Our Sharks’ 2024 Draft Grades + Free Agency Thoughts

Our Sharks’ 2024 Draft Grades + Free Agency Thoughts

welcome to the San Jose hockey Now podcast my name is ke MCN if I’m on Twitter at haor hockey my website half-wall hockey.com or at San Jose hockey now Shang if you can see him on uh your screen if you’re watching on um on YouTube uh is at an airport lounge uh leaving Las Vegas after the draft so he’s going to be kind of um a little bit quieter this episode as he tries to speak through his mic um I have made it home at of Las Vegas but we had an exciting two days at the draft um that both shag and I were at we have tons and tons of analysis and news and stuff to talk about the the different picks that the sharks made and what went into some of those picks uh as well as our grades related to them we’re also going to go over our free agent targets and possibly some predictions for tomorrow which is crazy that the free agent class has already started but here it is Shang why don’t you say hi and explain your situation a little bit well I in airport lounge and so I’m trying to talk quietly uh I’m going to be talking a little ASMR so hope you guys enjoy that and hopefully my Leaving Las Vegas isn’t like the movie and not the same end as that movie yeah and um hopefully like uh unlike a lot of people who are on Twitter you can actually leave Las Vegas I got lucky enough that I got out of there in time but a lot of people are stuck again which is the thing that that all the NHL GMS and Executives complained about that in Nashville and it’s happening again so I don’t know the dream of a not decentralized draft may be dead but we’ll see um let’s start with the draft because it was a lot of um I don’t know I I guess our first reactions would be a good good place to start um I thought it was a huge success for the NHL as a whole and something that I’m happy that I was a part of but I’m a little sad that it’s going away it was just a spectacle that I did not expect the NHL to pull off so well because the NHL often doesn’t pull off things like that without a hitch and they kind of did I mean there’s a few things but nothing major it felt like I don’t know about you sh well I think that they lost money on it and I think that as cool as it looked I I don’t quite if you had asked me if I was in marketing you asked me the cost of renting the sphere of renting sphere and as opposed to what people pay that to get in to see this was it worth it I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know if there’s a business case for I’m not sure maybe I’m wrong about that but what I heard in the days leading up to it it was the expectation was that they would lose money on it but I could be wrong about that part of it but it was very cool inside yes it was but again do you need that to see mlin Sol brin’s face in 360 I’m not sure I guess need isn’t the right word maybe maybe isn’t the right word you know also too and as we talked about at the draft all I care about is my work which is why I’m talking to you guys right now uh in an airport lounge and try to keep my voice low all I care about is my work and so at fear the Wi-Fi was terrible supposedly James Dolan I I guess he he he blocks AT&T from getting signal and side so that’s what matters to me I don’t really care about what it looks like on TV I don’t I don’t care about about the the the panor I’m I’m a grouch about it you know so I will say though that go ahead you know that kind of 360 Planet you know planetarium experience all around right it would be ultra cool cool if I was watching like Oppenheimer or a really good movie like like like the Martian right that you know with a great plot but also a great visuals gravity right something like that would be awesome there again you know seeing Trevor Connelly’s mug in 360 but you get to you get to dream about punching him anyway I I um I think one of the things that was pretty interesting or or could be a cool idea is if like what here’s what I would want to watch I would I would want to watch like you put a camera on a hockey player’s helmet and you do that for like a bunch of players on the team and you watch a firstperson hockey game at the sphere with like you could see the ice all around you and you’re watching hockey like I don’t know that sounds fun as [ __ ] and also like mute the mic so you can hear like players chirping at each other and yelling at each other that’s I I I agree with that but that’s not what we got at sphere so no that was not but I do think it was cool from a uh it was cool I will say that um over all but uh yeah it was definitely something where they could have lost money on CU it’s probably very expensive to be in that environment but they did sell 14,000 seats so not bad more than your normal draft right probably I’m not sure but I but I think I think sphere is very expensive they kicked us out at 1:30 p.m. sharp uh literally like an hour after the last pick yeah they were like get get out it’s closed exactly yeah yeah they were not very uh yeah they did not give us any leeway there at all um I think there was another event but still though I’m sure it was very expensive so yeah there not uh there wasn’t late late checkout there speak I would do it again if they had it there I think it’s interest interesting to go to but yeah the Wi-Fi did suck it was not good it was hard to load tweets or like even tweet things out from inside of it it was pretty bad but um we did get to watch um jumbo Jo Joe Thorton announced a mlin celebrini pick on stage which awesome from a fan perspective I loved it so much um let’s talk let’s move into our Draft Day grades right okay this is the um this is the the thing that everybody rushes to get out immediately as soon as the last pick is done they’re like who won the draft what what was the team that won the draft and I’m I’m not going to say universally but pretty much universally the Sharks were in the Winner’s category from the draft Yeah like in all of the articles that I read basically everyone says the Sharks did very very well and I agree I think they did extremely well overall what do you think yeah I had an article how the rest of the league grades the Sharks draft and I gave it an A and I spoke with I think three Scouts in it I think that three Angel Scouts other teams than the sharks that all gave an A and not just because they picked mlin celebrini which is an easy way to start to get an A in a draft but the other picks too and so what we’re going to talk about here is my grades revisit them debate them but also here Keegan’s grades which we haven’t heard and we know Keegan liked the draft but let’s go pick by pick and see what what Keegan thinks so take it away I love it um here was my funniest thing and I I don’t know how to I don’t know how to uh get this to really be done on camera back celebrini all over the place was like a A+ you know like you every single article that