Sharks waive Brett Leason to clear room for Adam Gaudette

Nobody in San Jose is calling this a surprise. Mercury News beat writer Curtis Pashelka connected the move to Gaudette right away, and he put a timeline on it.

Curtis Pashelka

@CurtisPashelka

Brett Leason was placed on waivers today, an indication, it seems, that Adam Gaudette is ready to return to the active roster (tomorrow or Saturday).

So it's tomorrow or Saturday. Gaudette got hurt on the 2nd day of training camp, was called day-to-day and never played a preseason game. The Sharks then started the 2026-27 season with him on the injured non-roster list. Thursday's injury report reportedly has him back on Saturday, October 10, which matches Pashelka's window.

For Leason, this has been coming since opening night. The 27-year-old winger was a healthy scratch for all 3 of San Jose's first 3 games. He also needs waivers to go down to the AHL. Back in camp, Pashelka pointed out that the Sharks were probably keeping him around as insurance while Gaudette's status was up in the air. Now the insurance is getting cashed out.

He wasn't the only depth guy put through the process Thursday. The waiver wire had a few teams making the same call.

PuckPedia

@PuckPedia

Waivers today: Brett Leason #SJSharks Stefan Noesen #NJDevils Chase Stillman #LGRW Entwistle cleared from yesterday t.co/so7qgeK2D3

Leason was on the list with Stefan Noesen from the Devils and Chase Stillman from Detroit. Once he clears, he's expected to head to the minors. The catch is the 24 hours in between, when any of the other 31 teams can grab him for free. A healthy-scratch winger isn't usually a hot commodity, but this time of year teams are always looking for cheap bottom-6 bodies.

Leason is a fine depth guy, but Gaudette is the reason this matters. Last season he quietly had a really useful year in San Jose, with 17 goals and 25 points in 66 games, plus 96 shots, 53 hits and 33 blocked shots. A 17-goal guy coming back into the bottom 6 is a real upgrade for a team that's trying to put together some consistency early on.

Here's what to watch: whether Leason gets through waivers by Friday, and whether Gaudette is in the lineup Saturday. If Leason clears and Gaudette plays, the Sharks get their 17-goal guy back and still have Leason in the AHL in case anybody else gets hurt.