San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #2: Why Scratch Mukhamadullin? Dickinson & Sennecke Trade Jokes
Ryan Warsofsky knows that Shakir Mukhamadullin had two assists on opening night. He’s aware, joking not joking, that he’s actually scratching his leading scorer.
But being a defenseman in the NHL is more than just a pair of secondary assists.
And Mukhamadullin is being sat for more than just his two stick penalties, high sticking and hooking.
“I thought he got his legs moving as the game went on,” Warsofsky said.
That’s not a compliment.
Mukhamadullin did not “start the game on time”, according to the San Jose Sharks bench boss.
“When he’s skating, he’s very effective,” Warsofsky said.
The 6-foot-4 Russian wasn’t doing that early in the game, per Warsofsky, which diminished his effectiveness in all areas.
“Just his puck battles, going back for pucks, getting first touch on pucks,” Warsofsky said. “Obviously, the penalties, we got to continue to work with him and controlling his stick and moving his legs more.”
A coach’s feelings, as they often are, were ultimately expressed in Mukhamadullin’s usage: The 23-year-old played just 12:45, the only San Jose Sharks blueliner to skate less than 18 minutes against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I thought the other pairs were pretty good, fast team [in Vegas], so we liked our top-four there,” Warsofsky said about his Nick Leddy-John Klingberg and Mario Ferraro-Timothy Liljegren pairings, and Dmitry Orlov.
This is tough love for the young blueliner, but it is a deeper Sharks’ defense this season, and they’re trying to integrate top prospect Sam Dickinson into the line-up too.
Dickinson will make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks, in favor of Mukhamadullin.
Dickinson's always got jokes, even on the eve of his NHL debut.
His brother Jack couldn't make it to San Jose today: "He's setting up a watch party at home. In our basement. I don't know if my parents know about that."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 11, 2025
Warsofsky did stress that he didn’t think Mukhamadullin played “awful” — but simply, there’s a higher bar for staying in the line-up this season, with the likes of Dickinson and Vincent Desharnais around too.
“He’s gonna be a good player,” Warsofsky said about Mukhamadullin. “Early in the season, we want to get some guys in there.”
San Jose Sharks (0-0-1)
Yaroslav Askarov will make his first start of the 2025-26 season.
This is how the Sharks will line up:
Kurashev-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Toffoli
Skinner-Dellandrea-Graf
Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves
Leddy-Klingberg
Ferraro-Liljegren
Dickinson-Orlov
Askarov
Afanasyev is close too, has been ill last couple days
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 11, 2025
"I guess," Dickinson deadpanned, on if he was happy about childhood teammate Beckett Sennecke's 1st NHL goal.
Sennecke joked: "I used to play center & he used to be my winger…gave him like 6 breakaways a game & he never scored & then they put him on defense." (H/T @ZachCav)
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 11, 2025
Anaheim Ducks (0-1-0)
Anaheim Ducks morning skate lines @ San Jose 10/11 – 12/13 swap, 34 first off:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Gauthier-McTavish-Sennecke
Vatrano-Granlund-Killorn
Johnston-Poehling-Nesterenko
ColangeloLaCombe-Gudas
Zellweger-Trouba
Mintyukov-HellesonMrázek-Dostál#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/Ryoy31Lzzc
— Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) October 11, 2025
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks is at 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