you read except for Corey pran’s Corey prman gave the M celebr pick a B+ why have no [ __ ] idea he doesn’t even explain it in in his article it could beo I don’t know go ahead I I did I did hear this H fascinating argument though for demid as a number one pick which it it came from Russian people so so there there might be some bias there but the argument is that celebrini plays such a structured correct game that he doesn’t have demid Do’s creativity and that Demi do will maybe ultimately score more points than a celebrini and you know you can AR the argument is that demid do has a higher ceiling than a celini and these are from people that actually think demid is better than mechkov so it’s an argument no it’s not weird it’s it’s it’s an argument that you know okay and they like they like celebrity I think that it just that Demi do to them is one and celini is two yeah yeah I mean I guess we’ll see um but I I have a lot of doubts in my in my mind um based on their styles of play I think cbr’s the total package and I would not uh risk that for demidov who still has a chance to not be that too so it was bit of a it was a bit of a drunken argument so yeah a little bit and who knows maybe they’re right but yeah that was the only person I could find that gave that that not like an A+ and um that’s really weird but but was it was a a typo or or I have no idea um my grade for that is at A+ there is no there’s no better pick there’s no better time to get the pick there’s no there was no question they were going to pick somebody else and they make Jumbo Joe Thorton select the pick the best player in sharks history and he’s passing the torch it felt special so A+ no no notes basically is what I would say I don’t have another grade and mines was a plus two so just uh yeah no no debate there so maybe we’ll debate on the later other ones but yeah I’m going to I I’ll read yours off too while we go through yeah okay um so this was the this was the pick and this is the one that’s going to be like if there was the mitchoff vers Smith debate at stickon versus boam this year and um it was very surreal being at the draft when these these picks were happening because it didn’t match up with mostly anybody’s predictions like there were so many twists and turns in the top 15 that like people expected a lot of things but until it actually happened I was like holy [ __ ] this is I did not think it would going to be back in cica 3 or B K going to Seattle or right um Yak chuck yakob chuck going yeah like going ahead of most of the other dmen it didn’t really make sense um until it happened and uh the the Sharks being there with two of the better choices for like the franchise at D I was like just like scream in my my brain being like please pick a defenseman they’re right there don’t [ __ ] this up please don’t pick anybody else don’t pick con don’t picker don’t pick Cole Eiserman don’t pick it just pick a [ __ ] defenseman and then as soon as they did I was happy that was my first reaction I was like thank God they picked somebody that like they needed to pick for the franchise’s benefit uh rather than just big braining it you know because they could have definitely big brained that pick and they didn’t they actually brained it so good that they got to the exact spot to be able to pick one of them which is amazing that was a great trade looking back on it it was like yeah they these both those guys probably would be gone at 14 and both those guys were there for you to pick from and it was a slight overpayment but you have if you’re going to move up to that part of the draft as I did a whole story on that the draft day trades trading up to in the first you always had to overpay and overpay was reasonable yeah there was there was no chance you were getting away with like I honestly think it was a little bit of like not that bad like I thought maybe they had to give 33 to do it and they didn’t so yeah a brilliant trade I really really enjoyed it so there’s a lot of talk of talk between Dickson and boam and um well first of all your grade for this was na a well go ahead yes and I’m going to put my stand on it that I like Dickinson we’ll see if I’m wrong but that’s that was my vote even before it happened so and that’s a so even over boo is what you’re saying yes uh I uh prefer Dickinson’s sort of well-rounded game um I suppose if everything hits for buum He he’ll be better but Dickinson it’s safer but also to Dickinson not like Dickinson is a poor skater like yakimchuk and Dickinson has offensive potential and upside I did get some push back and I know a lot of people think maybe Dickinson is kind of maybe a little topped out but I’m GNA go with I think he’s going to be a very good player and I generally will go with the more rounded players I will pick celebrini over demid and I will pick Dickson over boam um yeah I I understand the argument and I think it was funny because we went to the youth hockey Clinic that the prospects put on um like two days before the draft and I was sitting there and I recorded a bunch of Dickinson just because it was he was in the same chair that celeb was going to be in so I was just recording him and I was watching I was listening to him talk and I was like this guy got kind of seems like a Mike Greer pick but I did had no thought that he would be there at 11 or 14 at that point I was like there doesn’t matter like I’m listening to him talk but like even though I think he’s kind of a m Greer pick doesn’t what was Mikey hockey about him well just well a he’s huge like the guy like he’s very built for a you know 18-year-old kid um whereas guys like Boo is a little slighter like he’s not skinny at all but he’s a little slighter a little smaller um he just had that like not like puck in deep mentality but that like very I’m focused on hockey and I love hockey you know that kind of mentality um when you listen to his answers so but in my brain I did not think that Mike Greer would be a position to take him but he felt like a Mike Greer Peck um but anyway so I’m not mad about the pick because I do agree dickon was still I think in my top 10 um and if you’re giving an a I’ll give it an A minus because it’s not even like I’m like I wouldn’t give it a b because I I think it was a good pick it was one of the two best picks they could have made at that point um where was boam on your list I forgot I think boam was in four on my list four okay and Dickinson was what again I think he was nine or eight okay okay so he was around the same area but um I personally did go ahead oh oh sorry uh I did I did talk to a team that had a Dickinson they like Dickinson but they had Dickson later than 11 I I’ll leave it that because I can’t give away too much about it so that I just thought that was interesting so so a lot so there are teams that definitely like boam over Dickinson but obviously Dickinson with his physical package and all that stuff right there