What Are The San Jose Sharks Getting With Sam Dickinson And When Can We Expect Him To Make The NHL?

What Are The San Jose Sharks Getting With Sam Dickinson And When Can We Expect Him To Make The NHL?

we do the Sam Dickenson Deep dive where we looked at the tape uh and tried to figure out what he needs to work on where he’s best at and the timeline for Dickinson to make the Sharks you’re locked on sharks your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello welcome to locked on sharks the premier hockey podcast covering your favorite team in the Bay Area my name is JD young caretaker at The Reef also the co-host of Western Conference Tuesdays on the locked on NHL Network want to thank you for making locked on sharks your first listen probably part of the lockdown Network recover your team every day if you want to be an everyday or all you have to do is just follow wherever you get Podcast or you can watch this on YouTube as well and today we’re doing the Sam dicket and deep dive as we kind of start to get to know these uh new prospects a little bit better kind of so what I’ve done is I’ve watched a few games of Dickinson from his playoff run here as London made a very long and deep uh playoff run so looked at his games kind of my observations kind of comparing that also to what the Scout said um and then also give my timeline for for Sam Dickinson as I know that is a big question around uh Dickinson and when do we get to see our shiny new 6’3 uh left-handed defenseman toy so before we get to all that do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by indeed still searching for a great candidate for your company don’t search to get matched with indeed starting now with a $75 sponsor job credit to upgrade your job post that indeed.com lockon terms and conditions apply need to hire you need indeed so Sam Dickinson um and I’m going to say this in the most loving possible since um Sam Dickinson is a boring player um and this is not a bad thing okay um Sam Dickinson is like you you see why my career was had to be exciting when he picked when Dickinson was available to be there at number 11 you know he is a very good he’s a very good defenseman who has a lot of translatable NHL skills um doesn’t I think there’s still some untapped areas in his offensive game and we’ll get to that here um in in kind of the middle section but right now we’re gonna kind of focus on the positives and what makes Dickinson so intriguing and why uh he is going to be an NHL player and I think the first and foremost is one he’s a great skater especially for his size right six fo3 200 pounds um and he just turned 18 on June 7th so this is a player who’s very very young in this draft cycle right um and we’ll talk about that when we get to the timeline but great skater uh his Mobility his ability to kind of match uh forwards and match kind of pressure um and not only that but also his physicality um he is a very good like physical player and he knows how to use his body already at this age right you how many players you know I know different completely different players but like Brandon Co right 6’4 200 pound you know forward 190 pound forward um but right you watching Brandon Co especially on the barota how often do you wish Co would kind of get to the middle of the ice a little bit more use that size use that physicality um like you don’t have to worry about that with Dickinson like he is very good at using his size and his to his Advantage um so couple plays and I wrote about this on uh The Reef it is behind pay wall because I spent a lot of time watching video getting Clips but if you are uh you can kind of check out some of the videos that I kind of for for examples I’m not allowed to put them here on locked on one for the audio listeners it wouldn’t make much sense uh and two uh you know YouTube things like we we had locked on we don’t want to put actual game tape on our YouTube channel so that’s why it’s not here um I do have it available elsewhere but um for Dickinson his ability to use his size and his strength um and use it smart like he’s not just out there just kind of crushing dudes just to crush dudes um he’s really really great especially kind of along the boards just kind of taking guys out of the play where it’s very subtle and then all of a sudden you’re he kind of matches their size and he matches their speed um and then all of a sudden just kind of stops them in their progress along the boards where not interference right but he does a good job of just kind of taking these guys out of the play and making it easy for his defensive partner and I think that is another kind of big skill of is he is a great partner for somebody and especially if you’re an offensively oriented defenseman um Sam Dickinson is like the perfect partner because he is very happy to kind of be the more conservative holdback type of defenseman uh where you know what you go do your thing I’m going to make sure I got it locked down here on the blue line um type of player and I think um that is one of his great strengths kind of being able to play um with an offensively oriented part player especially in his partner is Oliver Bon who is the first round pick of the flyers in the 2023 draft we’ll talk about Bon here a little bit more but I think though those two things right there his skating um or those couple things his skating his ability to use his body and his size um effectively already and as are just as he gets older um and gets stronger and kind of learns the tricks of the trade he’s going to be even more effective at that so I think he his his foundation for that like he’s not having to have to learn how to use