The Edmonton Oilers managed to do the improbable on Wednesday, and traded the entire remainder of Darnell Nurse’s contract. Not only did the San Jose Sharks willingly take on the full $9.25M cap hit, they traded assets to do so. One of the two defencemen the Oilers got, Zack Sharp, is a college prospect and likely won’t be on next year’s NHL roster. However, the other young defenceman coming to Edmonton almost certainly will impact the team.
Shakir Mukhamadullin, with a last name as long as that of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, has been an intriguing Sharks skater for the past couple of seasons. Initially viewed as part of their defence’s future, last year he fell out of favour with Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky. Some of that can definitely be on the player and his development. But in all fairness, the Sharks counted on mid-30’s Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy in their top-four last year. It’s not 2018 anymore.
So how does Mukhamadullin’s game profile, and where will he slide into this Oilers lineup? More importantly, will he get regular minutes as opposed to his last season in San Jose? Let’s take a look.
Mukhamadullin has already been traded before, and his NHL path has been bumpy
The Nurse trade is not the first time Mukhamadullin has been part of the return for a big-name NHLer. He signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils in December 2021, before being shipped off a little over a year later in the Timo Meier trade. With the Sharks is where all of his NHL games played (83 so far) have taken place, to date.
After a three-game NHL cup of coffee in 2023–24 saw him own exactly 50 percent of the goal share, he played 30 contests in 2024–25. This past season saw him play 50 games, more than half the season, which is positive progress. But that progress hasn’t even gotten him to the amount of games that will now constitute a full NHL season (84 in 2026–27).
If this sounds kind of similar to the Philip Broberg conundrum, you are both very astute and likely just as scarred, if not more, as this observer by this team. Broberg’s grand total of regular season games played with the Oilers was 81, before he was offer-sheeted. He was, like Mukhamadullin, slow-played across three seasons and never given proper development, one can argue.
Mukhamadullin is still just 24 years old, so not even in what can be considered a skater’s “prime” yet. If the Oilers have learned from earlier in this decade what not to do with a young defenceman, then Mukhamadullin can still be a good player. Stability would probably be a good remedy for this player’s ails.
Mukhamadullin’s stats with the Sharks
In his three-game stint in 2023–24, Mukhamadullin did have solid goals-for percentage numbers, as stated above. But per PuckPedia, the underlying numbers (42% expected goals-for and 41% Corsi For) were not stellar. Still, Mukhamadullin played almost 19 even-strength minutes per night, so there was real promise.
He could be considered unlucky in 2024–25, as despite improved xGF and Corsi numbers, his actual goals-for cratered. His TOI at five-on-five fell below 16 minutes per night. And while his GF and xGF both shot up last season, his Corsi fell back to 45 percent, and another half-minute of average TOI at events was cut.
Mukhamadullin, though, was far from the main problem with the Sharks defence last season. MoneyPuck paints a dire picture, as San Jose had the fourth-worst Goals Against Above Expected and were among nine teams to finish in the “Bad” quadrant of xGF versus xGA. Only Vegas, Toronto, and Ottawa fared worse on GAAx, and those three teams notoriously often couldn’t buy a save.
Individually, Mukhamadullin had the third-best on-ice xGA per 60 last year. Only former Oiler Vinny Desharnais, and Luca Cagnoni, were better in that department. He’s only scored seven goals and 22 points in his NHL career, but he can become a solid defensive defenceman. His game is growing; he just needs to be trusted more often than he has been so far.
Mukhamadullin can still grow and be a solid defensive defenceman
Through reading all of these tea leaves, we see a picture of a young defensive defenceman who hasn’t blossomed fully. The one additional detail we can note is the decisive majority of Mukhamadullin’s minutes last year were with Mario Ferraro. When paired with another youngster, his expected goals numbers cratered, per MoneyPuck. (Worth noting that Ferraro, an unrestricted free agent unlike the restricted FA Mukhamadullin, was not retained by the Sharks and signed with Winnipeg.)
In just over 100 minutes of ice time with Orlov, Mukhamadullin performed leagues better in those expected-goals metrics. So, as long as the Oilers don’t try to pair him with the likes of his second-time teammate Jake Walman, he’s got lots more potential. And for only a small raise from $1M on his next contract, Mukhamadullin can be an excellent third-pair player.
This could be where things get interesting. Evan Bouchard should be more than capable to play with anyone, and as Mattias Ekholm gets older, maybe the younger Ryan Shea moves up. Regardless, either Ekholm or the recently-extended Connor Murphy profile as solid potential partners for Mukhamadullin. Perhaps Mukhamadullin even gets moved up to the second pair to facilitate this setup.
No matter what happens, the Oilers have to be willing to trust Mukhamadullin here. With Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney not stealing the show yet, Mukhamadullin has the advantage in potential. It’s up to the team to not let another Broberg situation unfold.
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