are teams like the sharks who obviously like they can s rou them too you know the other way around so I just think that’s going to be a very interesting like you said interesting debate for sharks fans in the coming years interesting to see how both guys turn out and it’s and these to used there’s debates used to be about like 6 foot one guys versus 5 foot 10 Defenders or stuff like that and now it’s like believe was 6 foot and he’s like really strong and he’s a you know good skater and like there’s not a lot of flaws with him then he’s not 63 I guess well I think there’s questions about him defensively so I I’m not going to say I would also that he is without without flaw so it’s not just a neon and I I think actually watching them both honestly yes senson has a little bit more physicality but boam is not a bad Defender at all and he is a good defender on a winning team repeatedly um I wouldn’t again I’m not sure about that because I I spoke with a scout in the when the Sharks acquired a number 11 pick and he said that in his opinion buam doesn’t know how to play defense yet um he compared them to perek and he said perk he thinks perek knows how to play but doesn’t want to play it I would argue that I would argue no I mean I would argue bur doesn’t know boam does but okay fair but I’m just saying that that if that thought is out there though that um how good buam understands defense and that could be another reason why he fell like it’s not just a simple siiz thing because pre is not that much larger right pre went you know went higher so yeah you know it’s not as there’s legitimate questions about the way that boam creates offense I think that’s a leg argument too offensive ceiling isn’t as high as per yeah possibly um possibly yeah he did have again the best statistical season for a defenseman in the NCAA Ever Ever by like a lot by like a half a point per game or so no or like a quarter point per game like it was a lot there’s there’s definitely an argument for boam I’m not like saying like this is ridic you know right so yeah but uh I think the that’s why I’m not saying it’s like a bad pick either because ticketon still very good um I think I think it’s um it there is a floor difference as well right because buam could never make it in a legitimate capacity other than like he’s an offensively gifted third liner that we’ve seen a billion of them in the NHL and they don’t do anything H it’s possible that that’s that that’s a a route for him whereas Dickinson I really don’t think there’s any other route besides the top four defenseman um and that’s yeah definitely the floor is higher yeah yeah I think there’s a very very good chance he’s a top four defense in the NHL um I think there’s a higher chance that William is a first line Defender but that’s fair you but the Sharks really couldn’t afford that risk right like if Boo and busts for the sharks like they’re screwed in terms of their defensive dep I’ll disagree with that they they could have I think they just like toon more I I he’s higher under their list so that’s all they I think it just we tried to get them to nail down that and they said I know they’re specific to it that why he was higher but of course I I I don’t I don’t think it’s one of those like things that like Dickson can bust too there’s plenty of guys that skate well big you know they come out looks like they’re they’re Sure Fire like NH hellers right at least and they just don’t make it for this reason or another right so so I don’t think it’s about that I think that they just maybe they don’t like boam as much um in terms of his ceiling they don’t think he’ll reach it as likely to reach it but they like to I think it’s as as simple as that and I think it’s a you know it’s a credible debate either way so yeah I don’t think it’s a um it’s definitely not worth being angry about I think is the thing yeah I I agree I agree they’re two good picks they didn’t pick you know stalberg there or which I I I without any sort of backup suspected for a second um they didn’t pick Eiserman there when they could have got him we saw where Eiserman went so they picked a really excellent Prospect in uh lower than expected place you can’t complain about that yeah he uh he’s going to be a very good Defender for a very long time I think and so I’m going to get an A minus only because I can’t give it an a if you gave it an A and I I think you I would pick somebody else and I’m not giving it a b because they didn’t they didn’t pick somebody I don’t like or see you know the interesting more interesting bit was Bo actually following one more pick um essentially because Philadelphia traded back out of 12 um to take jet luchenko at 13 and uh boam got to 12 by Minnesota and Philly I guess clearly wasn’t as infatuated with boam either so yeah I was reading an article on that um I guess Boo’s agent is the same agent as cutter goate and maybe Philly was like we don’t want to get burned again that’s fair May when Dickson was gone at that I I didn’t realize that yeah yeah I was reading an article I don’t remember who wrote it but it was why this is a possibility of why they didn’t go with boam even though he’s a very good draft pick it’s like hey they just got burned by that guy’s agent like um so because they they had said a whole reason why they were like oh we have the Philadelphia did we have you know guys of a certain size on our blue line and it didn’t make sense to add another one like boam um if all of our guys are small but I don’t know tough to say um they really liked jet luchenko which I’m going to give myself a pat on the back for toot in the jet luchenko horn for like five months and then yeah goes top 13 which still blows my mind I personally don’t think he’s that good so I after like toon you know like blowing the Chet luchenko horn forever I don’t think he was top 133 good but what can you do Philadelphia really liked him anyway they are extremely upset about the the whole way at windtown Philadelphia fans so we’re not in their shoes right because like we could have passed up again to consider booya for God know zo J lenko and we’d be like why did what or stalberg yeah yeah or yeah stolberg or um you know Adam urak or something and we’d be scratching our heads wondering what we left on the board so I’m happy and those first two picks were like perfect for the draft I couldn’t have been happier for them um so we concluded day one and got to day two very early in the morning um I will say the Sharks we had asked them before at the end of day one if there was a chance they could trade that pick and it was uh we’ll see what the offers are like and it turned out they said screw it we’re not and they basically wasted no time and chose eigor shern of with the 33rd overall pick um you gave this pick an a grade as well yeah similar to the dick yeah I mean it’s a first round Talent if he had gone into High Teens no one would have bed deny he