Opening night is drawing near, as we’re now just 46 days away from the San Jose Sharks hosting the Vegas Golden Knights to kick-off the 2025-26 season.
In honor of that, let’s take a look at the history of the number 46 for the Sharks.
The first time we saw the number 46 was a few years after the turn of the millennium. Miroslav Zalesak wore the number for 12 games split across the 2002-03 season and 2003-04. Shortly after that stint, he’d return to Europe to finish his playing career. Currently, he’s the director of European scouting for the Colorado Avalanche.
Steve Bernier would take over the number during the 2005-06 season, and wore it for parts of three seasons before departing the Sharks organization and joining the Vancouver Canucks for the 2008-09 season.
Mike Iggulden would also wear the number for a single game during the 2007-08 season, while Bernier was out of the lineup.
Next, Tim Kennedy wore the number 46 during a 13-game stint with the Sharks during the 2012-13 season. After Kennedy, the number was out of the lineup for a while until Roman Polak joined the Sharks in the latter half of the 2015-16 season.
Forward Joel Kellman also donned the number for 38 games in the early 2020s before heading back to Sweden. When Kellman was out of the lineup around the same time frame, Nicholas Meloche also briefly wore the 46.
Cam Lund wore the number in 11 games last season and will likely get some NHL playing time in 2025-26, but is projected to start the season with the San Jose Barracuda.