this way. Golden foot.”
Regenda has worked his way up the San Jose Sharks’ line-up, going from the third line on New Year’s Eve to potentially the second line against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
I didn't see defensive pairings, there were 7 d-men mixing in, Orlov, Liljegren, Ferraro, Iorio, Dickinson, Leddy & Desharnais
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 4, 2026
“He’s a big guy, can get in there, win pucks,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said, about the potential promotion.
Regenda, 26, is just taking it one day at a time. He’s played 23 NHL games over parts of three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and Sharks, spending most of his pro North American hockey career in the AHL.
“I’m happy to get another chance and I’m gonna enjoy it,” he said.
With the San Jose Barracuda, Regenda had a front row seat for another Sharks teammate who’s currently seizing his NHL opportunity.
In just eight games with the San Jose Sharks since his mid-December recall, Igor Chernyshov has taken the best league in the world by storm, with three goals and five assists.
Regenda hasn’t been surprised by Chernyshov’s ascension.
“He was really good in every aspect, power play, penalty kill, five-on-five [in the AHL] so he deserved it and he got a chance,” Regenda said. “I feel like they’re happy with him and he looks really good out there. What he’s doing here, he was doing in Barracuda too, right? So I feel like I’m not surprised at all. He deserves pretty much everything he [gets]. I’m happy for him, he’s a young kid playing the dream.”
As Regenda looks forward, he’s awaiting news on potentially representing Slovakia in the Olympic Games for the second time. He played for his country during the 2022 Olympics and posted a goal and three assists in his seven games, helping lead Slovakia to their first-ever medal at the event, as they took home bronze.
“It was an unbelievable experience, but unfortunately, it was [during] COVID. So it [had] a quarantine. The village was closed, so we couldn’t even see the city,” Regenda recalled. “We came home as a heroes. That was big. We had a parade, [an] open bus. [It seemed like all of] Slovakia [came to] group up on the the main street.”
Slovakia is expected to name their roster on January 8, and Regenda should make it.
“I feel like it’s every year, if it’s Olympics [or the] World Championships, for those two or three weeks, all of Slovakia stops. Everybody is just into hockey,” Regenda said, joking, “We have many coaches off of the ice. Everybody thinks he’s the coach, but it’s funny. Slovakia stops and everybody loves hockey. We’re a big hockey country.”
I extolled Regenda’s virtues in the pre-season and was probably too optimistic when they sent him and Cardwell down to the Cuda to start the season. Playing in the top 6, Regenda and Chernyshov should continue to shine. Big, bold, and in your face. We need players like this who have skills. Without aggressive talent offensively, we will hover at the mediocre mark. Cracking through to a playoff spot is tough. I don’t think we have the defensive chops to do it, yet. I’m starting to sour on Mukh and also Eklund. These two players can be attractive in a… Read more »
I agree with you on Muk, but not Eklund. You have to consider the fact that Eklund was coming back from that long layoff with his wrist injury and hadn’t been able to play much hockey at all until it fully healed. Then add in the mental factor of it all, and it’s easy to see why he had a slow start to this season. However, he has looked much better the last month and is starting to feel more comfortable with him game. It may not always show up on the scoresheet, but he has done some really great… Read more »
Mack is going to make anyone look better than they are when playing next to him. Eklund is not a bad player and I don’t mean to dismiss him as such. I see more powerful players in the top 6 and Eklund doesn’t meet my eye test. I think he can be a valuable piece in a trade scenario, same with Mukh. Both are weak, physically, and we need to get stronger.
I want Mukh to succeed so badly because of his toolset and also being the crown jewel of the Meier trade so seeing him have this rough patch with his play and often getting hurt is tough to see. At the same time, defensemen take awhile to figure it out, so maybe patience is the key with him here. I also hope he doesn’t turn into Ryan Graves if the Sharks do award him that patience.
