Is longtime Sharks defenseman about to play his final game in San Jose?

SAN JOSE – Mario Ferraro remembers what the scene was like inside the San Jose Sharks’ dressing room in the fall of 2019 when he was entering his first season as a professional hockey player after a memorable college career.

“I was the young one in this room,” Ferraro said of his rookie season, when he was teammates with Sharks luminaries Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Brent Burns, and Logan Couture, among others, “and now I feel like I’m the older one in here.

“It’s crazy. Time goes by quick.”

Now, after 466 career games with the Sharks over seven seasons, Ferraro is in what could be his final week in the organization, with Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at SAP Center possibly his last one in teal. The Sharks next play on Friday at home against the St. Louis Blues, seven hours after the NHL trade deadline at noon (PST).

Ferraro, a second-round draft pick by San Jose in 2017 and now the Sharks’ longest tenured player, is a pending unrestricted free agent as he and the Sharks have not come to terms on a contract extension.

If nothing changes before Friday — and it appears nothing will — the steady and durable Ferraro could be sent to more of a Stanley Cup-contending team, as he’s in the final year of the four-year, $13 million contract he signed in Aug. 2022. The deal does not carry any trade protection.

Ferraro, 27, has dealt with trade rumors in previous years when the Sharks were totally out of the playoff picture and general manager Mike Grier was trading away almost every pending UFA he could.

But with the Sharks in the mix for their first playoff appearance since the spring of 2019, when Ferraro was still at UMass-Amherst, this trade deadline for the Sharks could go in any number of directions, with Grier choosing to sell, add, or stand pat. The Sharks have eight pending UFAs on their NHL roster, including four defensemen.

The Sharks entered Tuesday four points back of the Edmonton Oilers for the Western Conference’s second wild card spot, with three games in hand. After a loss to the Calgary Flames last Thursday, the Sharks beat the Oilers and Winnipeg Jets to revitalize their postseason hopes.

Ferraro said Tuesday morning that he wasn’t thinking that the game against the Canadiens could be his last with the team that drafted him almost a decade ago.

“I’m just focused on the game tonight,” Ferraro said. “Since the season has ramped back up (after) the break. I’m focused on winning as many hockey games as we can, and I’m just happy we were able to string a couple together after the Calgary game.

“My mindset right now is to get the win tonight and continue to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs. Whatever happens at the deadline, it happens. It’s part of the game. It’s part of the league. But to be honest, I haven’t thought about it much.”

The Sharks haven’t made the playoffs since Ferraro broke into the NHL. After three years of spinning their wheels, the Sharks, under Grier, began a near-total teardown in 2022, sinking to the bottom of the NHL standings as several veterans were shipped out for draft picks and prospects.

Ferraro’s been the one constant, as he’s been asked to play huge minutes while doing a ton of grunt work, like blocking shots and killing penalties.

From the start of the 2020-2021 season until last year, Ferraro ranked 45th in the NHL with an average of 21:14 in ice time per game. Since he entered the league, Ferraro, before Tuesday, ranked 17th in the NHL with 878 blocks, and was 13th in total shorthanded time on ice (1,232:09).

Along the way, Ferraro became one of the team’s leaders, as he was named a Sharks alternate captain before the 2021-22 season, even though he was only 23 at the time.

“If you looked up a definition of a competitor, Mario’s face would be right there, and his name would be right there, because he competes, shift in and shift out,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He gives you everything he has. He cares. He’s been a really important piece to getting us out of this funk that we’ve been in the last few years.”

Ferraro played in the 2019 NCAA National Championship game with UMass and helped Canada win a gold medal at the 2021 World Championship. It’s out of his control, but he’d love to see the Sharks stay together for the stretch run.

“It’s a tight group in here,” Ferraro said. “We all have the same goal. We all have the same vision in mind. But whatever happens, happens. The goal doesn’t change. Whoever comes into this room is going to be brought here for a reason, to accomplish that goal of making the playoffs.”