his size and uh to his Advantage he already has that down and he’ll just start to kind of get those veteran tricks and like that positioning of like okay I know where if I’m here type of thing I can kind of maybe get away with uh doing this uh to to my advantage so um that every player does right is kind of it’s learning what I can do and what I can get away with he’s already at such a high floor with that that it’s it’s going to be easily translatable to the NHL especially when he starts to play guys who are you know closer to his size he’s still doing things that are he’s going to that are going to be very effective in the NHL as well um another huge huge strength for for Dickinson is his transition ability um this is both offense and defense and one of the things we’ll need to see from him we’ll start with the defense side actually sorry first so defensively he’s very good at his kind of positioning um getting and has a really good sense of when to jump in and kind of be aggressive and and shut down the play or when to kind of push guys towards the boards where he can kind of take them out uh kind of eliminate them against the boards and and slow down the play there um really great sense of that of like okay when do I poke check when do I kind of step into guys when do I push guys to the outside um again like very very good especially for such a young age at that and I know he’s playing right now against 17 18 19 old kids but those those are translatable skills of you’re not going to see Dickinson kind of uh you know won’t get I don’t expect to see him get pylon or you know kind of too often where it’s going to happen especially as a young kid in the NHL but you I don’t that’s not going to be something where he’s just like he’s going to get kind of just left out to dry there because I think he has a really good sense of how to attack on the transition um especially defensively how to defend it where to I have a sick place when in that timing of when do I kind of step into it or when do I push guys the outside or and and when do I utilize my teammates so um I think that and with the way the NHL’s going where so Rush based so transition based um I think he’s going to excel in that area and you already see it you you see the pro habits watching him uh in the OHL so and then offensively the transition like I you he does a good job of kind of the same thing reading when I should jump in Reading when I should kind of let somebody else and I’ll hang back um and when he does get in there like he has a really good shot um you know and that’s something that we we’ll talk about where he needs to improve here as his offensive skills in a second but um when when Sam Dickinson is at his best he is decisive and he knows exactly what he wants to do with the puck before he gets the puck and It Go works right um he has a very Brent burnses uh ability to play the puck right off the boards like straight off the boards for a shot right how often would you see the puck riming around with Brent Burns and then all of a sudden the puck is flying towards the net um I’m not saying Dickinson is that level but he has a Burns esque level of um being able to kind of read the puck and get it going get it going back to the net without having to to delay much there so there’s plenty of great things about Sam Dickinson again you see why he is going to be an NHL player because of just where the foundation is with his size his skill um his skating ability and his ability to play Rush defense those are huge aspects in today’s NHL and he already has such a high floor with those and as he continues to get better and to progress you’re you see why at the worst he’s going to be like a second line defenseman who just plays a ton of minutes and maybe leaves you want in a little bit more offensively and we’ll get to that here in a minute but um I think though for for Dickinson like the the floor is so high with him um and if he Taps into everything else you see why he has all the making to a top tier um defenseman just because of everything is there for him right there’s it’s not questions on well if he’s a little bit bigger or if he could do this a little it’s you’ve seen flashes of it it’s just can you put it all together so um we’ll dive into kind of what he needs to work on I think um his biggest question which is his decision making um and what he needs to kind of work on there and then 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visibility at indeed.com lockon just go to indeed.com lockon right now and support our show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast indeed.com lockon terms and conditions apply need to hire you need inde deed all right um what does he need to work on right and every player like this I’m not trying to tear down Dickenson like every player has things they need to work on right um in reading his scouting reports right you heard a lot about you know the the hockey IQ um and like I know that can be a little bit like very generic and what does he need to it’s to me it’s this the decision making especially when pressured right in several times in in the games that I watched where it almost felt like uh when you’re watching football on the quarterback is kind of facing a blitz um and just kind of doesn’t do anything that’s where you kind of see Dickinson like at his worst right um Puck on the stick uh forward for checking on him especially if he’s in the defensive Zone uh forward for checking on on him and Dickinson just hesitates and doesn’t do anything with a puck either so either than that you need to find an outlet right um You need to either skate or just eat the puck and try