Sharks set stage for Rookie Faceoff with invite for undrafted forward Pavel Martinu

The San Jose Sharks are planning to add an undrafted prospect to their 2026 Rookie Faceoff group. According to Yahoo Sports, the Sharks have invited Pavel Martinu, an 18-year-old forward from the United States Hockey League’s Sioux Falls Stampede, to take part in the event, with the report attributing the information to Paragon Sports Consulting.

Rookie Faceoff, as the name suggests, is designed to give younger players a high-visibility setting close to NHL operations, where gamesmanship, pace, and decision-making are tested against an elite peer group. For a team like San Jose, the event becomes a practical checkpoint for player development plans that extend past draft day and into the following levels of junior and junior-pro hockey.

Martinu’s path is noteworthy because the invitation is tied to an undrafted status. That does not mean he is a long shot or a speculative add. Rather, it points to the reality that NHL teams continually monitor prospects who were overlooked in the NHL Draft and later separate themselves through performance and consistency in leagues like the USHL.

The report frames Martinu as a forward, and it places his most immediate hockey context in Sioux Falls with the Stampede. The USHL experience matters for evaluations because it is a common proving ground for players with NHL-adjacent skills who are trying to translate talent into repeatable production and reliable two-way play.

For the Sharks, adding an invited prospect to the Rookie Faceoff group can also serve roster-planning purposes. While Rookie Faceoff is not a regular-season roster moment, the team can use it to assess how a player handles structured competition, coaching feedback, and the intensity that comes with being surrounded by top prospects. It is the kind of information front offices and development staff can fold into future decisions, even when the event itself is temporary.

There is still context to keep in mind. An invitation is not the same as an NHL contract or a guaranteed call-up. It is a developmental invitation, and the next steps for Martinu will depend on how he performs at and after the event, as well as how his overall game fits the Sharks’ organizational needs at the forward positions.

What to watch next is straightforward: how Martinu performs in the Rookie Faceoff environment and whether the Sharks continue to build a path for him after the summer and pre-season evaluation cycle. Invitations like this are often the first public marker that a player has moved from “tracked” to “actively in the mix,” and the Sharks will likely decide what that mix looks like as training camp approaches.