Mario is figuring out how to be an effective NHL d-man at age 26. Its been a long learning curve for him, but he’s playing his best hockey. That he can’t stay healthy is a real concern and the clock is ticking. But its pretty common for a d-man to take until age 24 or 25 to figure it out. Zeke would really like to see Regenda find his way onto the 2nd line and see how it works. The best lines are not based on pushing all the top talent together, but on how well the players work together.… Read more »
My personal opinion is I love Regenda for his heart and for what he represents as a player who has worked his rear off to make the NHL. However, the goals he has scored have been a bit fortuitous, and if the puck luck had gone the other way, we might have a very different opinion of his play, and this is only over a factor of a couple of goals in a few games. We might be more focused on the things he can’t do and what he isn’t… I’m happy for the player and I hope he continues… Read more »
Zeke thinks its worth trying. He has something Wennberg, Graf and Eklund just don’t have. The cost of failure is essentially zero.
Wennberg is averaging 20min/g and has 4 even strength goals. Eklund has 7 even strength goals and I’m not sure how many of those came on Celebrini’s wing. I know its more of a shutdown line, but a bit of offense would be useful because there’s just too little offense for a 2nd line. A guy who gets bounces in front of the net and provides big body screens might work.
10 cent beer night came with its own set of dangers.
Fully disagree with your assessment of his goals being puck luck. On all 3 goals he was right in front of the net. In the first goal, he forced Vas to misplay the puck, it bobbles and Regenda is able to find it and push it in. In his second goal, yes his touch was mostly inadvertent. However, again all because he’s in front of the net. This is so needed and isn’t done enough by this team. His 3rd goal imo, is actual skill. He’s in front of the net again, he finds the rebound somehow in tight, and… Read more »
Exactly.
as much as i’ve liked their games, getting a bunch of points in a few games does not guarantee success and we need to see the effort and production sustain over the course of the season. as for eklund and mukh as trade pieces, grier probably values them higher than what he’d get in a trade for them right now, and mukh especially likely doesn’t have much value around the league. the best way to get a good return for shak would be a healthy and good stretch of games, in which case you have a good young rfa defenseman,… Read more »
I think it’s less that Regenda has a certain amount of goals in a certain amount of games. But more about reward for the work he’s done to be called up and produce.
He’s also undeniably big and the Sharks need size. I personally don’t expect Regenda to pot in more goals tonight but if he uses his body and physicality to help his other line mates get some offense going, that’s a great decision.
That is why a trade will net us someone who the team feels can help defensively and why Eklund and Mukh are the two players I think the Sharks could part with. Our pipeline is heavier on the offensive side than the defensive. Cagnoni is small. We need bigger people with a proven record to help us.
He’ll be a UFA after this season. Even if he player every remaining game, he’s locked into Group 6, like Jeff Viel a few years ago. I hope he continues to make the most of his time up, do the unsexy stuff, be a coach’s dream, fall in love with the system – and be motivated to work hard over the summer to improve his footspeed. He’s not likely to be a world beater but he could be useful, especially if we trade some winger depth for D, but he’s got to get a better first step.
Professor Hockey offers his view on Misa and other Sharks prospects at the WJC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJu40x2lCWk
Quite favorable on Sahlin-Wallenius and good with Kirsch. Less so with McKinney and not much to say on Ravensbergen, who didn’t play.
The Misa comments begin around 12min mark — and cover the rest of the video
So, the Rangers elite goalie, Igor Shesterkin, gets injured the other night. Don’t know how bad it is. They might not know yet. But they will, and soon. The back-up is Jonathan Quick, who, at age 39, is probably not leading them to the playoffs. And while the race is close, the Rangers are outside of a playoff spot at the moment. On top of which, their best forward and leading scoring, Artemi Panarin is 34 and in the final year of his very big deal ($11+mil/season). He has yet to be re-signed. So, what are the Rangers going to… Read more »
Fox does have the right handedness I prefer if they are going to make a move. I guess we’re going to just have to trust that Grier is going to strike at the right time
I wouldn’t question GMMG’s desire, I’d question whether he has the needed assets. For example, over the next 2 drafts, the Blackhawks have 3 first round picks, five 2nd rd picks plus the option of several good/promising young blueliners (Rinzel for example) they could offer in return. That’s a lot of dry powder. A top 4 d-group of Vlasic, Levshunov, Fox and Wyatt Kaiser cold quickly become the best top 4 in the NHL. Add to it Bedard, Nazar, Frondell and Moore with Knight in goal and that rebuild is over — they instantly become a serious Cup contender for… Read more »