San Jose Sharks prospect Ethan Cardwell has a unique opportunity to make the opening night roster, but he didn't get to this point without making a significant life decision at 16.

San Jose Sharks prospect Ethan Cardwell has a unique opportunity to make the opening night roster, but he didn't get to this point without making a significant life decision at 16.

With the NHL's final rosters due on Monday, Cardwell and Danil Gushchin have a chance to start the year at the top of the hockey world. Gushchin has made his NHL debut, but Cardwell still waits for his chance.

Cardwell will play in tonight's preseason game against the Anaheim Ducks and will try to impress head coach Ryan Warsofsky.

"I think the biggest thing is not letting the moment get too big. It's just another hockey game at the end of the day," Cardwell said. "I'm just looking to go out there and do my thing. I've gotten to this point for a reason, so if I can just stick to the basics and do what I do best, I think things will take care of themselves."

Cardwell opened up about his decision to pursue hockey instead of golf. The forward told reporters that he decided to pursue hockey over golf at 16.

"Right now, I'm like a plus two [handicap], back in the day. I used to be a good, competitive player," Cardwell said. "Probably around 16 [is] when I had to make the decision to kind of put all my eggs in the hockey basket and push [golf] to the side a little bit."

"I honestly just the love of the game. I loved golf. I loved everything about it, but you don't have a team atmosphere there," Cardwell explained. "It feels like you're kind of on your own. You're doing your own thing, and it's a long time out there when you're doing your own thing. I'm from a hockey family, so for me, it was a pretty easy decision, but hard at the same time because you're giving up something you love."

Cardwell led the San Jose Barracuda in scoring last season with 23 goals and 43 points. He played in all situations and was relied upon by 'Cuda head coach John McCarthy.

"The NHL is the best league in the world. To be able to crack a top-six or even a top-nine [role] off the bat, it's, a lot of times, very unrealistic," Cardwell said. "To give myself that opportunity, to be versatile and play up and down the lineup, I think it was huge for me. [It is something] I knew I had to do if I wanted to crack this lineup."

"Since the rookie tournament, it's a big opportunity," Warsofsky said. "[Gushchin and Cardwell have] taken advantage of it. It's another one tonight against a really good NHL lineup. This is a good opportunity for [them] to see how [they] square up against some legit NHL players."

The Sharks will deploy Cardwell and Gushchin on the same powerplay line as both look to crack the opening night roster.

Cardwell grew up with Sharks defenseman Jack Thompson and said taking the opening night introductions with a childhood friend would be a dream. 

"It's been a dream of ours since we were five years old," Cardwell said. "[We] started playing together when we were six years old, neighbors growing up, and now we're living together out here. It'd mean the world to us and our families."

Cardwell has a massive opportunity tonight to make an impression and crack the opening night roster. 

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