While Howden was always viewed as a high-end talent, Gregor has had some ups and downs on his journey. He was taken in the third round of the WHL draft, but won the Alberta midget AAA scoring title at 15 before breaking his collarbone and missing all but 10 games in his first WHL season. Last year Gregor was the Eastern Conference's nominee for rookie of the year after scoring 28 goals and 73 points in 72 games.
"Looking back I think I have a lot to be proud of," Gregor said. "I missed a whole season of hockey but was still able to have a pretty solid season. To finish it off by getting drafted, it's pretty cool to know all of the work I put into coming back and staying healthy during the season paid off. It's pretty awesome to be rewarded by being drafted."
Gregor said he had a good interview with the Sharks, but was still a little surprised they were the team that ended up taking him. Still, he's very excited to go to the Western Conference champions.
"They told me that they like my game and they see me as a centre. So that's a plus for me. I'll be playing centre next year, so it's nice that they see me as a centreman moving forward," Gregor said. "Obviously they're coming off of a Stanley Cup final run and they seem to be in contention every year which is awesome. They have a lot of skill up front and it seems like a great place to play. I'm excited to be going there. They seem like a good fit."