is reminds me of the Quenton musty Casper Halton and pick a bet on offensive upside yeah if you guys have read a scout I talked to about sh shof says that he’s I can’t I can’t I can’t State how bad he is I can’t overstate how bad he is at defense is what what Scout told me but as JD likes to say defense is for nerds and you can learn defense too and you can learn to be a adequate defender or and that sort of thing and so the offense part it’s harder to teach and so yeah it’s a it’s a terrific upside bet and when he is on you know power for type with uh skate skill all that kind of stuff right and so yeah I love all of that yeah the um I would also give this pick an a um I wouldn’t change a thing other than I um he was the best one of the best value picks that was available at that stage um I think Sim like you said similar to Quinton musy you’re betting on upside with him and you’re betting that the total package comes together in two three years and you have a dominance scoring Winger and it’s not like it’s a reach and being like an impossibility it’s like a very realistic path you know and I liked the the bet on upside there um yeah with the 33rd overall pick and at that at the area of the draft too which is what what one Scout observed to me you see in articles that that the at the high pick areas that the Sharks do value that upside even Dickinson may not be bams upside but still a lot of upside there and then we talk about musty hton and shernoff with the high picks that they have kind of shown a a leaning toward that in that area with a draft Yeah and all of these guys aren’t going to work out but maybe one or two does and then that’s all you need really around your core pieces like your your Macklin’s and everything so um I I have no issue with the pick I think an is is a good grade um I only chose badinka for my specific draft because uh hockey sharks the half W hockey sharks cuz I needed more size on my blue line because my blue line was Z boam and Lane Hudson and luuka Canon and I was like I need a big defender or else there’s no and he’s the best one that was there I really like binka so and I don’t really need that many more scoring Wingers because I have a [ __ ] ton on the team so at Mitch goov and all that so yeah made sense for me to go with badinka but I think for the Sharks chish makes a lot of sense so love it a a for me as well and then one of my favorites got picked at 53 not favorites but one of my like guys that I mentioned before on a pre-draft Show Leo Sal melenas got picked at 53 for the okay well we’re gonna have a a little debate here then you picked a b um for the grade yes uh go ahead you go you go first I would go with like a B+ oh okay not like a super I mean at that stage maybe B plus a minus cuz there was it was starting to pretty quickly the guys that were available um so maybe B plus a minus I really like Leo salenius I think um there’s not a like he does a lot of things correct I don’t know if the the actual like highest uh ceiling is there and I think his offense might be limited in the next level but I think he has a lot of tools and he um has enough of a safe floor that I think at that point in in the second round you’re getting a solid NHL Prospect out of him um so yeah I I think it’s a it’s a good bet for a sharks team that needs more solid defensive prospects yeah I think for me I think at that phase in the draft I’m I can I I can still be a little more ceiling so poken in what next and he would have been fun six sticks he can skate and so I think that would have been an interesting pick there so I know issue with the senen wanus pick and like you said at that point some of the better names were coming off the board but pokin I think would have been a fun one and just a couple other a couple other names I’m looking at to that would have been fun but that’s that’s it though it’s still excellent pick though MH yeah I am yeah pen would be super fun that’s just that’s a bet on like super upside um yeah 66 220 can skate has offense yeah yeah there’s definitely a uh a fun pick there fun value um I uh I think I went with Teddy sta for mine so I did also pick like an upside pick because uh he’s an offensive scoring Winger yeah Ma Max M was on a board too yeah so yeah oh an interesting tidbit about the draft and I tweeted about this this was the and I don’t know if anybody’s written an article about it or not but this was the lowest the qmjhl has had their first pick picked ever since the Q JL was founded in 1969 and that was was that Massi no it was Spencer Gill that picked 59 okay that mass went 66 third round actually with the sharks pick the yeah or the Sharks original third round pick yeah so 59% go the second one was number 45 in the year 2000 so interesting almost every other year there was either a first round kjeller you know we’ve got some like Superstar ones like sney grosby Nathan McKinnon Vinnie La cavier like you know Superstar players um or just like regular first rouers or early seconds 59 is the lowest ever and it kind of speaks to the qmj chell’s uh strength over the past few drafts because it’s been very poor it’s been noticeably bad for a few years now so yeah interesting little tidbit there um but uh so the Sharks uh next pick was pick 82 uh Carson wet uh right winger 6’2 61 two um described as like a high energy guy skates skates well competes hard um hits fights does it all can play penalty kill um I had watch what you want to your great first was a B minus for this uh yeah um go ahead I think that on one hand you look at what his Silling is and you think oh don’t want to spend a third round pick on that because he’s not not necessarily going to be a second line player or better but the things that he brings that sort of agitator rat mentality and he’s going to stand up for his teammates and all that kind of stuff right I Scot I spoke with comparative to Brendan Lemieux before the draft not favorably by the way and Brendan hasn’t had a great career bite anybody hopefully not but remember with with Brendon l though that Brena L was a second round pick and so this these kind of elements are very very valued and so if Wes is a little better than a Brendan Lemieux is Brendon Lemieux is still a competent fourth line player right if Wes can get himself into that third fourth line area and with all his attributes that’s a super valuable player and so I’m not as down on the pick as I know some people just look at the points and whatever oh this is a d pick this is a whatever right it’s a f pick because you didn’t you didn’t pick the the smallest most offensively gifted player available at this spot in the draft but I think yeah so I I think I I think I think I think it’s a good pick overall and but but for sure though that that that yeah maybe there’s some more ceiling there you know Luca melli went over there and that’s a guy that that that some people had in the second round there but