Mario Ferraro Voted 'Sharks Rookie of the Year'

SAN JOSE, CA - San Jose Sharks (

) announced today that defenseman Mario Ferraro(

@mferraro77

) has been selected as this year's "Sharks Rookie of the Year" in a vote by Bay Area media. This is the third year in a row a Sharks defenseman has received the award.

Ferraro recorded 11 points (two goals, nine assists) and 30 penalty minutes in 61 games in his first NHL season. He finished second among NHL rookies in hits (120), eighth in blocked shots (58), led Sharks rookies in games played, assists, shots (63), hits and co-led in points. Ferraro set the Sharks rookie record for most hits in a season since the stat was tracked by the NHL in 2005-06, surpassing Torrey Mitchell's 113 hits in the 2007-08 season.

The 21-year-old made the Sharks roster out of training camp and played in his NHL debut on Oct. 2, 2019 at Vegas logging 18:08 time on ice. Ferraro registered his first career NHL point in the second game of the season, collecting an assist on Barclay Goodrow's goal. On Nov. 5, 2019 vs. Chicago, Ferraro recorded his first career shorthanded point and became the first rookie defenseman and second NHL rookie to register a shorthanded point in the 2019-20 season. On Dec. 28, 2019 vs Philadelphia, the blueliner scored his first NHL goal. Rookie forward Joel Kellman also scored his first career NHL goal in that game and the duo became the sixth pair of Sharks teammates to score their first career NHL goal in the same contest during the regular season and first since Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on Nov. 22, 2006.

Ferraro also achieved one multi-assist game, including a plus-four rating, on Feb. 29, 2020 vs. Pittsburgh. He was one of six NHL rookies during the season to earn a plus-four rating in one game. He also was the 11th Sharks rookie to achieve a plus-four rating in a single game, one shy of the Sharks rookie record set by Shean Donovan (+5) on Oct. 12, 1995 vs. Boston. Ferraro was the first Sharks rookie in almost 14 years to register the single-game feat, last achieved by Milan Michalek (+4) on Mar. 9, 2006 vs. Edmonton.

The five-foot-eleven, 185-pound native of King City, Ontario was selected by San Jose in the 2017 NHL Draft (second round, 49th overall).

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD:

2018-19 Radim Simek
2017-18 Joakim Ryan
2016-17 Kevin Labanc
2015-16 Joonas Donskoi
2014-15 Melker Karlsson
2013-14 Matt Nieto & Tomas Hertl
2012-13 Matt Irwin
2011-12 Andrew Desjardins
2010-11 Logan Couture
2009-10 Jason Demers
2008-09 Tomas Plihal
2007-08 Torrey Mitchell
2006-07 Marc-Edouard Vlasic
2005-06 Milan Michalek
2003-04 Tom Preissing
2002-03 Jim Fahey
2001-02 Matt Bradley
2000-01 Evgeni Nabokov
1999-00 Brad Stuart
1998-99 Alexander Korolyuk
1997-98 Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm, Andrei Zyuzin
1996-97 Stephen Guolla
1995-96 Marcus Ragnarsson
1994-95 Jeff Friesen