Today we’re 41 days away from the San Jose Sharks opening their season at the SAP Center against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 9 at 10 p.m.

Because of that, let’s take a look at the players in franchise history who have worn the number 41. There have been nine players to wear the number, which was first seen in 1992. Since then, it has popped up every few years, with the most recent being in 2024-25. So, let’s dive into it.

The first player to wear the number 41 was David Williams back in 1992. Williams was drafted by the New Jersey Devils and later made his NHL debut with the Sharks in 1991-92. He played two seasons with the organization, but only wore the jersey number 41 for the first of the two seasons. During that year, he played in 56 games and scored three goals and 25 assists for 38 points. In his second season with the club, he wore number four and only managed 12 points in 40 games. He would then go on to play for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks from 1993-95 before his NHL career came to an end.

Tom Pederson was the next player to wear the number, and he spent four seasons with the Sharks. In his time with the club, he played in 225 games and scored 19 goals and 47 assists for 66 points. After his time ended with San Jose, he went on to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs but only appeared in 15 games and recorded three points.

Alexander Korolyuk is the third player to wear the number 41. After being drafted by the Sharks in the 1994 NHL Draft, he made his NHL debut during the 1997-98 season. He would go on to play six seasons with the Sharks and wear four different numbers. He started with number 27 and wore it for two seasons before changing to 15 for three seasons. He wore 41 during the 2000-01 season in which he scored 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 70 games. He finished his time with the Sharks wearing number 94. In his 296 games with the team, he scored 62 goals and 80 assists for 142 total points.

Next was Ryan Kraft, who was an eighth-round pick by the club back in the 1995 NHL Draft. Unfortunately for him, he only played in seven games and recorded one lone assist. After his time in the NHL ended, he spent a few years in the AHL before going overseas and playing in the DEL in Germany.

Next, we have Douglas Murray, who spent eight seasons with the Sharks and was known for wearing number 3, but in his first year of his career in 2005-06, he wore number 41. His rookie season saw him play 34 games and record one assist. After that, he would spend seven more seasons with San Jose over his nine-year NHL career. He ended his time with the Sharks with 451 games played, six goals, and 53 assists for 59 points.

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Jed Ortmeyer is the next one up. He wore the number for the club during the 2009-10 season. While only playing one season with the Sharks, he did have an eight-year NHL career. After spending three years with the New York Rangers and two with the Nashville Predators, his third stop in the NHL was with San Jose. In his one season with the team, he appeared in 76 games and scored eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points. After San Jose, he played two seasons with the Minnesota Wild before his NHL career came to an end.

The seventh player to wear number 41 was Mirco Mueller from 2015-17. After being drafted by the Sharks in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, Mueller went on to play parts of three seasons with the organization. In that time, he appeared in 131 games, scoring five goals and 23 assists for 28 points. After his time with the Sharks, he joined the New Jersey Devils for three seasons.

The eighth player to wear number 41 for the Sharks was Kyle Criscuolo, who only managed to play 16 NHL games over three seasons with three different teams. He played in nine games with the Buffalo Sabres in 2017-18. His next stop was the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22 where he played in six games, before playing just one game with San Jose in 2022-23, in which he scored a goal. He ended his NHL career with 16 games played, one goal, and two assists for three points.

The last player to wear the number was Vitek Vanecek in the 2024-25 NHL season. After starting his NHL career with the Washington Capitals, Vanecek was moved to the Devils after just two seasons. From there, he played two seasons with New Jersey before they overhauled their crease and traded him to the Sharks. Last season with San Jose he played in 18 games and had a 3-10-3 record, with a .882 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average. Just before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, Vanecek was dealt to the Florida Panthers, where he would go on to win a Stanley Cup. This past off-season, he signed with the Utah Mammoth.

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41 Days Until Opening Day: The Sharks' History of Number 41