San Jose Sharks Director of Player Development Todd Marchant Meets With The Media

San Jose Sharks Director of Player Development Todd Marchant Meets With The Media

you’re locked on sharks you’re daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day uh I don’t really think there are any expectations you know for us it’s it’s bringing the group together it’s the only time throughout the season we get to have all of our prospects here and so for us it’s about getting to know them a little bit better and getting to see that what they do well what they can do better just the interaction amongst our staff to with them is a lot of times we go to see them play you spend five minutes after a game with them and then they’re going after their thing and you’ve got to get to the next city so we get to spend four or five days with them have lunch dinner you know just the interaction and the communication from our staff to them is fantastic at this time and I I love it because this is like our Stanley Cup you know from the development standpoint so we uh really look forward to these days with them think one last times we spoke to you was after the Jersey we talked a lot about will you know with back what you know about what excites you the most about his well the first thing that I notied is that he wants to be first in everything so the first day we you know after breakfast they go outside for a little activation warm-up he’s leading his group right away he’s first in line then you see him on the ice he’s first in the drills those things you don’t teach I can’t go to a player and say hey you should be first in line they just instinctively have that right and then you watch how he plays on the ice or you watch him in the gym the first day after development first day on the ice he was in the gym riding the bike and then he had a little workout he said I just wanted to get a little extra you can’t teach that he just has it in him that’s his personality so um you know it’s a it’s a pleasure to work with players like that because they want it that you don’t have you’re just kind of molding them a little bit they’ve got the the nuts and bolts of what they’re going to be and now it’s just kind of helping them put it all together and you know the one uh the one day I got a chance to actually give him a ride back the hotel we were just talking about the what are the things that he’s goingon to have to overcome at the next level you know and I I love that because it’s like he’s looking at me as someone that he can lean on and that’s what I always tell all the players it’s like yes you have your your family and you your mom and your dad and you got your coaching staff but you can’t tell me that between Patty and jumbo and reach and Tommy and Luca and Nichol sunam that we haven’t seen just about every possible scenario on in in the NHL so use that you know ask questions you know it’s there’s never any never a bad question you saw there I mean Dev camps have continued to evolve they always but you saw that out there this was different okay a little different what do you make of Max effect just saw the scene crow that he’s he’s given a buzz back to the San Jose Sharks organization you know the last couple years have been tough but he’s given that oh there’s a little there’s light at the end of the tunnel you know it’s starting to open up and you start adding the other players along with it um you know the will Smiths the Casper hton and Muses the the Dickinson all these guys that you know are really good hockey players you putting that pool together and it starts to get exciting again and I had the same feeling when I came over to the building for warm-up today and I was like I kind of felt like I was playing again that’s the excitement that I got and the crowd was fantastic on the 4th of July at 11:30 in the morning and the game didn’t disappoint I mean I couldn’t have scripted it any better you know you think that team teal is gonna walk away with it and all of a sudden they find a way to get back into it it’s just it makes everybody leave the the the the camp and and on a good note on a positive note the players are buzzing over in the workout room after um and they become part of these processs become part of their own family you know they kind of bond together and you see I heard J mck talking about how you see guys from Sweden hanging out with guys from Canada and us it’s that’s what what happens and and and that’s that’s the start of the process so Todd when you look back think back to you when you your coming in as a player what similarties did you see this time around these kids coming when I did develop Camp yeah I didn’t do develop Camp that’s how old I am we had uh when I started we didn’t there was no development camps we did uh training camp we had did two a days so the veterans went on the we went all went on the ice in the morning and the veterans went and play golf and the rookies went back on the ice in the afternoon um but I I love like I look back to my career like I didn’t ever have I never talked to anybody in a velopment standpoint was like you kind of leaned on the veteran guys in the locker room so I really enjoy this part of it because you kind of feel like you know going back to my Anaheim days when we had the players and I I look at you know I texted Brandon Montour Josh mahur guys when they won the cup because I’m happy for him I saw last rookie Camp I saw Shay Theodore and Will William Carlson after they won the cup I just I’m happy for them and see how they they’ve evolved in their career and you kind of feel like you just had a little part in that firstbody Co just that type of Personality not at that age you know like sometimes it’s the guys are a little bit older but not at that age and and and he handles