Prospect Info: Sharks Prospect Info & Discussion Thread XVII

[hohosaregood]

Is Robins going to project as a center in the pros or have to shift to the wing? If he has the ability to stick at center, could be a nice center group with Hertl, Bordelau, and Robins for 5 years. Would assume Couture is gone by the time those guys have a shot to establish themselves as middle six centers.

It could end up with us just having helicopter lines. Center by committee

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Is Robins going to project as a center in the pros or have to shift to the wing? If he has the ability to stick at center, could be a nice center group with Hertl, Bordelau, and Robins for 5 years. Would assume Couture is gone by the time those guys have a shot to establish themselves as middle six centers.

Highly doubt Couture is gone by then

 

[Kcoyote3]

I remember someone clamoring for the Sharks to take Dustin Wolf. I wonder who that was

 

[LadyStanley]

I'm flying.....(a la Mary Martin?)

 

[Karl Prime]

In a perfect world the Sharks have Karlsson sending passes to the fast/skilled Bordeleau, Wiesblatt, Robins, and Gushchin in 3-4 years.

 

[The Nemesis]

The WHL announced today that there will be no playoffs following the conclusion of this shortened regular season, citing the difficulty of combining teams from the different play hubs thanks to covid levels and travel restrictions between provinces and into/out of the US.

 

[LadyStanley]

OHL expected to announce no season. Last week's announcement kinda tipped their hand, but they needed to resolve sponsors, STH, etc.

 

[Friday]

Going to be a lot of wild card players in this upcoming NHL draft. Hard to scout kids who didnt play for a year

 

[hohosaregood]

OHL is gonna have a monster year for the draft next year and we're probably gonna see a lot of "draft steals" this year

 

[tealzamboni]

Going to be a lot of wild card players in this upcoming NHL draft. Hard to scout kids who didnt play for a year

OHL is gonna have a monster year for the draft next year and we're probably gonna see a lot of "draft steals" this year

I wonder if it'll be more advantageous to work in the late 1st/2/3 rounds.
Though, cross border travel and juniors scheduling could still persistent for some time. So, that may change the development math for teams if they can't be that hands on.

Good thing the Sharks love the USHL . . .

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I was saying this on the Kraken board and I feel that is true for the Sharks too. Unless they have someone they are very high on who drops to their spot, they should drop back a few spots and load up on more picks/prospects. This draft seems like one which is ripe for DW Jr. to get some gems from the mid-late 1st or even in the later rounds.

 

[The Nemesis]

CHL commissioner David Branch said after OHL cancelled their season that the current plan is to have some sort of makshift showcase setup in place so that draft eligible players (and others) can get some work in for scouts and not be totally shot for this draft.



In other news, I just got my 2021 THN Future Watch issue.

The Sharks aren't the worst prospect group in the NHL! Thanks, Pittsburgh!

San Jose did come in at 30th with a C- grade and a top 10 of:

1) Bordeleau (overall rank 80)
2) Merkely (overall rank 86)
3) Weisblatt (overall rank 89)
4) Leonard
5) Blichfeld
6) Gushchin
7) Robins
8) Chmelevski
9) Kniazev
10) Chekhovich

Honestly, that's a better top 10 ranking than the days of the org sandbagging Pollak or whoever was writing the piece by swearing Taylor Doherty was gonna be something.

 

[CupfortheSharks]

CHL commissioner David Branch said after OHL cancelled their season that the current plan is to have some sort of makshift showcase setup in place so that draft eligible players (and others) can get some work in for scouts and not be totally shot for this draft.



In other news, I just got my 2021 THN Future Watch issue.

The Sharks aren't the worst prospect group in the NHL! Thanks, Pittsburgh!

San Jose did come in at 30th with a C- grade and a top 10 of:

1) Bordeleau (overall rank 80)
2) Merkely (overall rank 86)
3) Weisblatt (overall rank 89)
4) Leonard
5) Blichfeld
6) Gushchin
7) Robins
8) Chmelevski
9) Kniazev
10) Chekhovich

Honestly, that's a better top 10 ranking than the days of the org sandbagging Pollak or whoever was writing the piece by swearing Taylor Doherty was gonna be something.

Haven’t the Sharks been ranked as one of the worst prospect pools for decades? Yet, we have player after player graduate to become NHL regulars. I wonder where Knyzhov ranked last year.

 

[Friday]

Haven’t the Sharks been ranked as one of the worst prospect pools for decades? Yet, we have player after player graduate to become NHL regulars. I wonder where Knyzhov ranked last year.

Not very many top 6 guys or goalies or top pairing d. Sharks get NHL talent but mostly just bottom 6ers

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Not very many top 6 guys or goalies or top pairing d. Sharks get NHL talent but mostly just bottom 6ers

Out of the top six and top pairing though, six of them are their own. They're still pretty good on talent at that level. Just not elite talent to get them over the top.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

CHL commissioner David Branch said after OHL cancelled their season that the current plan is to have some sort of makshift showcase setup in place so that draft eligible players (and others) can get some work in for scouts and not be totally shot for this draft.



In other news, I just got my 2021 THN Future Watch issue.

The Sharks aren't the worst prospect group in the NHL! Thanks, Pittsburgh!