anyway what’ you think um at the time I um I didn’t have much to think about it other than I I think B minus is about right uh maybe C+ I think they were they did obviously sacrific maybe a home run swing on some people I liked one guy that was around that spot that I’m surprised was still available was Adam jeo yeah y Sheran to the defenseman Sheran was available um jeo went 95 but he’s like a super big uh scoring Winger he’s 6 foot five um I really liked his game but I actually saw a lot of Carson wet during the season and I when we were at the draft I remember going back and looking at my reports and I was like oh this makes a lot of sense I should have pegged him as a Mike G guy because I just wrote like all of the things that you know Mike G has talked about competitive physical penalty kill yeah skat hits skates well y so some of these guys when they get a little bit more offensive Talent can you know stick higher in the lineup but I don’t know if it’s all there for him he might end up just like a fourth line you know energy guy right I think they were um I said this a lot too I think at a certain point this draft started to fall off pretty quickly um and they were kind of like well this guy seems very I’ll call it safe for lack of a better word uh of what he’s going to be in the NHL so I wasn’t mad about it um C+ B minus is where I’m going to stick with okay uh I chose Anthony Romani for mine anybody cares he say he was the re-entry uh like six foot 6′ one scoring Winger U put up a bajillion points the OHL is in his overage season um or not overage but his undrafted or D plus one year um and uh I’ve had my him for a while I thought he was going to go in the next couple picks so I was like oh I got to pick him now but he ended up going like a round later but anyway um but still not a bad pick for the Sharks next few picks are interesting um Kristen kersch at number 116 um 6 fo3 Swiss net minder that you gave a C+ two yeah that’s my lowest grade and I I thought about that hard uh because this is this is a a thing where gooning is voodoo so you can’t really be hard on the Sharks for not picking a guy that was on everybody’s list and also too this goting class was considered very weak in general so I do like that the Sharks didn’t reach for a guy like at say 53 just because oh we need a goalie we have nobody in the system and so you reach for somebody that you don’t really like and Chris marous did say that curse was their number one goalie on their board which I do tend to believe because we didn’t ask him about it he just offered it and maybe he was trying to defend the pick in some kind of way because he knew that this is a kind of a it was off people left or like total no I think on their list wow and but gooning is voodoo right so you don’t I so I don’t I didn’t judge that that hard and I think so I guess I guess it’s possibly he could have meant left on the board but I actually think he meant overall and um anyway so if if they got their guy then I give them full credit for that um but I hadn’t heard of him so so I give it a little lower grade there and at that spot too you know later we’re going to get to another goalie pick but it’s in the seventh round so sure you know grading on a curve you know you’re not going to grade a a seventh round pick as harshly as you would a fourth round pick right and so you know at that spot they could have maybe still got uh a credible kind of skater Prospect but for what it’s worth though there was kind of a run on goting there was that first run of run of goal ending in I think the 50s and 60s right 70s and then this was a kind of a later run right because kersch came third in a run of three consecutive goalie picks 114 Camp to Washington 115 gamson to the Islanders and 116 kers to the sharks so the Sharks responded to that in in their way too pick him before they they lost him which is good too I’m giving it a b solid B I think he’s a I think he’s a credible goalie Prospect um your your boy Ki Haru was there though at 122 yeah he was Minnesota again too sharks really really needed a goenda this year’s draft was definitely size and there was a lot of players that dropped a ton based on their size and then players that were undrafted again based on their size at least a little bit so I think it was just not the uh the right year to be trying to to grab him but 122 is super low for kib Haru um anyway I I would give it a B for the Sharks organization specifically they they I think they needed a credible goalie Prospect and he he’s [Music] um at that pick not a bad pick I think we also had mentioned gidlof at that point um right get L fun in the 140s right yeah so but that’s how random the the gold inning is or even the the board this year because I think gof was top for for prman and I think in a couple mocks I saw he had gof going in the second round right and not to say that that promen is definitive or whatever but that that’s just like how Rand like because you’re not going to see like for example uh like a celebrini it’s Anonymous some some guys are are not Anonymous unanimous so like even shernoff right shernoff is a first rounder and if there’s any drop it’s the low seconds and that’s that’s predictable right so but gending so weird that for one guy a Goff is a second round pick and for another guy well ultimately for the NHL gof was a fifth round pick so and if you asked anybody I don’t would say that Ilan iakov would go 38th over 38 overall the first goalie right and I mean there was no run I think it just like wow what what and then the next goal he went I think 15 picks later right I think it was Carter George next right so no y gorov went 11 picks later oh okay and then and then George yeah so yeah and then George and um Emil Vinny went after that so I think it was good of them not to um get so married like you said to a goalie that they took him 53 overall or whatever yeah um they they stuck to their board in some way to to weigh the options between like How likely is it even that this goalie Prospect works and how as opposed to a senen wanus yeah yeah so I um I liked where they picked the goalie and also getting a goalie the most and I’m going to give them a b overall sure Colton Roberts got a B from you he was pick number 131 yes um I like Colton Roberts I think uh I’m not going to disagree with you on this at all I’m going to give him a b yeah I mean I think we can almost discuss 131 and 143 together because you’re talking about bigger defensemen that you know I think skate well and if they if they hit for you they’re not going to be first paing defenseman obviously but they’re can be a good part of a winning team um I think the Plus for Roberts is that he was uh I think he he I think he he was like 80 something on Bob MacKenzie’s final rankings which is uh rankings pulled or cold from 10 NHL Scouts so it’s a good sense of how the so the league view views these players and so