After appearing in four games for the San Jose Barracuda at the end of the 2025-26 season following the completion of his collegiate career at Clarkson University, Tristan Sarsland will be returning to the Bay Area for the 2026-27 season. On Tuesday afternoon, the San Jose Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate announced that they had come to terms [https://sjbarracuda.com/news/barracuda-sign-defenseman-tristan-sarsland-to-ahl-contract-for-2025-26-season] with Sarsland on a one-year contract for the 2026-27 season. The Wayzata, MN native is a right-handed defenseman, which will help fill a major organizational need for the coming season. Sarsland was initially eligible for the 2022 NHL Draft, but ended up going undrafted. There was some hype around him potentially getting selected in the 2024 NHL Draft, but he again went undrafted. "Projecting Sarsland to the NHL as an everyday contributor, but not outside the realm of possibility," Elite Prospects wrote in their 2024 Draft Guide [https://www.eliteprospects.com/nhl-draft-guide/2024]. "The lack of any standout, truly elite dimension paired with good-not-great tools doesn’t usually work. He’s a late-bloomer, though, and he may be able to establish himself as a do-everything depth defenceman in time." During his four seasons at Clarkson University, Sarsland scored 20 goals, 56 points, and registered 76 penalty minutes in 138 games.
