Nikolai Knyzhov took the world by surprise when he cracked the San Jose Sharks’ 2021 opening-night roster. It was the NHL’s first ‘pandemic season,’ featuring taxi squads and a shortened 56-game regular season.
In January, the Sharks were in Arizona, gearing up for the season after a training camp that highlighted the predicted transcendence of young players like John Leonard, Jacob Middleton and Ryan Merkley. Merkley, by the way, did not debut in 2020-21, rather, the defender found his NHL legs this past season. Middleton was favored at the time to slate in as the sixth defender, but played in just one game for the big club in lieu of an injured Radim Simek, before being sent down to the Barracuda for the remainder of the season.