Roberts just kind of kind of fell there so to get him at 131 I think is very very solid yeah um I’m trying to think of who Roberts reminds me of like when i’ I’ve seen him before but I don’t know if boring is the right word but he’s just kind of there and then I think it’s people have mentioned is like if it all works out he’s kind of like a shutdown dman that has a little bit of physicality could do a little bit of Puck moving but um I don’t know boring is the right way to put it maybe boring is the same word as B so or say starts with B so we’re giving it a B for boring um but if at 131 and 143 it’s like these guys are big humans and they’re they don’t handle the puck right they both can like handle the puck okay enough um Roberts can skate well enough misy maybe um but I think they are both have potential if they are round out their game enough basically right right um yeah so we for boring and our last pick of the draft is y but it could be W for winning so yeah or I got I got nothing epic 194 we have yaroslav I’m never going to say it correctly CR cor cor and if you’re asking don’t you know how to pronounce that so well it’s cuz he was completely un unranked by every single scouting service um yeah yeah I don’t think anybody would know how to say his name rushan there so that’s okay classic seventh round pick um but you gave it a b and you also had a scout quote that I think is interesting which called underrated goalie yeah corus stoff uh dealt with injuries last year that’s why he only played 22 games M and he is actually on the smaller side so he’s actually 61 which is small for a goalie these days but morous said he was second or third under board which makes I think that was a total board because yeah um must be yeah um and so if you get that guy in a seventh round pick even if nobody’s heard of him or whatever it doesn’t matter so you get like a guy you like a lot in the seventh round in any position I think that’s you’re a static and so I think that’s that’s excellent I can’t argue with that so yeah that’s why I have it rated higher or I’m sorry that’s why my grade is higher than with with uh with with kersch because with with kers in that position there are still potential players there not just Ki Haru but other guys right but you know Justin porier I think was on the board still right just for example to just throw out another name but in the seventh round though there’s there’s less legit players kind of less legit prospects skaters right skaters are are pretty pick clean and goting is a good that’s a good that’s a good place to invest in the goalie because go ending is so everybody’s list is is very different for go ending probably and so that’s a place where it sort of uh I don’t know exploit a inefficiency to some degree so agreed it’s the it’s the time to whip out your your scratch offs and start scratching off really hard you know if you’ve got six seventh round picks just choose six goalies who gives a [ __ ] maybe one of them will work out you know I think it’s interesting the um uh I think byon Bader tweeted this out maybe it was somebody else but like the lack of um CHL goalies like there’s a lot of Euro goalies that are getting picked nowadays in the draft rather than CHL and a lot of people have theories of why but I think the biggest issue is goalies tend to develop later and you don’t retain the CHL rights on goalies for very long retain it for like two years after your draft so a guy like ryers and leers for example which was a go tender that was still avail ailable at that pick he got picked like 10 picks later or whatever but they didn’t choose him they chose this unknown um Russian goal tender because they’re going to retain his rights for indefinitely essentially um which is interesting to think about just for the future yeah that could be yeah that’s true that’s true be yeah that’s a good point because if ryers and leenders like doesn’t completely you know pan out in the next two years a team has to decide do we keep investing time and effort into him or not you know right right right and then with with kers K’s path is said Green Bay and then college so then you have a finite time with him too a very defined time with him whereas again yeah the second goal you pick in a draft you can kind of let that clock run a bit Yeah they can go for as long as they want you know um there’s no there’s no deadline leers got picked at 219 to Buffalo by the way anyway um all right that concluded the draft and overall I’m giving the Sharks an A okay that’s what I’m giving it I I gave an A too I didn’t want to be a contrarian and give it yeah say a minus or something like that just to be just to be too cool for school so I gave it a solid day I liked the um I liked the strategy I think of the best thing right like they they had specific guys that they targeted like the Dickinson um they moved up to get into the spot to take a guy like Dickinson or whoever was there I liked the strategy of you know the big Defenders that are not like like complete shutdown guys have no offense at all um I liked the goal tending picks and where they were picked and then the the one you know safest bet that they chose was Carson w at 82 which seems to be their MO right like the spota thing we talked about at the draft was also in the third round and they’re just trying to get a player out of it I think whether that’s like a super high pick but you know I I mean I think these things are very very flexible so I don’t I don’t think that next year they’re going to repeat this pattern but they did kind of funny enough follow some patterns here with the Halton and musty in the late first early second using a third round pick on sort of a a a a grinder type but a guy that can help you win games like a maybe potentially a playoff caliber winning grinder so that’s kind of interesting and then just and then fourth round later rounds are kind of defensive swings right last year was maybe a little smaller defense like poke camp and kagoni but nonetheless they kind of defensive swings yeah they went with a little more size this year and that was a theme uh for sure but it was it was good I I liked the strategy overall and this year they also said [ __ ] it we need two goalies and they chose two goalies so happy about that cuz there’s no no goalie Prospect in the system so happy there’s two guys to look out for now makes my job a little bit more fun you know because there was nobody to watch for a little while there was just the old highlights of Ben Gad and seeing if Mason popit is around but anyway I’m going to be getting an egg all right real quick because you have to get on a plane soon we’re going to we’re going to go into our free agent talk um uh free agency starts 12 hours from now I think maybe something like that something like that yeah I’ll be I’ll be up right and early uh soon so um and uh you had run down basically where the sharks at with