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SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks prospect winger Quentin Musty was disappointed not to get a promotion to the NHL last season, a fact that the 2023 first-round draft pick doesn’t try to hide.
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Now in his second full season as a professional, Musty hopes changes to his game will help him make his Sharks debut sometime soon.
Despite some disruptions, Musty, 21, was an offensive force for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves for four seasons from 2021 to 2025 and was the Barracuda’s fourth-leading scorer last year with 45 points in 61 games.
But to reach the NHL and earn enough trust of the Sharks coaching staff to stay there, Musty knows he needs to round out his game, starting with improving his defensive awareness.
“I think just positioning is the biggest thing for me,” Musty said Sunday. “Just knowing where to be on the ice. Coming from junior, I had four different coaches in four years and played four different systems, and then coming here last year was a brand-new system to me as well.
“Just knowing where to be and when to be (there), one-on-one defensively, I’m a big body. I can kill plays that way.”
Musty was happy with how he played during the Rookie Faceoff event at Tech CU Arena over the weekend, especially on Saturday during an 8-1 win by the Sharks over an overmatched team of Los Angeles Kings prospects.
Musty, at 6-foot-2, fought Jared Woolley after the Kings’ 6-foot-5 defenseman laid a questionable hit on Filip Bystedt and fellow prospects Michael Misa and Ivar Stenberg. He also sacrificed his body by blocking a shot in the third period, even though the Sharks were comfortably ahead.
“I think (Saturday) was a big step for me,” Musty said. “It’s rookie tournament, but I loved my game. … I was doing the right things, just finishing my hits, blocking shots, and the fight, I didn’t do it to stand out. I did it to protect my teammates and let L.A. know that it’s not going to fly.”
Musty began Saturday’s game on a line with Bystedt and fellow winger Cam Lund, who sustained an upper body injury in the first period and left the game. From there, Musty played with a variety of linemates while trying to be responsible in all three zones.
“We’re working on the defensive reliability. As far as the fighting stuff, I don’t know if we really want him doing that too often,” Barracuda coach John McCarthy said of Musty. “But I think the defensive detail, the 200-foot game, all that stuff that we talk about, it’s good to see him (block) a shot like that.”
Musty had an assist in that win over Los Angeles and added an empty-net goal in the Sharks’ 3-1 win over the Utah Mammoth on Sunday, but added, “For me, producing doesn’t really matter in this tournament. I’m just trying to show my reliability. Obviously, if I get the puck on my stick, I have confidence that I’ll make a play and produce offense that way.
“In prior years, I’ve had a ton of success in this tournament, and ended up not making the team. For me, just focusing on defensive reliability, and I think I took a step (Saturday).”
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With training camp set to begin on Thursday, the Sharks look fairly set on the wing as they appear to have their deepest forward group in years.
Along with returning wingers Tyler Toffoli, Kiefer Sherwood, Will Smith, Collin Graf, Barclay Goodrow, Adam Gaudette, Ty Dellandrea and Igor Chernyshov, the Sharks have added Mason Marchment, a free agent signee, and Stenberg, the No. 2 overall pick from June’s NHL draft. That group is joined by centers Macklin Celebrini, Alexander Wennberg, Misa and Zack Ostapchuk.
Unless the Sharks keep 15 forwards out of camp or someone is injured, Musty will be in tough shape to earn a spot on the team’s opening night roster. But for however long he lasts in camp, he can still leave a good impression on general manager Mike Grier and coach Ryan Warsofsky’s staff, and perhaps be one of the first wingers called up if anything happens.
Musty spent time in the offseason training with a group of players, including Smith, a fellow 2023 first-rounder, and new Sharks defenseman Michael Kesselring.
“I’ve been working the whole summer for this and thinking about this since the end of last year,” Musty said. “It was tough not getting called up last year. I thought I was on the right track towards the end of the year, but obviously (the Sharks) were pushing for playoffs at that point.
“It was tough not to get the call-up, but this camp, it’s all I’ve been thinking about the whole summer. I’m ready to go.”
GUSTAFSON SHINES
A San Jose native who grew up playing for the Jr. Sharks, Jake Gustafson always wanted to put on a teal jersey and play for the team he grew up watching.
He played both games over the weekend, capping the Rookie Faceoff event with two goals on Sunday.
The first came on the power play as he one-timed a pass from linemate Brendan Hoffman past Mammoth goalie Michael Hrabel at the 14:05 mark. Then with time winding down, the right-shot Gustafson came down the right wing and ripped a shot past Hrabel with one second left for a two-goal Sharks lead.
“It’s been so cool,” Gustafson, 18, said of the experience. “I’ve dreamed this since I was a little kid, and getting the opportunity to do it was just nothing short of a dream come true.”
Following a 25-point rookie season with the Portland Winterhawks, Gustafson, the son of Sharks executive Jon Gustafson, was taken in the sixth round, 174th overall, by San Jose at the NHL draft in June. At 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, Gustafson’s strengths are his hockey sense, skating, and physicality.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Gustafson would join the Sharks at the main camp this week. But he’ll head back to Portland relatively soon for one more season in the WHL before he begins his NCAA career at Colorado College, where his dad played.
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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 11:50 AM.