The San Jose Sharks have retained forward Ethan Cardwell, signing the 23-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, the team announced on Thursday. Financial terms of the contract weren’t disclosed.
Cardwell spent a lot of the 2025-26 season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he recorded 15 points on seven goals and eight assists in 24 games during his third 12 months with the club. Before his season ended due to an upper-body injury that required surgery in February, he was tied for tenth in scoring amongst Barracuda players. He also produced a three-game point streak from Jan. 10-17, collecting three goals and two assists while posting two multi-point performances during that stretch.
The Oshawa, Ontario, native also appeared in seven NHL games with the Sharks last season after receiving his first recall of the 12 months on Nov. 2 against the Detroit Red Wings. He scored his only NHL goal of the season on Nov. 5 against the Seattle Kraken. Each of Cardwell’s profession NHL goals have come against the Kraken.
Across two NHL seasons, Cardwell has played 13 games with the Sharks, amassing two goals. On the AHL level, he has gathered 106 points, including 41 goals and 65 assists, in 158 profession games with the Barracuda.
San Jose chosen the 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward within the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. On the time, he was playing on loan with Surahammars IF in Sweden’s HockeyEttan, where he totaled nine goals and 27 points in 18 games with a plus-10 rating. He later returned to the OHL and finished his junior profession with the Barrie Colts after also spending time with the Saginaw Spirit. Across his final two OHL seasons with Barrie, Cardwell compiled 66 goals and 148 points in 111 games, together with a plus-43 rating.
Since turning skilled, Cardwell has developed right into a productive scorer with the Barracuda. He garnered 43 points in 71 games during his rookie AHL season before improving to 48 points in 63 contests the next 12 months. The brand new contract gives him one other opportunity to proceed his development inside the Sharks organization after his 2025-26 campaign was cut short by injury.
The San Jose Sharks have retained forward Ethan Cardwell, signing the 23-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, the team announced on Thursday. Financial terms of the contract weren’t disclosed. Cardwell spent a lot of the 2025-26 season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he recorded 15 points on seven goals and eight assists in 24 games during his third 12 months with the club.