their skaters and defenseman goenda that have happened and the Acquisitions that have happened in the past week which is a lot sure we didn’t really get into that but they did acquire Jake Walman um AEV um they got grun strum delandria and obviously goodro burough yeah delandria and G so and we did talk about those two we did talk about Dandrea and cdro before we went to the draft but but kind of went with the same profile though grundstrom is the sort of the similar profile of player and then on defense Mike has seemed to talk more about Puck movie need more Puck movie and wman fits that and so kind of in terms of what I’m looking at with the way that I see the Sharks roster now I think that it’ be advisable for them to add a now let’s move Beyond just the grinder type guys right I think suddenly your bottom six actually looks pretty decent now so maybe some scoring and which Mike has alluded to too so it’s not me kind of making something up and I think they could still use another Puck moving defenseman to kind of again push mea Ferraro down a little bit in the lineup which I’ve talked about and so I think these would be the most ideal things one or two scorers and uh defenseman and obviously the Sharks had limitations that they are still in the rebuild so they’re not going to give they’re not going to match whatever Jake genso is getting they’re not going to they’re not likely to get a Brady Shay he would be a dream guy a perfect guy for their defense but they’re not likely to be able to to reel a guy like that in so we have to be reasonable about it but anyway so those are sort of the what I have in in mind so one one scorer or two and a defenseman who also kind of fulfill the other parts that I mentioned they’re good in the room they’re guys that you want around your young guys around your celebrties and Company too yeah the issue is rapidly becoming the the market is thinning I’ll say right especially on defense right yeah we mentioned two guys on our last show about this uh a couple weeks ago Dello and K no three guys k a Chatfield and Dello all three of them have resigned with the teams that that were before they got to free agency so whoops um they’re not available I mean uh Mike G even mentioned that getting wman helps yeah so we’ll see if we get one I I think it’s more likely that we go after some sort of Winger that can bring a little bit of physicality plus scoring right those are a little more available yeah slightly more um and we also don’t have a lot of that many spots left in terms of skaters I think one more or two maybe um and that’s it before we start waving guys that we’ve already acquired or having to right right right right or like a guy like gu it’s going to it is going to have a tougher tough time to crack crack a lineup if you bring in a scorer or two but I think the lineup really does need it though so Gan will have to take a job from from uh yeah from somebody in the top top nine so yeah it’s um we’ll see training Camp’s a long way away um yeah all right so guys that we’ve mentioned that could be available um uh Jake de Brusque well guys that right yeah yeah um guys that will be available I guess in terms of their contract because they’re free agents and maybe yeah don’t know all these guys fit but Anthony mantha Stefan n David pan Daniel sprong Jeff Skinner this is a little list that I made of guys who can score that’s all Steven stos I like it that’s not gonna happen pipe dream pipe dream uh Chandler Stevenson and toy vter vinan um you had mentioned to me off the that Terra was your favorite one out of this list yeah yeah he’s he’s sort of the um the the best guy here that might be realistic sure um I guess I guess let’s talk about the list really fast and then let’s close out with some predictions and then so I can get on my flight but um so I don’t not sure if guys like teras senko like duclair I know duclair is popular but um I don’t know they’re necessarily you know duclair is well liked by his teammates but I don’t know if he was as liked by the coaching staff right I don’t know if duclair is not just picking on ducl tereno I think the same thing and a couple other guys on this board too that I wonder if they’re the most ideal guys that you want around around your young players at all times Skinner is another guy that I question even though obviously Skinner can score I like Terra vinan because Terra vinan is not in the stamp coost caliber of player he’s not the gel caliber of a free agency option um but you can give him a pretty handsome offer and he is competitive he is two-way I heard nothing no kind of issue with him in the room or anything like that and so I think that uh he he has the ceiling to score 30 goals or something like that right and so I think I I think that I think that he is well he hasn’t he’s never scored 30 but he has put up a lot of points though in in his career so 25 goals and a lot of assist and so yeah so he he’s probably the the the the the guy that I think is realistic that that I like so I think that would be the one of the better options in terms of actually yeah one of the better options for sure for sure I think it it will I think it’s going to end up being like stepan N I think that that fits so I think that’ll be a good one too yeah so many boxes for them I I’ll predict Stephan n there’s the physicality part um so yeah it’s hard to hard to predict from this list I would say that if I were to predict a guy that kind of fits my um I think ainson even though there’s a lot of you know Mike said they did not try to trade for him and the Sharks did not try to to pick him up uh after he got bought out you know they could have Sid stepped the whole no trade list thing but um he’s the type of player I like a lot though I think the the leadership and he still skates well and he has a a great scoring history so I think that with more playing time or whatnot that wouldn’t surprise me hit 20 with the sharks but uh if he doesn’t want to come here though that’ll be tough though because now he’s he’s been bought out so he can go where he wants right for for cheap um the brush would be nice because he’s a guy that can grow with the sharks but um so I I’ll leave him on on the list and and AAS like we talk about is maybe more realistic and then yeah Terra vinin yeah um defense-wise like we said we’ve gotten a um we’ve gotten a run on Defenders resigning with teams so guys that you’ve put on a list of possibilities or or M might fit with the sharks who be guys like yeah with a little more a little more Puck moving yeah yeah who can still defend he’s had a Resurgence in Florida um Mark Giordano who’s old but could still want to play still should be able to move a puck yeah Matt Roy Matt Roy Shawn Walker Nikita zadorov um three guys that are all still available zadorov being the pipestream out of all of those I think yeah yeah yeah because he’s getting the the old like 6×6 or something by a