The San Jose Sharks' season is just around the corner. NHL training camps pre-season action starts tomorrow around the league with the Sharks facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights.  That brings us to just 19 days away from the official kickoff of the 2025-26 season against the Golden Knights on Oct. 9 at 10 p.m.

Because of that, let's take a look at the Sharks’ long history with the jersey number 19.

There have only been six players to wear the number. The first time it was worn was back in the 1991-92 season, which was the Sharks' first in the NHL and the last time came back in 2006 when the arguably the best Shark of all time dawned the number.

The first player to wear No. 19 was Brian Mullen during the 1991-92 season. He had spent the nine years before that with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers. With the Sharks, he appeared in 72 games and scored 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points. After his time with the club, he joined the New York Islanders for a season before his NHL career came to an end. In total, he played in 832 games and scored 260 goals and 362 assists for 622 points.

Next up was Doug Zmolek, who started his NHL career with the Sharks but only played two seasons with the organization. His first year came in 1992-93, where he scored 15 points in 84 games. In his final season with the club, he had four points in 68 games before being traded to the Dallas Stars. He later suited up for the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks before finishing his career in 2000. Overall, he played in 467 games, recorded 64 points, and racked up 905 penalty minutes.

Jeff Friesen is next. Although he only wore No. 19 for one season, he spent seven years with the Sharks. In that span, he played 512 games with the club, scoring 149 goals and 201 assists for 350 points. He also went on to play for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, and Washington Capitals. His career fell just short of the 900-game mark, finishing with 893 games and 516 total points.

Tim Hunter spent 16 seasons in the NHL, though only one came with the Sharks. He is most remembered for his 11 years with the Calgary Flames. When he joined the Sharks, it was during the final season of his career. In 46 games, he recorded four assists and 135 penalty minutes. He also suited up for the Vancouver Canucks and Quebec Nordiques. Across his career, he played 815 games, collected 138 points, and piled up 3,146 penalty minutes.

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The second-to-last player to wear No. 19 was Marco Sturm. Drafted by the Sharks in the 1996 NHL Draft, he made his debut in 1997-98 and spent eight seasons with the club. During that time, he scored 128 goals and 145 assists for 273 points. After leaving San Jose, he played for the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, and most notably the Boston Bruins. Sturm was the biggest piece of the package that went to Boston in what is considered the biggest trade in San Jose’s history.

And the return from that trade? That brings us to the sixth and final player to wear No. 19 for the Sharks — Joe Thornton. He wore the number from 2006 until 2020, when he left the organization. In those 15 years, he became arguably the greatest Shark of all time. He appeared in 1,104 games and scored 251 goals and 804 assists for 1,055 points. Thornton was a six-time All-Star, won both the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy in 2005-06 after posting 125 points in 81 games, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024. That same year, on November 23, the Sharks retired his No. 19.

Before his time in San Jose, Thornton spent eight seasons with the Bruins. He also played for his boyhood team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as one season with the Florida Panthers. Across his legendary 24-year career, he played in 1,714 games and scored 430 goals and 1,109 assists for 1,539 points. In July of 2025, the organization hired him as the Player Development Coach and Hockey Operations Advisor. He also has been the co-general manager of Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in both 2023 and 2024.  After all is said and done, No. 19 will never be worn by another player in Sharks history.

As mentioned in the intro, the Sharks kick off the pre-season tomorrow night against the Golden Knights at 8:00 pm. After that, they resume training camp until next Friday, Sept. 26th when they face off against the Golden Knights again. At that time in training camp, the kicks will be in full-force and we will have a better understanding of who could make the opening night roster. 

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