to maintain possession and he just kind of doesn’t do anything and that that is where samim Dickinson needs to get better at it’s just what happens when I’m pressured with the puck and especially that decision making process and this is why he’s not NHL ready right now is because um if you’re seeing this in the OHL against 17 18 year old what happens when you get to the NHL and the games get faster right and the players are bigger and stronger faster and things happen just so much quicker that that processing needs to speed up for Dickinson um and the best way to do it is just reps I think he is um I think it’s just it comes down to that just doing it more and whether it’s film study you know kind of looking at okay like I’m here this is happening what’s going on around me and maybe that’s part of the scanning and kind of seeing what else is available but um for Dickinson if that is I think the biggest is it kind of the decision-making especially when pressured and you would see it about once a game from from Dickens said where he would just kind of make a play kind of make like a hope pass or make a play and you’re like buddy what are you doing here um there I was watching uh versus kitner um I think it was the second round fourth game like they’re going for the this the fourth game of the series they’re going for the sweep um they just get off a penalty kill like he’s playing kind of the second pairing minutes on the penalty kill just gets off a penalty kill the rest of the team and he is kind of kind of the furthest away from the bench right he’s the last guy who’s going to change because he the the bench where he’s at where the bench is is the furthest possible away right everybody else is changing he’s already been out there for good you know 45 seconds to a minute on the shift he gets the puck in his own Zone and there is nobody else within a mile of him like it’s one of those okay you you like Freeze Frame it you’re like what do you do with the puck here do you a do you do you’re a great skater do you carry it into the neutral Zone and you can either dump it in you can find a teammate you can carry into keep pushing play in the offensive zone do you do that or do you throw the puck at the boards uh to your teammates who are changing in a ho play and that’s probably going to bounce around and then all of a sudden turn back into go uh become a turnover and he just Chucks it uh it’s a Chuck at he just Chucks the puck and just hopes that somebody does something with it and they don’t right and then they have to spend another minute and a half defending because of this um and it’s plays like that where it’s like you are an excellent skater maybe you’re tired right it’s it’s kind of a little bit late in your in your shift but now you have to and your team has to defend another minute and a half because of the decision you made right here so these are is the decision-making and these are just going to come down to reps like it’s just playing more and playing more and I think the film study of it of okay what should I do here should I carry the puck forward or should I you know kind of Chuck the puck or or even just take it behind your net and let everyone else change like if you wanted like there just a million other options to do there and he kind of made the wrong one and you could see a lot of the time especially London is a very aggressive team right they’re very much like a push push push if you get the puck push that’s kind of part of their system um is get the push get the puck and push because we have very talented forwards right you look at their forward crop a lot these guys are and a you know very high NHL picks um you know of course C Holton you have e cow like there’s a bunch of really intriguing players and they’re very good team right so it’s very much like just get the puck into the Ford’s hands and let them kind of do their thing but you’re gonna have to like those are not NHL habits so that’s where I think that that kind of decision making of like let me slow things down here my team just got off a penalty kill let’s slow things down and kind of get going uh and reset things here right try to turn the momentum around you can see a lot of times with Hope plays where you know like he has the puck at his own Blue Line they’re trying to kind of start the transition and instead of making a maybe a play a pass to his partner who can kind of push it Forward he tries to make a cross ice pass which just gets intercepted or gets knocked down and then all of a sudden they’re defending again so rather see those things in the OHL right where you you’re learning the like as our good friend hadie says right you’re experimenting with what you can and can’t do rather see those things happen there in the OHL um and then learning from those and be like you know I just I can’t get away with that let me make the simple play keep the puck possession keep the puck moving in our direction as we either have momentum or we’re trying to recapture momentum um those are I think the things that he needs to work out so um and another thing like is the offensive game right especially because Oliver Bonas is partner and we’ll talk a little bit more about this when we talk about the timeline but um would like to see him kind of be given a chance to be the guy um who kind of drives offense um and that’s just again with London you have alliv bon who’s very good offensively uh as well in his way to being a really really nice two-way defenseman um again with with that that Dynamic where Bon kind of takes the lead in the offensive stuff um and is more of the stay-at-home defenseman would like to see what