everything with just it’s like easy for him you know it came off the ice the last couple days and he’s got a bunch of people and he’s not Afra you know signs autographs the other the other night we went to the baseball game and you know you know people want autographs he takes the time to sign it’s just it’s the it’s just these players only come around once in a in a lifetime really they’re very they’re very special and you know I mean I I talked to his mom and dad at the draft and I I just said you guys have done an amazing job amazing job raising this person this this individual because he is special and he’s going to be special and you know we’re just happy that that he’s going to be in our Organization for a long time I don’t think we’re anybody’s ready um you know he’s going to have to figure that part out he’s going to have to you know again we had this conversation and I said you know a little thing that you cannot get on the wrong side of somebody in the neutral zone and it doesn’t matter who it is because they’re gonna you think that you’re a great sker they’re gonna fly by you because they’re bigger stronger faster and you’re gonna have to get up to that you’re GNA have to make sure when you’re in the defensive Zone you got to be on the right side of somebody because they’re going to spin off and take it to the net and next thing you know you’re going to be in the penal box or it’s going to be in the back of your net so these are all the things that you have to learn but there not they want to learn they they’re like sponges they just want to listen and they want to absorb it and they’re going to try and put it into their game which is it’s a it’s a great start I know it was three on three there obviously but had that comeback and it looked like M fed off of that like it s of like building did you get that Vibe yeah he just kind of sees sort of sees moment we we saw I saw it at the world juniors this year I think it was the quarter final game they end losing the game but it was like let’s go like follow me and you just saw it again today you saw it’s like he just he didn’t want to come off the ice well why would you take him off the ice first off but he didn’t want to come off he wanted to be a part of that process and then this is a development Camp scrimmage in July but he wanted to be a part of that that that process and you you love players that want to play in the the big situations you want players that want the the responsibility and the pressure because they Thrive off of it and he is one of those guys spot a little not you Shang but go ahead um obviously maybe no one is ever ready for NHL but you talk about how is 18y old is he as ready as seeny olds I’m trying to think of how many 18y olds I got to play with I played with Cam Fowler uh as an 18-year-old he made the team out of camp and you know he he played the rest of the year um but I I don’t think that I mean I I never played with McDavid or Crosby those guys like it’s he’s a special player he’s a he’s a a special individual and again I take aside the hockey part of it I just like the way he carries himself he carries himself with confidence not Cockiness and with class and I think that that what that does is it resonates amongst your group and you know the the rest of the group is going to want to be with him and follow him the will Smiths and all these other guys that are really good hockey players too but they’re going to want to be a part of that process because when you when you get this many good young players together it’s exciting speaking of that learning speaking about learning aspect you mentioned that this is a chance here these three days here for you to you know to spend more time with them and learn just anybody surprise you or you want surprising about somebody in this last few days no I like I I don’t I don’t even evaluate the players like I know every I I don’t I don’t do any evaluation in this this is summer hockey for us I put them on the ice because they want to be on the ice but as you know it’s it’s you know like jmax said they they were on the ice twice a day before we got now it’s like we only go on for 45 to 50 minutes because it’s July I we spend more time in the gym learning that part of it so they want to be a part of that process of being on the ice but I I look at as just this is information for us to get to to know them and to you know create that Bond so that the next time we see them you know it’s like the the familiar face that they know from development Camp a few more not to SL somebody like Logan or any of the other captain on the team talk about how much not fall like led by that lots of talk with Logan whever he’s in the injur I mean do you see M as potential next it’s above my pay grade do you see that no but I just see the way he carries himself the way that like I said the little things that he does you know the being first all that sort of that that is leadership quality now whether it means that there’s going to be a letter on his jersey or not I mean that’s that’s for Mike and the coaching staff to decide but um you know you see that I saw that quality in Scott nire right I mean he won everything but you talk about a guy that worked harder than everybody in practice Scott nemire and then you see that with somebody like M Will Smith he’s getting ready for his first main training camp here what do you want to see from him telling him about how to get ready for that camp but what’s the best way to him just to make sure he’s he’s where he needs to be yeah he’s like most of the players at his age is that you know what and I we T we talked about this a little bit before because in years past you you look at him like last year he goes from the combine to the draft to development Camp to the World Junior Summer