San Jose Sharks Lock Up Young Forward on a One-Year Deal After Injury Shortened His Season

The San Jose Sharks are keeping forward Ethan Cardwell around for at least another season. The team announced Friday that they’ve signed the 23-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract. They didn’t disclose the financial terms, which is pretty standard for deals like this.

Cardwell spent most of last season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. In 24 games, he put up 15 points on seven goals and eight assists. That was his third year with the club, and before his season got cut short, he was tied for 10th in scoring among Barracuda players. He also had a nice little three-game point streak in January where he scored three goals and dished two assists. But then he needed surgery on an upper-body injury in February, and that was it for his year.

The Oshawa, Ontario native did get a taste of NHL action too. He got called up on Nov. 2 and played seven games with the Sharks. His first NHL goal of the season came on Nov. 5 against the Seattle Kraken. Here’s a weird coincidence — both of his career NHL goals have come against the Kraken. Across two NHL seasons, he’s played 13 games and scored twice.

At the AHL level, Cardwell has been a consistent scorer. In 158 career games with the Barracuda, he’s racked up 106 points, including 41 goals and 65 assists. During his rookie season he had 43 points in 71 games, then bumped that up to 48 points in 63 games the next year. So the guy can produce when he’s healthy.

San Jose originally picked Cardwell in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. That was a bit of an unusual path — at the time he was playing on loan with Surahammars IF in Sweden’s HockeyEttan, where he scored 27 points in 18 games. He then went back to the OHL and finished his junior career with the Barrie Colts after also spending time with the Saginaw Spirit. In his final two OHL seasons with Barrie, he was a monster — 66 goals and 148 points in 111 games, plus a plus-43 rating.

This new deal gives Cardwell another chance to prove himself in the Sharks organization. His 2025-26 season got derailed by that injury, but the team clearly sees enough potential to bring him back. He’s 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, and he’s shown he can score at the AHL level. Now it’s about staying healthy and pushing for a bigger NHL role.