happens if those guys get split up and we we’ll talk about that more with the timeline here but I think there’s a another gear to go in his offensive game especially creating um he does a really nice job of get like he has a really nice shot really I think kind of underrated shot that he can get off like super quick I just I would like to see him be a little bit more of a Creator in the offensive zone um and I think that’ll come with that pressure that we talked about a little bit earlier of just being a little bit more confident when you have the puck and kind of making those decisions and kind of making them quickly um so we’ll we’ll talk about here in a second with the timeline of kind of what we want to see from Dickinson over the next couple Seasons when we potential to see him in the NHL and uh I think may be the best route for him uh so we’ll discuss that here in just one second all right uh thank you guys of course for making lockdown sharks your first listen when you’re done checking out lock on sharks make sure you guys go check out one of the other great locked on shows uh of course if you want to get geared up with lock on 49ers as training camp is right around the corner you have locked on Giants are putting out content uh every day on this Giants team is you know very interesting team making the right before the trade deadline if they’re going to kind of push for the playoffs um if you want to go check that lockdown War of all the summer uh you know you have sum the you know summer games are um going on in Vegas right now um like plenty of good stuff here at locked on uh so make sure you guys you’re when you’re done listenting locked on sharks go check out one of the other locked on shows specifically one of the lock on Bay Area shows uh because you know asht Bay Area unit so um Sam Dickens cendo in his timeline so I know there’s a percentage of of sharks fans who are like well could Dickinson play this year and I would say physically he could survive this year right um especially when you’re 6 fo3 200 pounds and you skate the way he does like he already he has an NHL body already um he’ll just continue to get stronger you know that that old man strength Etc but um physically he could survive in the NHL but I don’t think playing the NHL is uh the best thing for for him this year um because of some of that decision making as we kind of touched on earlier and um as the NHL game right it is the fastest game in the world um it is like everything just happens so quickly I just don’t think his processing is quite there yet right this isn’t I’m not trying to tear down Sam Dickinson I’m trying to be realistic I want Sam Dickinson to be great right you’re a sharks fan I’m a sharks fan we all want Sam Dickinson to be great I think throwing him out there right now um especially what’s going to be behind a super young forward group um and if you’re the defense and your job is to kind of be the last man standing before the goalie um and we expect as great as Will Smith and mlin celebrini and all these other young players to be they’re going to make rookie mistakes and having a rookie defenseman behind a rookie forward as they’re all trying going through their rookie mistakes is is going to I think compounds situation so um Dickinson he’s going to be back in London this year um and that’s the best thing for him because again right we want him to work on these decision-making the processing um getting that stuff down in the O Level before you kind of make the jump so um the best kind of scenario I think to be honest for for Dickenson is if Oliver Bonk makes the NHL and Bon is unfortunately he is in the kind of the I need to he either needs to be in the NHL or the OHL uh because he’s 19 he doesn’t turn 20 until beginning of January um and just a quick reminder for the CHL NHL agreement um you either have to be 20 to play 20 by the end of the year like Luca Canon right Canon is 19 he’ll be 20 in December so that’s why he’s eligible to play in the AHL uh for Bon he is 19 and he’ll be 19 and he turns 20 begin of of January they could potentially go the Shane R right route of hey can we get an exception his birthday is this close that’s why Shane right was able to because of his birthday was very close to the cut off but anyway so Bon if Bon makes the Flyers um that would be the best scenario for Dickinson because he becomes the deao number one defenseman um who will get a ton of power play opportunities get to be the quarterback on the the power play um and kind of take a hopefully be able to take a step offensively where he can do more Puck handling and then having to make that decision making with handling the puck right that that is his biggest thing that he needs to work on right now is when I have the puck and I have to make a quick decision what do I do with it and getting more reps doing that especially if you’re on the power play um I think is is a great way for him to kind of work on those areas um there’s also if Dickinson does come back right John Torell and uh Young players we know what happens there um Dickinson comes back there is a pathway for Dickinson or sorry Bon comes back there’s a very an easy pathway for Dickinson to you know get that power play one time because the way lendon uses Oliver Bonk it’s not traditional like he plays the bumper role for them which is if you’ve seen the bumper Bonk um stuff he plays the bumper like he’s right in the middle like right net front presence which is really weird for a defenseman so maybe they’re let Dickinson kind of run quarterback the unit while Bon plays his bumper Bon position that’s a potential option there but if Bon’s back they’re