Preview/Lines #27: Why Sharks Called Up Regenda & Not Other Barracuda Prospects?

Why Pavol Regenda?

The San Jose Sharks called up the 25-year-old winger on Monday, in place of defenseman Vincent Desharnais, who was placed on IR. This move gives the Sharks, who had nine defensemen on the roster before moving Desharnais to IR, more roster flexibility.

Statistically, this might be a head-scratching move.

Regenda has just four goals in 19 games this season with the San Jose Barracuda, which pales in comparison to top San Jose Sharks winger prospects, Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty. Chernyshov has 10 goals and 16 points in just 13 November games, while Musty has six goals and 15 points in the same stretch.

“Stats don’t mean everything,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky explained.

“There’s finer details for you to play up here that you have to play with,” he added. “It’s important for them to keep playing and continue to develop those habits away from the puck, with the puck, certain situations.”

It’s both 2024 second-round pick Chernyshov and 2023 first-round pick Musty’s first full AHL seasons.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-4 Regenda is a veteran pro winger, who’s got 19 NHL games under his belt.

“He’s been playing good, playing a heavy style that we’ve been looking for, competitive, gets to the dirty areas, gets to the inside,” Warsofsky said. “We’re scoring, but there’s more scoring we can add to our group as far as getting to the inside and playing in front of the goaltender’s eyes. He does a really good job of that.”

Regenda also can be slotted lower in the line-up. If he plays for the San Jose Sharks, there’s a good chance that it’ll be on fourth line.

“In a perfect world, we really don’t want to call up one of those young guys and put them on the line where they can’t maybe get to their toolset,” Warsofsky said, meaning a top-nine role and perhaps some power play time. “So there’s a little bit of that, for sure.”

San Jose Sharks (12-11-3)

Yaroslav Askarov will start.

Nick Leddy and Vincent Iorio stayed out late, so they’re not likely to play. So this is how the defense should look:

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Klingberg
Dickinson-Mukhamadullin

Vincent Desharnais, who’s missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, was put on IR, and will miss tonight and likely Thursday, according to Warsofsky. Warsofsky confirmed that the big defenseman’s injury had nothing to do with getting hit high by a puck on Nov. 26 at the Colorado Avalanche.

There appear to be more questions up front with the Sharks, as Adam Gaudette missed morning skate with an illness. He’s a game-time decision.

Warsofsky reported that there were a couple other game-time decisions, though he didn’t specify who. It looks like Gaudette was the only Shark to miss practice:

#SJSharks lines at morning skate: Adam Gaudette isn't on the ice
Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith
Misa-Wennberg-Eklund
Kurashev-Dellandrea-Graf
Regenda-Goodrow-Reaves
Skinner-Ostapchuk-Graf

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Klingberg
Dickinson-Mukhamadullin
Leddy-Iorio

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) December 1, 2025

Michael Misa and Jeff Skinner returned to practice for the first time in weeks, and while they won’t play tonight, Warsofsky upgraded both forwards, coming off week-to-week lower-body injuries, to day-to-day.

Utah Mammoth (12-11-3)

Karel Vejmelka should get the start.

Logan Cooley is a game-time decision. Cooley participated in full at morning skate.

Warsofsky sent his condolences to his World Championships captain Clayton Keller, whose dad recently passed: "My heart breaks for the kid. That's a tough thing to go through at a young age. I send my thoughts and prayers to him and his family. He's a great kid."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 1, 2025

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Utah Mammoth is at 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.