Barracuda Top Teams Award 2026: MVP, Rookies, and More

The San Jose Barracuda handed out their 2025-26 individual honors in late April, and the Barracuda top teams award lineup drew plenty of attention from Sharks fans and AHL followers. Five players took home recognition this season. From a Swedish center who cracked the franchise’s 60-point club to a forward winning a third straight Hard Hat honor, the Barracuda top teams award class of 2025-26 is worth knowing in full.

These Barracuda top teams award recognitions carry real weight. The Barracuda serve as the primary AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, and honors like these map out which prospects are developing on schedule. Keep up with more at our sports news and analysis section for broader AHL and pro sports context.

MVP Barracuda Top Teams Award: Filip Bystedt

The leading Barracuda top teams award this season belongs to center Filip Bystedt. The 22-year-old Swedish forward led the entire Barracuda roster in points (60), assists (38), game-winning goals (6), and overtime goals (2). He finished second on the team in goals (22).

Bystedt became just the fourth player in franchise history to reach the 60-point mark in a season, and the second in as many years, following Andrew Poturalski who posted 73 in 2024-25.

He also set career highs in games played (65), goals, assists, power-play goals (6), and shots (119). The Sharks selected him 27th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. After a quieter 2024-25, he nearly doubled his goal output this season.

The Hockey News noted in its review of the award that Bystedt’s offensive skills already project as NHL caliber, though analysts point to defensive zone consistency as the remaining hurdle before a full-time Sharks spot opens up. You can read the full breakdown from The Hockey News here. The Hockey News

This Barracuda top teams award for MVP places Bystedt alongside former winners like Andrew Poturalski (2024-25) and Shakir Mukhamadullin (2023-24). It is the kind of marker that tends to come right before a prospect earns a permanent NHL call-up.

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Barracuda Top Teams Award for Rookies: Chernyshov and Musty Share It

The Barracuda top teams award for Rookie of the Year is a two-winner result this season. Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty were named co-honorees, and the numbers explain why neither could be left out.

Chernyshov split the season between the Sharks and the Barracuda, appearing in 28 NHL games and recording 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists). In 41 games with the Barracuda, he totaled 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists), along with 36 penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating. He was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after posting 16 points (10 goals, 6 assists) in 13 games, helping guide the Barracuda to a 10-1-1-1 record during that stretch.

Musty, a Sharks 2023 first-round selection, was among the AHL’s top rookie producers, finishing tied for fourth in goals (21) and tied for seventh in points (45). He also ranked tied for third in both power-play goals (8) and assists (13), third in power-play points (21), and second in shots (168) among first-year players.

Both players earned this Barracuda top teams award independently. Splitting it was the only fair call. That kind of depth from two first-year players in the same AHL affiliate at the same time is not common.

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Most Inspirational Barracuda Top Teams Award: Patrick Giles

Patrick Giles took home the Barracuda top teams award for Most Inspirational Player in his first full season with the club. The 25-year-old stands six feet, six inches tall, and coach John McCarthy used him in nearly every situation throughout the year.

Giles played both center and winger, was deployed frequently on both the penalty kill and second power play. The 25-year-old set career highs in assists (14), points (24), and shots (126).

His Barracuda top teams award season came with an extra layer of recognition. He was also named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the San Jose community during the 2025-26 season. According to the official Barracuda team announcement, Giles was used as a Swiss Army knife across nearly every lineup situation throughout the campaign. Earning both recognitions in the same season is uncommon.

Hard Hat Barracuda Top Teams Award: Anthony Vincent, Three Straight Years

Anthony Vincent goes back-to-back-to-back as the Barracuda’s Hard Hat Award winner. He claimed the Hard Hat Barracuda top teams award for the third consecutive season in 2025-26. Only Ozzy Wiesblatt had previously won it more than once, making Vincent the most decorated Hard Hat recipient in franchise history.

The third-year pro set career highs in 2025-26 in penalty minutes (111), shorthanded goals (2), and shots (121). His physical, high-energy approach gave the Barracuda’s fourth line a consistent identity from October through April.

Winning any Barracuda top teams award three consecutive years in the same category is a rare achievement in professional hockey. Vincent earned it each time.

Fan Favorite Barracuda Top Teams Award: Jimmy Huntington

Despite missing almost all of 2024-25 with injury, Huntington came back as good as ever in 2025-26, setting career highs in games (71), assists (33), points (48), penalty minutes (60), power-play goals (5), and shots (118).

One of the most talked-about moments of his season came on April 4 when he dropped the gloves with six-foot-six Keaton Middleton in a game against the Colorado Eagles. That kind of play energizes an arena and cements a player’s standing with the home crowd. The Fan Favorite Barracuda top teams award was a natural result.

Huntington joins Yaroslav Askarov (2025-26), Georgi Romanov and Magnus Chrona (2023-24), and Thomas Bordeleau (2022-23) as winners of the Fan Favorite Award.

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What the 2025-26 Barracuda Top Teams Award Class Means for the Sharks

The Barracuda top teams award winners from 2025-26 reflect a Sharks development system with real depth at multiple positions. Bystedt’s MVP output puts him front and center for a training camp roster competition. Chernyshov’s NHL performance this season suggests his extended AHL time may already be behind him. Musty’s rookie totals rank among the strongest first-year AHL showings in recent memory.

Vincent, Giles, and Huntington each showed what committed role-player effort looks like across a full 70-plus game season. Championship-level teams need players like that in every lineup spot.

The 2025-26 Barracuda top teams award class is a strong one, and it gives the Sharks organization real building blocks heading into next season.