probably going to do the same thing of keeping them together or maybe the hope is that you would split them up to try to have two like good defensive pairings um and let Dickinson kind of be the offensive guy on on that pairing that he’s on so um but Dickens is gonna be back um and if he can work on that decision making really kind of improve that and cut down on the the turnovers where he’s just kind of chucking it to the other team or just kind of handing it off to the team and really cut that down um then there’s a realistic path for him to play in the NHL next year and it could be very much like the uh Kevin kinsky thing where with the with the Chicago Blackhawks where um kinsky you know could have gone back to the WHL this year didn’t because uh right it’s NHL or or CHL or bust right um and with uh Dickinson right since his birthday’s in June he’s gonna have two years of this like has to be in the NHL or has to be the OHL like there he can’t play in the AHL for two seasons just like um Quinton musty so with Dickinson are you going to I think if he has a really good season this year um comes into training camp next year and is is kind of a man possessed I think that’s the pathway for him to play in the NHL in 2526 season um and I know the there’ll be there’ll be more spots open right um you know Yan Ruda will be gone um like we we’ll kind of see this team’s going to continue to change and and evolve over the next couple Seasons um and maybe Shakir m Mulan will have his first season under his belt right you’re you’re hoping that maybe Dickinson can kind of slide in there um in the 25 26 Season um or the sharks are gonna have to kind of make a decision where maybe he’s not quite ready but you keep him up anyway because it’s better for him to maybe kind of get his butt kicked for a season like Kevin kinsky did then send him back into the OHL where he’s just gonna be a man among boy right um by then 20-year-old or 19 to 20y Old Sam Dickinson is just GNA you know just destroy children um in the OHL and he’s not going to really develop much right because he’s just gonna be too good so I think that that’s that my my guess for the plan would be um play this year these are Focus these are areas you really really need to focus on um if you can iron out these you’ve got a realistic chance to be an NHL um as a 19y old in the 25 26 Season right um because you’re going to have hopefully a little bit more improved roster your young guys your young forwards are going to have at least a full season under their belt and Will Smith and ma sabrini um you’re you’re going to I think be able to accommodate a young defenseman a little bit more um on the roster so that would be my plan worst case scenario is he’s not able to um and then he has to go back and play another season in the OHL and then from there it’s you can kind of do what you want whether it’s AHL time um or NHL time in The Following Season which would be the 2627 season which doesn’t feel like real years but they are real years and that’s kind of where you would be at so yeah it’ll be really intriguing to to see kind of how Mike Greer Ryan wowski and the Sharks play Sam Dickinson’s development just because again that age thing right it’s it’s nice with him being young because you has a longer Runway when it comes to his development right he’s um almost a you know nine months younger than some of his draft counter you know Parts uh so he has more development to go but it kind of restricts you in what you can do with his where he can play right it’s kind of the trade-off there of you know like Luca Canon um since he’s one of the older guys in his class like he can play in the AHL this year which I think is better for his development if he makes the AHL then going back and kind of dominating uh the WHL again so uh we’ll see though but if I had to if I was a Betty man um I would say we see Sam Dickinson in the NHL next year uh just because I think the areas that he needs to work on I think there’s a really there’s a realistic kind of path for him to to fix those um I think it just comes with more reps and more reps and more reps and hopefully um London can put him in a position to work on those reps this year so um and expect London to play a bajillion games this year and to go deep in the playoffs again so I I I think that’s um Dickinson is going to be a huge part of this what this London team does so um that’s GNA be it for me today we’ll be back tomorrow where we’re going to kind of look at um other first overall picks who made the jump straight to the NHL how their Seasons went and what we can kind of expect with M on sabrini uh so make sure you’re following wherever you get Podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well uh follow the show on Twitter Facebook and Instagram at lockon sharks you can also watch on YouTube uh follow me on Twitter at my fry hole till tomorrow bye friends [Music]

The San Jose Sharks hoped to solve their long-term blueline issues by selecting Sam Dickinson with the 11th overall pick. Analyze what makes Dickinson such an intriguing prospect for the Sharks by diving into his game tape. Start with how Dickinson already uses his size and frame so well as a young player, plus his ability to defend and join the rush at such a high level. Then, examine the biggest area that Dickinson needs to work on: his decision-making under pressure. Discuss some examples in Dickinson’s game where this issue arises and how he can work on fixing it. Finally, explore when Dickinson could make the NHL, how Oliver Bonk could impact it, and the Sharks’ options next year.

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