San Jose's last exhibition reused five units, but not the pair beside Orlov
Opening-roster skaters accounted for 5, 10, 15 and then 18 of San Jose's 18 dressed skaters across the exhibitions. The new combinations in the finale were Orlov with Dickinson and the Goodrow, Sherwood, Ostapchuk line.
Take San Jose's four exhibition lineups and mark the skaters on the club's September 28 opening roster. Put the games in chronological order, and your list reads:
- September 20 at Anaheim: five of 18 dressed skaters.
- September 22 against Vegas: 10 of 18 dressed skaters.
- September 24 against Anaheim: 15 of 18 dressed skaters.
- September 26 at Vegas: 18 of 18 dressed skaters.
The fourth entry is also where the experience columns meet. Summing each dressed skater's 2025-26 NHL regular-season games measures recent NHL experience, without grading ability. The finale was the only game with every dressed Shark on the opening roster, and the only opponent above Anaheim's game-1 total of 558. Vegas's finale lineup carried 1,140 such games across its 18 skaters; San Jose's carried 1,096 across its 18 skaters.
The repeated units#
Now keep the finale's combinations and look backward through the NHL shift charts. A unit here is a forward trio or defense pair, with time counted only while all its members were together. Every ice-time split and attempt count below covers regulation only. Five of the seven finale units had appeared earlier, each in both exhibitions its members shared.
Five units returned; Orlov's pair and the fourth line were new
Seven San Jose units in game 4, September 26 at Vegas, traced across four preseason games, September 20 to 26. Five-on-five, regulation only, from NHL shift charts. Times show all members together.
| Unit | Game 4 time | Earlier game and time |
|---|---|---|
| Marchment, Celebrini, Smith | 10:23 | Game 3: 6:48 |
| Wennberg, Graf, Stenberg | 9:53 | Game 2: 11:46 |
| Toffoli, Misa, Chernyshov | 6:12 | Game 2: 10:36 |
| Goodrow, Sherwood, Ostapchuk | 8:27 | New |
| Nurse, Kesselring | 14:10 | Game 3: 10:47 |
| Trouba, Allan | 10:32 | Game 2: 16:33 |
| Orlov, Dickinson | 14:11 | New |
You can see repetition without calling it a promise about tonight. These combinations account for substantial stretches of the finale: the four forward trios covered 34:55 of San Jose's 42:20 at five-on-five, and the three defense pairs covered 38:53 of that 42:20.
The pair beside Orlov#
Dmitry Orlov played with Luca Cagnoni for 16:16 of his 17:26 at five-on-five in game 2, then with Sam Dickinson for 14:11 of his 15:05 in game 4. Cagnoni also spent 12:08 beside Dickinson in game 3; neither Cagnoni pair repeated, and Cagnoni did not dress in the finale. All three combinations among those defensemen paired left shots. Changing that partner never changed the shot-side arithmetic.
The fourth line has the same absence of a repeat. Goodrow, Sherwood and Ostapchuk played 8:27 together at five-on-five in game 4, their sole appearance as a trio. Dellandrea and Leason sat that game after sharing 19:27 at five-on-five across games 1 and 3, both games they dressed. Those choices sit within a roster carrying seven defensemen for six lineup places and 14 forwards for 12 places.
Four games of Allan#
Nolan Allan was the only San Jose player to dress in all four exhibitions, accumulating the most five-on-five time of any Sharks skater, 61:57. Read the attendance beside the total before treating that lead as a preference over everyone else. His NHL player page lists 43 career regular-season games, all for Chicago, with none in 2025-26 and none for San Jose.
Allan partnered Trouba in both games Trouba dressed. Their five-on-five attempts went from 16 for San Jose to 12 against in game 2 to six for and 12 against in game 4. His shorthanded workload extended across the preseason: Allan played 10:30 of San Jose's 20:28 at four-on-five.
The power-play change#
Celebrini kept Smith and Chernyshov alongside him at five-on-four. With Marchment and Cagnoni, that unit played 2:34 of San Jose's 7:32 available in game 3; with Wennberg and Orlov, it played 3:08 of 4:52 in game 4. The defenseman and the remaining forward changed together, so watch the whole group when it assembles against Florida.
San Jose scored four goals in 20:54 at five-on-four across the four exhibitions. Its opponents scored twice in San Jose's 20:28 at four-on-five across those four games.
The arguments against#
- Repetition is thin evidence for durability. The five repeated units accumulated between 16:48 and 27:05 together at five-on-five across two games apiece. In the finale, three of those five were out-attempted: Marchment, Celebrini and Smith, five to 11; Trouba and Allan, six to 12; Nurse and Kesselring, 10 to 15. Reusing a unit does not oblige Warsofsky to retain it against Florida.
- The earlier opponents carried much less recent NHL experience. Vegas's 18 skaters in game 2 totaled 158 NHL games from 2025-26; Anaheim's in game 3 totaled 146. Celebrini's trio went from 13 to two in five-on-five attempts against that Anaheim lineup to five to 11 against the finale's Vegas lineup. Pooling those games conceals the change in opposition.
- Cagnoni's absence from the finale cannot establish his place against Florida. His attendance matches Orlov's, Trouba's, Nurse's and Kesselring's, with each dressing in two of four exhibitions.
Tonight's blanks#
For tonight's opener against Florida, check who partners Orlov, which forwards sit and which defenseman joins Celebrini at five-on-four. The lineup has not been announced, and each remains an open question. Start with the names missing from the boxscore. A standard lineup of 12 forwards and six defensemen leaves out two of the roster's 14 forwards and one of its seven defensemen.
Sources: NHL boxscores, play-by-play and shift charts for preseason games 2026010009, 2026010032, 2026010039 and 2026010063; NHL roster and player pages; San Jose Sharks opening roster release, September 28, 2026.
