The San Jose Sharks are just 20 days away from starting the 2025-26 season against the Vegas Golden Knights at the SAP Center. In honor of that, today we’re going to be taking a look at the Sharks’ history with the jersey number 20. There have been a total of ten players to wear the number for the Sharks, dating back to the inaugural 1991-92 season. John Carter was first to wear the number, playing four games in the Sharks’ inaugural season and following it up with 55 games in the following campaign. During his time as a Shark, he registered 16 points, all of which came in the 1992-93 season. He played a couple of seasons in the American Hockey League after leaving the Sharks before officially calling it a career. Forward Kip Miller came next for the number 20, appearing in 11 games during the 1993-94 season. He had four points during his time as a Shark, two goals and two assists. After bouncing around between the minor leagues and the NHL for a few seasons, he established himself as an NHL regular in the late 90s and early 2000s with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. He officially retired after spending the 2006-07 season as a member of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ed Belfour had a short stint with the Sharks during the latter half of the 1996-97 season. He appeared in just 13 games for the team in teal, recording a career-worst 3.41 goals against average and a save percentage of .884. Russian defenseman Andrei Zyuzin started his Sharks career wearing the number 20 during his rookie season before changing to the number 4. He played a total of 81 games with the Sharks split across two seasons. He scored nine goals and assisted on eight others, tallying a total of 17 points. Veteran defenseman Gary Suter joined the Sharks at the tail-end of his career. He made his debut for the team during the 1998-99 season, but only appeared in a single game during that campaign. He’d go on to play three more seasons with the Sharks before hanging up his skates following the 2001-02 season. He played a total of 227 games with the Sharks recording 101 points and 193 penalty minutes. Evgeni Nabokov is synonymous with the number 20 in San Jose for good reason. He played a handful of games with the Sharks during the 1999-00 season, but truly made an impact during his rookie season, 2000-01. He went on to win the Calder Trophy for the league’s best rookie after recording a .915 save percentage and a 2.19 goals against average. Over the course of 10 seasons in the Bay Area, Nabokov played 563 games for the Sharks and registered 293 wins, a .912 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average. Today, Nabokov is still having a major impact on the Sharks, as their director of goaltending. After starting the 2010-11 season in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, center Kyle Wellwood joined the Sharks mid-season. He’d spend half of a season in the Bay Area, playing 35 games and recording 13 points in the process. Journeyman enforcer John Scott wore the number 20 for the Sharks during the 2014-15 season. In 38 games, Scott scored a career-high three goals and registered an assist. One year later, he’d win the NHL All-Star fan vote and captain the Pacific All-Stars before being named All-Star MVP. The 2015-16 season would end up being his last. Marcus Sorensen would be the next player to don the 20, debuting with the Sharks during the 2016-17 season. He’d play a total of five seasons in San Jose, appearing in 226 games. During that time, he contributed 64 points and was a -13. After leaving the Sharks, he returned to his native Sweden and captained Djurgardens IF for a single season. Today, he plays with HC Fribourg-Gotteron in the Swiss National League. Most recently, the number 20 was worn by Fabian Zetterlund. A former New Jersey Devil who the Sharks acquired as a part of the Timo Meier trade, Zetterlund joined the Sharks during the 2022-23 season. His best performances would come as part of the “Lund Line” alongside William Eklund and Mikael Granlund, however he was ultimately traded to the Ottawa Senators ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. Zetterlund played a total of 168 games with the Sharks, scoring 41 goals and assisting on 42 others in the process. Currently, he is set to begin his first full season with Ottawa and is expected to be a big part of their push for the playoffs this coming season. He did struggle in his first partial season for the Senators though, registering just five points in 20 games.