team I think um but um Sean Walker is an interesting one Matt Roy and oel I think they’re they’re interesting options um I don’t think that they get any of them I think they don’t sign it defens okay uh my prediction is this is this is totally not educated so um totally this is completely speculative but I’m going to go with overall terrain and jodano so I think they get they get a big forward fish maybe they overpay him quite a bit which they can afford like three years 21 million they can they could do that and they they bring in jono for a year to get an extra year out of him see if he can still play middle pairing minutes okay and move the puck a bit which I think there’s a good chance he he he can still M and um so that’s that’s my prediction Oh and before we we head out of here too um I do have a little bit of sharks free agency news to end with too but let’s let’s hear your your predictions before we get to that oh boy um I think they go like Stephan n and one more AHL NHL tweener of something like that and maybe like a AHL NHL tweener Defender too uh um but I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a splash but who knows my career surprised me many times but I would say Stephan seems so so fit a lot for them so I’m going to say him an interesting thing before we get to the free agent news is there were a lot of smaller less physical Defenders like branstrom Bean list all of which that did not get qualifying offers today as rfas so will be ufas tomorrow um do you think there’s any shot that they go for these kind of smaller Puck movers for tomorrow yeah I think so I mean they brought in Addison to feel a specific role last year he couldn’t quite do it but true maybe one of these guys can I I don’t think that Mike is allergic to small Defenders I know people think he is but I don’t think he is so I think if one of these these types can bring enough offense and defend competently enough that there there is there there could be a spot obviously there there’s going to be opportunity on the power play for for one of these guys so do do you think they’ll pick pick one of these up tomorrow so that could be your def your defenseman that they pick up I it’s not that like I I I think he’s just allergic to the kin Addison mold of small defenseman now cuz he experienced it and then so readily went nope and a lot of these guys fill you know I think they can be better than kin though right I don’t think the issue is that kayin is small the issue is that kayin isn’t good that kayin didn’t bring enough offense either right he obviously did not defend well enough but he even before he came to the Sharks probably put up the most points in a season than any of these guys too that’s that’s fair but that’s true but kin was on better teams arguably too and more of opportunity kin was like a pp1 for Minnesota for a while right so so yeah so I don’t know I like I think brandster will be an interesting one just because he’s there’s been a lot of like speculation that his role hasn’t really progressed a lot with Ottawa and maybe some untapped potential there if you do stick about a power play right right so that would be one I would I would go after I think uh I don’t think they will but I’m happy yeah I think be an interesting swing the last one I want to mention was Nate Schmidt uh who got bought out he’s a um not So Much Anymore a offensive Dem man he’s kind of had a little bit of a fall from grace he was a very good defenseman back in Vegas but yeah I think that he’s definitely lost something or Winnipeg would keep him he’s Winnipeg yeah Winnipeg Winnipeg needs got so but if you can get hmid on the cheap he did you know he could still maybe put up like 20 something points for you and he does have some Puck moving ability so sure sure an interesting thought U because he’s probably going to be pretty cheap after the buyo yeah no that’s fair uh all right what’s the news before we get you on your flight uh just a small thing um so the Sharks had had had said mik at a press conference he said that they were going to let I think it was Carpenter McDonald and Bailey Test free agency obviously that didn’t happen with Bailey because shark signed Bailey today just as just just just as I mentioned that you know you you kind of see what’s out there right and obviously all these guys want one-way contracts but I don’t know if it’s there for them and so biley took a two-way contract with the sharks today and so with mcdonal with Jacob McDonald the news is that Jake McDonald is going to go to free agency small small thing but there’s no deal struck before free agency I think Jacob is looking for another oneway contract so hopefully he gets it he’s a good guy and I think he can fill like a seventh eth defenseman role for somebody on on a one way but we’ll see if the that market isn’t there for him then maybe he’ll come back and same with Carpenter too but anyway McDonald is definitely gonna gonna there’s not going to be a last minute deal I think for McDonald from what I understand the um Jakob McDonald hype train might be dead it’s over it’s derailed it’s derailed it’s over I remember I read on on Twitter today that Devin [ __ ] might be signing at Calgary is their third goalie so anyway really H I’m interested in a team giving him giving giving him a number three spot because I don’t know if he has quite earned like a that yet you know soting I read on Twitter it’s Twitter rumors the night before free agency so who the [ __ ] knows it could be nothing okay okay um but that’s what I had read so um all right guys we’re going to come back later this week with a free agency recap probably as well as trades or whatever the else hell happens but and also development Camp starts oh my God there’s so much [ __ ] going on um but it was a super I won’t be doing it for airport lounge though so so yes we will have more time and maybe the more um less ASMR mic for next time as well yes yes hope you guys have a good week bye bye guys [Music]

Welcome to the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!

Sheng and Keegan gave grades for each San Jose Sharks’ pick in the 2024 Draft! We also did a brief Sharks free agency preview and gave our free agency predictions.

Also, Sheng had some small Sharks’ free agency news.

Sorry about the poor audio quality! Sheng was recording in an airport lounge.

First, our grades for each San Jose Sharks’ 2024 Draft pick…then our overall grades! (6:18)

Macklin Celebrini (7:22)
Sam Dickinson (10:04)
Igor Chernyshov
Leo Sahlin Wallenius
Carson Wetsch (29:21)
Christian Kirsch
Colton Roberts
Nate Misskey
Yaroslav Koroselyov (40:47)

Finally, free agency is on Jul. 1! (46:37)

Now the San Jose Sharks have added plenty of grit, what type of players do they need next? Who’s out there in free agency?

Who do we predict, just speculation, that the Sharks will land in free agency?

Finally, Sheng had some Jacob MacDonald news. (58:44)