showcase to school and there’s just no time like they’re they’re still training but they’re not he has two months we talked about it you have two solid months to really get in the gym and get bigger and stronger because that’s what most of these kids need they need to be get bigger and stronger so that they can compete with the men in the NHL it’s a tough League they’re these these guys they play hard you know and but you look at a guy like Will Smith you look at his skill set you look at his hockey IQ we were talking about him today the one play brought the puck in as soon as he got by the guy on the defenseman he was going around the net we could see from where we’re sitting he had his head up the whole time he was looking the whole time where’s where are the guys that are open that’s hard to teach is just an instinct for him so um bigger stronger get in the gym and then that that’ll lead to confidence on the ice sharks they obiously guy like second last year you have variety guys who could play either the center or the wing with will if he has to play the wing I mean is that major adjustment for him no it’s it’s a bigger adjustment trying to go from Wing to Center going from Center to Wing is not as as big adjustment as um it is going the other way um but I I firmly believe that he he they’re both going to be centerman in this league and you know what sometimes you got to learn by being thrown in the fire a little bit you know you gotta learn you’re gonna have to get beat out of the corner to learn that hey guess what I’ve got to be on the right side so that I don’t get caught so that’s all part of the process maybe a couple other guys they’re hoping to make the Barracuda this this year what do you see out of those two in particular May anybody else kind of in the kind of that that realm Prospect that’s hoping to make that J to Pro Hockey that they need to kind of work on next couple months yeah Casper you know what he had a great year in London started out slow but then he finished strong you know Casper it’s about um you know he dropped some dropped some weight so he he dropped actually 10 pounds I think he dropped which was great for him so it allows him to be a little quicker on the ice he’s going to have to continue to work on that he’s going to continue to work it’s like a broken record I hate to say that but it’s like you know get in the gym and get get that man strength right same with Luca you know Luca had a great season but now he’s going to have to try and play against men guys that are 10 years older that have been playing for a long time so navigating that process right you’re not g to have as much time as you had in Junior you’re not gonna be able to try and beat somebody one-on-one with nobody behind you you got to make that you gotta make that play of the guy up open and get you know play a give and go game so that you’re not putting yourself in bad spots so that’s all part of the curve for them um you know what they’ve got a great challenge if I’m you know they’re going to leave here they’re going to go home what are we going to see like when they come back are they going to be better than they were in development Camp because I have the numbers and when they come back I’m going to compare them to what they were here and if they they need to go up and if they don’t then that what’s going to happen is they’re not going to be as good on the ice and what’s gonna happen is they’re have to go back to Junior and nobody wants to go back to Junior but you know what you have to make it hard on us to keep you those 10 that’s from last development C the 10 pounds yeah yeah no and even during in the season like you know he he he mentioned at World Juniors he was Heavy he felt he didn’t feel good and when he went back to London they talk we talked to with Mark Hunter and Dale and and he started doing extra rides and runs when the team wasn’t doing anything and he’s I think he’s down to 208 which is fantastic he and he has he’s gonna have to do that we we talked to him about that everybody has a different body type and unfortunately this is what yours is and you’re going to have to maintain that by doing the extra work but you do it guess what you’ll reap the benefits because he’s got a world class shot right we saw it today uh we talk about about celebrating stuff but you had six first round picks on the ice today between beasted edrom Smith musty celeb and dickon what’s that like for an organization to have just such a highend hopeful such highend pick like all together at once awesome it makes my job a lot easier right but these are players that are motivated they’re dedicated they get it you tell them once and they understand um and not to say that a fourth rounder or a fifth rounder doesn’t but these guys are they want to play in the National Hockey they and they and they understand what needs what the work that needs to go into it so for us it’s and for my staff it’s it’s phenomenal and event you know it’s going to continue to roll that way and all of a sudden before you know it we’re going to have all these guys playing for us here in San Jose with the barraca or with the sharks and next thing you know like again then they’re going to have that other obstacle that they’re going to have to overcome right to be able to come not just play in the NHL but have success in the NHL and it takes time but you put the work in you’ll see the results thank you all right [Music]

San Jose Sharks Director of Player Development Todd Marchant meets with the media after the Sharks prospect scrimmage, where he covers a slew of topics, including Macklin Celebrini, Kasper Halttunen’s growth over the second half of the season, as well as Will Smith and Quentin Musty’s chemistry.

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