Shakir Mukhamadullin’s winding NHL path has taken another turn — and this time, it leads him out of San Jose.
The 24-year-old defenseman, once a key return piece in the Timo Meier trade, has signed a two-year, $3.5 million deal with the Edmonton Oilers just ahead of the arbitration deadline, closing the book on his short tenure in the Sharks organization and setting up a fresh opportunity in Alberta.
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For San Jose, it marks the departure of a player who was still viewed internally as part of the long-term defensive picture after arriving in 2023 as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Meier to New Jersey before ultimately landing in the Sharks’ system.
Mukhamadullin’s route to this point has already been anything but linear. Originally selected 20th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2020, he never suited up for the franchise that drafted him. Instead, his NHL rights were flipped to San Jose as part of the Meier trade, where he eventually worked his way into a 50-game season in 2025-26 — the most sustained look he’s had at the NHL level.
Last year, he recorded five goals and 12 points while averaging 17:09 of ice time, adding 63 blocked shots in a role that often asked him to absorb defensive-zone pressure while navigating multiple injury interruptions along the way.
Now, that development arc continues somewhere new.
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Edmonton landed Mukhamadullin in a deal announced by agent Dan Milstein, with the contract structured as $1.55 million in salary next season and a $200,000 signing bonus, followed by a $1.75 million salary in 2027-28. The second year also doubles as his qualifying offer.
In San Jose, the expectation had been that Mukhamadullin could continue growing into a depth or bottom-pairing role, with flashes of upside still to be unlocked. Instead, he joins an Oilers blue line that already features established roles for veterans such as Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman, while Ryan Shea’s recent five-year deal adds another layer of competition on the left side.
That likely leaves Mukhamadullin in a familiar position — fighting for minutes, possibly shifting sides, and trying to carve out a more permanent NHL role in a crowded depth chart.
For Edmonton, the move is a low-cost swing on size and projection. For San Jose, it’s another reminder of how fluid their defensive picture remains as they continue reshaping the roster post-rebuild core decisions.
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The Oilers now have just under $6.5 million in cap space remaining, according to PuckPedia, with additional roster decisions still ahead.
But for the Sharks, another piece from the Meier trade tree has moved on, and Mukhamadullin’s next chapter begins somewhere else.
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