Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The San Jose Sharks open training camp Thursday with plenty to show and even more to prove. That comes with finishing at the bottom of the NHL last season.
Change has swept the organization this summer. It starts with a new head coach in Ryan Warsofsky, who won Calder Cups with the Carolina Hurricanes organization as an assistant coach in Charlotte (2019) and as a head coach in Chicago (2022). The Sharks are looking for more internal competition, and they brought in free agents like Andrew Poturalski, Jimmy Schuldt and Lucas Carlsson to battle for jobs this preseason.
The Sharks’ AHL affiliate is coming off a last-place finish also. The San Jose Barracuda went 24-34-10-4 in 2023-24, last in the Pacific Division and 30th in the 32-team league. They surrendered 260 goals, most in the AHL, and ranked 31st on the penalty kill. So in addition to Poturalski, Schuldt and Carlsson, the organization signed center Colin White to an American Hockey League contract this summer. White, 27, will help drive that fight for ice time and arrives in San Jose looking to make his own break as well.
An eighth-year pro out of Boston College, White spent much of last season in the NHL, combining for 28 games between Pittsburgh and Montreal. He also spent 21 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, contributing 10 points (five goals, five assists). He has played 320 NHL games in all and reached the Stanley Cup Final with Florida in 2023, but it was a challenging job market this offseason.
Experience like White’s will push everyone in camp. And he is a center, something that’s a must-have for any contending team. White was a first-round pick (21st overall) by the Ottawa Senators in 2015. He gathered 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists) in 71 games with Ottawa back in 2018-19, his first full NHL season, and aside from last season’s assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and a single game with Belleville in 2019-20, White has otherwise been an NHL regular.
White is on an AHL deal, but he wants to earn an NHL contract. So if that NHL job does not pan out immediately, he at least wants to leave an impression as he participates in Sharks training camp. And with the Barracuda, White will be taking on a leadership role among what should be a young roster around him. Consistency can be so difficult to master, and White has been through the process. He can offer a steady presence to the Barracuda lineup while also bringing his younger teammates through those uneven times.
White wore a letter as an alternate captain while with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and this turn with the Barracuda will lend another chance at mentorship. In some ways, White is still searching for consistency too. The struggle is a reality for most players, really.
“I think a big thing is confidence,” White said. “It’s easy to lose confidence in either league. You’re going to make mistakes, so the big thing is being able to learn from your mistakes but keep your confidence. It’s something I’m still trying to do. But it’s definitely something that I can help (others) with.
“A lot of guys are just used to being ‘the guy’ growing up, and as you get older in different roles and different leagues, sometimes it’s tough to find what your role is right away. And that can hurt your confidence. You get scared to make a play.”
Without a Calder Cup Playoff appearance since 2019, the feeling is that it’s time for the Barracuda to win games along with bringing along the organization’s prospects. After all, the ultimate success of the Sharks’ rebuilding program will depend heavily on the Barracuda being able to develop talent. And part of that development process is having a winning environment.
White put it bluntly.
“I don’t think they want to keep on losing.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