San Jose did come in at 30th with a C- grade and a top 10 of:

1) Bordeleau (overall rank 80)
2) Merkely (overall rank 86)
3) Weisblatt (overall rank 89)
4) Leonard
5) Blichfeld
6) Gushchin
7) Robins
8) Chmelevski
9) Kniazev
10) Chekhovich

Honestly, that's a better top 10 ranking than the days of the org sandbagging Pollak or whoever was writing the piece by swearing Taylor Doherty was gonna be something.

Rankings always dog us. Watch 3 or 4 of those guys end up helping us win a cup!!!!

 

[The Nemesis]

THN's stated focus in the rankings is ceiling-level talent of the prospects, not term and less focus on likelihood. The fact that the Sharks churn out reams of "pretty good" guys but rarely if ever elite talents is going to hurt them.

 

[Lebanezer]

The failure of their drafting philosophy was that it always was geared towards selecting low ceiling high floor guys because they only targeted complimentary pieces. Since Doug has been GM he has always acquired difference makers via trade, Thornton, Burns, Heatley, Boyle, Karlsson etc. The Sharks have never drafted a player with projected upside similar to any of those players except for maybe Merkley and that is most definitely open to debate.

 

[DG93]

I was saying this on the Kraken board and I feel that is true for the Sharks too. Unless they have someone they are very high on who drops to their spot, they should drop back a few spots and load up on more picks/prospects. This draft seems like one which is ripe for DW Jr. to get some gems from the mid-late 1st or even in the later rounds.

DW's quote indicating that they could have 10+ picks on draft night seemed to indicate that they will be trying to acquire more draft capital...which would be in line with what you suggested.

 

[OrrNumber4]

The failure of their drafting philosophy was that it always was geared towards selecting low ceiling high floor guys because they only targeted complimentary pieces. Since Doug has been GM he has always acquired difference makers via trade, Thornton, Burns, Heatley, Boyle, Karlsson etc. The Sharks have never drafted a player with projected upside similar to any of those players except for maybe Merkley and that is most definitely open to debate.

There is a tilt, but the Sharks have drafted plenty of legitimate top players.

Franchise-caliber players are rarely drafted outside of the top-5... which is why that the few times they are available you have to pounce!

 

[JohnLennon]

CHL commissioner David Branch said after OHL cancelled their season that the current plan is to have some sort of makshift showcase setup in place so that draft eligible players (and others) can get some work in for scouts and not be totally shot for this draft.



In other news, I just got my 2021 THN Future Watch issue.

The Sharks aren't the worst prospect group in the NHL! Thanks, Pittsburgh!

San Jose did come in at 30th with a C- grade and a top 10 of:

1) Bordeleau (overall rank 80)
2) Merkely (overall rank 86)
3) Weisblatt (overall rank 89)
4) Leonard
5) Blichfeld
6) Gushchin
7) Robins
8) Chmelevski
9) Kniazev
10) Chekhovich

Honestly, that's a better top 10 ranking than the days of the org sandbagging Pollak or whoever was writing the piece by swearing Taylor Doherty was gonna be something.

Expected Bordeleau to be higher than 80 TBH. Guy has legit top 6 potential. Also, why wasn't John Leonard even in the top 100? Almost a goal per game in college and breaking into the NHL this year, producing OK for a bottom 6 role. I see pretty good upside for this kid.

Also, damn, Chekhovich the 10th best even after a sick KHL season. Harsh.

 

[CupfortheSharks]

Expected Bordeleau to be higher than 80 TBH. Guy has legit top 6 potential. Also, why wasn't John Leonard even in the top 100? Almost a goal per game in college and breaking into the NHL this year, producing OK for a bottom 6 role. I see pretty good upside for this kid.

Also, damn, Chekhovich the 10th best even after a sick KHL season. Harsh.

The simple answer is that they are Sharks prospects. If Bordeleau or Leonard were Leafs or Rangers prospects then they would be ranked much higher. All the ranking sources need subscriptions/clicks to survive.

 

[JohnLennon]

The simple answer is that they are Sharks prospects. If Bordeleau or Leonard were Leafs or Rangers prospects then they would be ranked much higher. All the ranking sources need subscriptions/clicks to survive.

Really feels like this is the likely answer sometimes. THN in particularly has an abundantly clear Leafs bias imo.

I still have faith in sources like Corey Pronman for the most part, so I'm curious to see what he has to say - I personally asked him in a Q&A earlier this year if he felt like he should revise his projection of Chekhovich and he specifically said he judged him (and Philipp Kurashev) too harshly. I look forward to see his revised thoughts on Bordeleau and Chek in particular, but also his thoughts on Merkley and Leonard.

 

[tealzamboni]

DW's quote indicating that they could have 10+ picks on draft night seemed to indicate that they will be trying to acquire more draft capital...which would be in line with what you suggested.

That would make sense if they're trending towards building from within. 20 picks (2020 + 2021) that can play in transition would be a good foundation for the new farm. In a couple years, that transitional emphasis would start bubbling up to the Cuda. And then they could start targeting specific pieces in the drafts.

I also wouldn't mind if they tried to acquire more ammo for 2022 or 2023.

 

[hohosaregood]

My personal default is to expect none of our prospects to make the show even with the ones I do love.