In a recent interview with Alexei Shevchenko of Sport-Express, which was translated into English by X user @Uggg_uggg, former San Jose Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin opened up about his time in San Jose and his departure from the organization.
"The city truly became my second home," Mukhamadullin said of San Jose. "I was already driving without a GPS, everything felt familiar, comfortable, like home. I had good relationships with the guys."
Mukhamadullin was a part of the package that brought veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse to the Sharks, and although he didn't necessarily expect the move, he noted that it wasn't out of the blue. "I was told a couple of days in advance that it was a possibility," the defenseman recalled. "I wasn't expecting it, but I was ready."
While it was the first time Mukhamadullin had been traded since making the jump to North America, his move to Edmonton marked the second trade of his career. He was originally drafted 20th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2020 NHL Draft but was traded to the Sharks as a part of the Timo Meier trade while he was still playing for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Although Mukhamadullin didn't go into too much detail, he also mentioned that he had some miscommunications with the Sharks' coaching staff. "I won't spell it out clearly, but there were some disagreements," he said. "There was also one thing nobody knows about, a situation involving the injured list. I don't really want to talk about it now either, but it wasn't a great look."
Mukhamadullin missed significant time during the 2025-26 season due to both injury and coaching decisions that kept him out of the lineup. In total, he appeared in just 50 games during his final season in San Jose and across his three seasons with the organization, he played just 83 NHL games.
Despite not signing a contract extension with the Sharks before he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, Mukhamadullin did also note that there were discussions with the team. "There were offers," he said. "Two of them. We just turned them down, didn't come to terms, let's say."
Shortly after he was traded to the Oilers, Mukhamadullin signed a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.75 million. He will once again become a restricted free agent when his contract is up in the summer of 2028.
Mukhamadullin believes that the Sharks likely started thinking about going in a different direction around the time of the aforementioned injury list issue, which was likely in late February when he did an interview with the Bay Area News Group expressing his displeasure with his season.
Every summer, Mukhamadullin returns to his home town of Ufa, Russia, but he made one final comment about San Jose when asked about his annual trip home: "By my third season in San Jose, life was comfortable enough that I didn't really miss home that much."
It seems safe to say that things didn't go as planned for Mukhamadullin in San Jose. There appear to have been some miscommunication and difficult situations that led to his departure after just three seasons. Now, as a 24 year old, he'll turn his attention to making the most of his new opportunity with the Oilers.
