2025 NHL Draft: Baggin' for Hagens

[Juxtaposer]

Matthew Schaefer looks fantastic at the U18. He’s incredibly young too, almost young enough to be 2026 eligible.

 

[one2gamble]

We should assume this team drafts in the top 5 one more time, this is shaping up to be a decent draft in that space from what I can tell.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

No love for Cagnoli, Halttunen, Havelid or Bordeleau?

That was more just a projection using 1st rounders and established (ish) guys only. I guess Bordeleau is more established than Guschin so you could swap them or whatever. If we draft Hensler and Parekh like I projected in this scenarion there's no real spot for Cagnoni or Havelid unless they become legit top line guys, which is very very unlikely.

Haltunnen, Havelid, whoever will ideally become expendable because we draft better versions of them and they can be used in a trade to bring in an established top-4 D or top-6 F once we're ready to become competitive.

We should assume this team drafts in the top 5 one more time, this is shaping up to be a decent draft in that space from what I can tell.

Lol looking at how far away we were from finishing 5th last this year...and factoring in how the last 2 drafts have had the exact same bottom-6 teams, the odds are we're going to be drafting top-5 quite a few more times in the near future.

 

[Hodge]

No love for Cagnoli, Halttunen, Havelid or Bordeleau?

Only on HFBoards will someone post a wildly optimistic future lineup projection and somehow get responses like "what about [insert mediocre prospect here]???"

 

[TheBeard]

Only on HFBoards will someone post a wildly optimistic future lineup projection and somehow get responses like "what about [insert mediocre prospect here]???"

So mediocre prospects aren’t counted in an ideal perfect world but JAG pickups like Thrun and Emberson are?

 

[Stewie Griffin]

So mediocre prospects aren’t counted in an ideal perfect world but JAG pickups like Thrun and Emberson are?

Thrun and Embersen are already in the NHL. They are also bigger, defensively minded defenseman who are easier to project than a Cagnoni or Havelid. Either way it was just a young player projection using mostly 1st round picks, in which I projected an ideal outcome with Celebrini and Hensler.

For all we know we could end up with Levshunov, Sennecke, and Martone instead. Who knows.

 

[coooldude]

So mediocre prospects aren’t counted in an ideal perfect world but JAG pickups like Thrun and Emberson are?

I get that his response was snarky, not trying to defend that, just saying Emberson was 3rd round 2018, Thrun 4th round 2019. They're comparable prospects but already in the NHL, so 4-5 years of risk reduction compared to guys like Luca and Halttunen.

I think Bords and Gushchin are just sometimes written off as DWJr picks, and frankly I would be surprised if either of them was a major piece in 4 years, but the same could be said of Emberson and Thrun.

 

[TheBeard]

I get that his response was snarky, not trying to defend that, just saying Emberson was 3rd round 2018, Thrun 4th round 2019. They're comparable prospects but already in the NHL, so 4-5 years of risk reduction compared to guys like Luca and Halttunen.

I think Bords and Gushchin are just sometimes written off as DWJr picks, and frankly I would be surprised if either of them was a major piece in 4 years, but the same could be said of Emberson and Thrun.

In a perfect world, as the OP stated, I would like think one of either Havelid or Luca crack the line-up over Emberson and/or Thrun - whom for the most part didn't look all that good.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

In a perfect world, as the OP stated, I would like think one of either Havelid or Luca crack the line-up over Emberson and/or Thrun - whom for the most part didn't look all that good.

As I said though, Thrun and Emberson have the size/tools to be effective defensive defensemen. Cagnoni and Havelid are small offensively focused guys. They're either going to be a top-4 man (which is a longshot) or not in the league effectively.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

We're still guarenteed to finish bottom 3 next year. There's just straight up not enough talent in the system. We were 19 points behind Columbus for 4th last and 29 points behind Montreal for 5th last.

To put that in perspective.

The difference between the Sharks and Habs in the standings (32nd to 28th) is 1 point off being the same as Habs to Oilers (28th to 9th). So Montreal was 5th last in the entire league and they were technically closer to being a top 10 team than being tied with us.

We're not guaranteed a bottom 3 finish next year but it is the most likely outcome. Our franchise record turnaround if it happened for us next year would put us back in the playoffs.

 

[StrawHatEklund]

I see us being in the bottom 5 for potentially 2 more years. That would take us through the McKenna draft. I suppose bottom 10 is possible for 2026 depending on how much we improve.

 

[DG93]

In a perfect world, as the OP stated, I would like think one of either Havelid or Luca crack the line-up over Emberson and/or Thrun - whom for the most part didn't look all that good.

I don't think the timeline will be a problem. I think Thrun and Emberson will get a fair shot the next 2 seasons while the defense is still a tire fire, and at that point, we should know whether Cagnoni and/or Havelid are looking like NHL bottom pair material. So we'll know which of those 4 are actual bottom-pairing guys and which guys aren't gonna cut it. I feel like between those 4 guys and Thompson, the Sharks will be able to find a good group of 5-7 defensemen. The much bigger problem of course is adding top-4 guys, and only Mukh projects to be one (hopefully he'll be a 2-way minute-munching 2nd pair guy.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Figured out what the VGK 1st is for… baby Eklund. Basically right-handed William. Make it happen Knights.

 

[Shark Finn]

Figured out what the VGK 1st is for… baby Eklund. Basically right-handed William. Make it happen Knights.

So, this guy Victor Eklund - Stats, Contract, Salary & More?

 

[Jargon]

Figured out what the VGK 1st is for… baby Eklund. Basically right-handed William. Make it happen Knights.

Doesn’t he have like 5 brothers? Should we keep drafting Eklunds? I want an all Eklund line.

 

[timorous me]

Doesn’t he have like 5 brothers? Should we keep drafting Eklunds? I want an all Eklund line.

I'd suffice for more Lunds. Two entire forward lines of Lunds! How about three? Maybe one Eklund per line.

Also, this plan includes some mysteriously non-Swede named Luke Kunlund. Not sure how he snuck in there but somehow he always ends up on one of those lines.

 

[landshark]

hahaha

Like, the Eklunds gonna be like the Sutters of the new century... Sharks should scoop them up like Pokemon!

 

[LadyStanley]

2026 draft eligible

 

[Barrie22]

2026 draft eligible

At 16 he has 115 points in 77 games in the WHL. For comparison Bedard at the same age had 128 points in 77 games.

 

[Roasted Nuts]

Who wants to start the 2026 McKenna thread?

 

[Herschel]

At 16 he has 115 points in 77 games in the WHL. For comparison Bedard at the same age had 128 points in 77 games.

The kid is pretty special... Medicine Hat is a much better team than Regina was in 21-22 but nothing McKenna can do about that.

It also a bit crazy they're cousins albeit only through marriage.

 

[anthonyyy]

Who wants to start the 2026 McKenna thread?

No Winna for McKenna. (yeah it's not perfect)

 

[TheBeard]

No Winna for McKenna. (yeah it's not perfect)

This one's a tough one.

 

[coooldude]

Divin' for Gavin
Give In for Gavin ** my favorite
Lose betta for McKenna

That's all I've got

 

[Juxtaposer]

Who wants to start the 2026 McKenna thread?

If anyone makes this thread before July 2025, they’re going straight to my [redacted] list.