The San Jose Sharks season is slowly coming closer, as we enter the month of September, we’ll see training camp and preseason games get underway in the near future. Today, we’re officially 38 days away from the Sharks’ home opener against the Vegas Golden Knights at the SAP Center.
In honor of that, let’s take a look at the history of the number 38 for the Sharks, which includes the longest-tenured player currently on the team.
The history of the number 38 dates back to the Sharks’ inaugural season. Defenseman Pat MacLoed split the 1991-92 season between the Sharks and the International Hockey League‘s Kansas City Blades. He’d play 37 NHL games that season, and tallied a total of 16 points during that stint. That run would be the longest NHL stint of his career, and also the most productive. He’d return to the Sharks organization for the 1992-93 season, but both his opportunities and production were limited. He played 13 games and recorded just a single point, an assist, during his final season wearing teal. He’d make two more NHL appearances for the Dallas Stars, but the majority of his career would be spent in the IHL until he hung up his skates following the 1999-00 season.
The season after MacLoed departed the Sharks organization, young defenseman Michal Sykora took over the reins for the 1993-94 season. During his first two seasons, Sykora split time between the Sharks and the Blades. During the 1995-96 season, he grew into a regular in the lineup, playing 79 games. Unfortunately for Sykora, that would be an outlier in his career. The following season, Sykora would play 35 games for the Sharks before moving to the Chicago Blackhawks mid-season.
Sykora would play his final NHL game as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2000-01 season, returning to his native Czechia for the remainder of his career. After playing two games for HC Pardubice during the 2004-05 season, he’d call it a career.
Rob Davison would be the first player in the new millennium to wear the number 38, albeit very briefly. During his rookie season, Davison wore the 38 which was the first of three numbers he’d wear during his time with the Sharks. He only played 15 games that season, and took over the number five starting in the 2003-04 season.
Overall, Davison had a respectable stint with the Sharks, playing 176 games over the course of five seasons. After departing the Bay Area, he had short stints with the New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, and New Jersey Devils. After a stint overseas, he returned to the Sharks organization and was the captain of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, during the 2013-14 season. Following that season, he called it a career and went into coaching. Most recently, he was an associate coach for the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League.
Center Bracken Kearns would be the next to don the number 38. He made his Sharks debut during the 2012-13 season, playing just a single game. The following season, he made 25 appearances for the Sharks, recording five points in the process. For the majority of his career, Kearns was a fringe player hopping between the NHL and AHL. His final NHL appearance came during the 2016-17 season while a member of the New York Islanders. Following the 2018-19 season, he called it a career while playing in Austria.
Micheal Haley wore the number 38 during his first stint as a member of the Sharks, beginning in the 2014-15 season. Like Kearns, Haley was a fringe player often bouncing between the NHL and AHL. The final season of his first stint, the 2016-17 season, Haley played a then career-high 58 games and recorded 12 points. After a stint with the Florida Panthers, Haley returned to the Sharks, now wearing the number 18 during the 2018-19 season. After playing in four games with the Ottawa Senators during the 2020-21 season, Haley called it a career and has been an assistant coach with the Sarina Sting ever since.
The player most synonymous with the number 38 for the Sharks is undoubtedly Mario Ferraro. Although he’s just 26 years old, Ferraro is already the longest tenured player on the Sharks roster entering the 2025-26 season following the retirement of Logan Couture late last season. The defenseman has played 408 games over six seasons with the Sharks. While he’s been in the middle of trade rumors for quite a few seasons at this point, Ferraro is entering the final year of his current contract which will certainly be a storyline to watch this coming season.
Given his age, there’s certainly a possibility that the Sharks bring Ferraro back with a contract extension, but we could also see him moved by the trade deadline. At the end of the day, only time will tell what’s next for the Sharks’ current number 38.