San Jose Sharks Quarter-Century Teams unveiled

With 2025 underway, the NHL is celebrating the best of the past 25 years by revealing Quarter-Century Teams for each of the League's 32 franchises and the Arizona Coyotes.

Each club will be represented by a First Team and Second Team of six players -- three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie -- who played for the franchise from Jan. 1, 2000 - Dec. 31, 2024. The first and second teams were selected by broadcasters, national, local and NHL.com writers who have covered the respective teams, in addition to select former players.

The six players voted to each First Team will be on the ballot for the NHL All Quarter-Century Team that will be chosen via a fan vote that will start in February.

Today, the First and Second Quarter-Century Teams for the San Jose Sharks. Players are listed in alphabetical order.

SAN JOSE SHARKS QUARTER-CENTURY TEAMS

First Team

Forwards

Patrick Marleau

Joe Pavelski

Joe Thornton

Defensemen

Brent Burns

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Goalie

Evgeni Nabokov

Forwards: Thornton, who played for the Boston Bruins before getting traded to the Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005, had 1,459 points from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2024, third in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby (1,637) and Alex Ovechkin (1,577). No player had more assists than Thornton's 1,057 with Crosby (1,035) the only other with at least 1,000. Marleau is ninth in points during the quarter century with 1,100 (524 goals, 576 assists) and Pavelski (1,068 points; 476 goals, 592 assists) is 14th. Thornton, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, had 1,055 points for the Sharks. Nobody at the position played more games for San Jose in the quarter century than Marleau, (1,411), Thornton (1,104) and Pavelski (963). Each was a member of the 2016 team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Thornton won the scoring title in in 2005-06, with an NHL career-high 125 points (29 goals, 96 assists) in a season split between the Bruins and Sharks to win the Hart Memorial Trophy voted as League MVP.

Defensemen: Vlasic's 1,296 points led Sharks defensemen in the quarter century. His 376 points (83 goals, 284 assists) are second at his position, trailing his partner on this team, Burns (594). Vlasic, still playing for the Sharks at age 37, was their most dependable two-way defender and his plus-51 rating ranks first. During the run to the 2016 Final, Vlasic had 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) and was a team-best plus-14. Burns played 798 games for the Sharks (172 goals and 422 assists). His 205 power-play points on the power play were more than any other San Jose defenseman.

Goalie: Nabakov arrived during the 1999-00 season, playing 11 regular-season games. From there, he rewrote the record book for the Sharks. No goalie in team history from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2024, played more games (593) or won more games (293). He won the 2000 Calder Trophy voted as the top rookie after going 32-21 with seven ties, a 2.19 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and six shutouts. Nabokov was 40-38 with a 2.29 GAA, .913 save percentage and seven shutouts in 80 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Second Team

Forwards

Logan Couture

Tomas Hertl

Owen Nolan

Defensemen

Dan Boyle

Erik Karlsson

Goalie

Martin Jones

Forwards: Couture, San Jose's first-round pick (No. 9) in the 2007 NHL Draft, played 933 regular-season games and had 701 points (323 goals, 378 assists), fourth best in the quarter century. He was better in the postseason with 101 points (48 goals, 53 assists) in 116 games. He is one of four Sharks who had at least 100 points in the playoffs and led them in 2016 with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 24 games. Hertl had 484 points (218 goals, 266 assists) in 712 regular-season games before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 8, 2024. Nolan, the No. 1 pick by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Draft, became one of the first stars in Sharks history with 189 points (86 goals, 103 assists) in 230 games after arriving in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 26, 1995. He played the 2000 and 2002 NHL All-Star Game as a member of the Sharks.

Defensemen: The offensive talent here is immense. No defenseman scored for the Sharks at a more prodigious pace than Karlsson after he was traded to San Jose by the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, 2018. He had 243 points (52 goals, 191 assists) in 293 games, 0.83 per game that ranks second behind Thornton (0.96 per game) during the quarter century (minimum 100 games played). He won the 2023 Norris Trophy voted as best at his position before getting traded to the Penguins on Aug. 6, 2023. Boyle had 269 points (68 goals, 201 assists) in 431 games, a rate of 0.62 that ranks third. His 136 points on the power play were second to Burns (205) at his position.

Goalie: Nabokov holds virtually every Sharks goaltending record during the quarter century. Jones is second in games played (327) and wins (170) with a 2.66 GAA, .907 save percentage and 18 shutouts, and his 32 playoff wins after arriving in a trade with the Bruins on June 30, 2015, also are second. He went 14-10 with a 2.16 GAA, .923 save percentage and three shutouts to help the Sharks reach the 2016 Final.