2002–03 San Jose Sharks season

The 2002–03 San Jose Sharks season was the Sharks' twelfth season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sharks placed 14th in the conference and did not qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1996–97 season, thus ending their five-year playoff streak. This would also be the last time the Sharks missed the playoffs until the 2014–15 season.

Regular season
After 24 games and an 8–12–2–2 record, Darryl Sutter was fired. One game was coached by Cap Raeder before Ron Wilson, the former coach of the Washington Capitals was hired. Wilson was not able to guide the team to the playoffs and finished with a 19–25–7–6 record for the season. General manager Dean Lombardi was fired on March 18.

Captain Owen Nolan was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Sharks' penalty kill struggled, as they finished 30th overall in penalty-kill percentage, at 81.01%.

Schedule and results

 * Legend:
 * Legend:

Scoring

 * Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
 * † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.
 * ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.

Transactions
The Sharks were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.

Draft picks
San Jose's draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.