Rarely does a team with so many elite players and top end talent line up to pick in the top ten of the NHL draft without trading up but that’s the situation the San Jose Sharks find themselves in. If the Sharks were going to miss the playoffs this would have been a good year to go all out and get a ‘lottery pick’ as the Sharks draft position will see them get a good to very good player but none of the truly elite prospects that are pencilled in for the top three or four spots. That said, the Sharks do stand to get a quality prospect at number nine.
The Sharks are in a strange position in many ways. They have an impressive young 
core of players already established in California. Almost every team around the league would love to have Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns or Marc Eduard Vlasic to build around. They have a burgeoning star in Tomas Hertl, who it appears only needs to stay healthy in order to become a quality goal scorer, and in Joe Thornton they still possess one of the best playmakers in the NHL.
Even Patrick Marleau, who is apparently on the decline, was still able to put up “only” 57 points. There is however a few obvious omissions from this roll call of Sharks. Absent are a quality goaltender, established defensemen (Vlasic and Burns are the only defensemen listed that are truly established), and NHL quality blueliners. Burns himself fleets between forward and the blueline so often it’s hard to remember which he is best at (and he’s great at both).
So, amid a season of apparent regression, what else is there in San Jose that offers hope?
Upfront, the Sharks stand to like Matt Nieto who put up solid numbers at college and has had a decent start to life in the NHL, even if he needs a lot of work. Melker Karlsson is an unknown quantity. His numbers in Sweden weren’t eye popping but he had a decent debut at the NHL level (53 games, 24 points) and of course Tommy Wingels has established himself as a physical winger who could top out at 40 points per season.
Every team needs a physical dimension to their game and Wingels offers that to San Jose. One X factor could be the recent signing of Finnish league MVP Joonas Donskoi. The 23 year old scored 49 points in 58 games in Finland, then added 22 points in 19 playoff games and somehow manage to top those impressive figures off with eight points in eight games at the World Championships. At age 23, and with solid size, Donskoi is certainly one to watch.
On the blueline it’s Mirco Mueller who is the one young defenseman in the Sharks system that has shown real promise. The big Swiss blueliner looks like a smooth skating, positionally sound player capable of playing at both ends and quick development from him (he had a decent 39 game introduction to San Jose this past season) would really help the club re-tool their blueline on the fly.
Jason Braun put up some points but isn’t a long term solution, Matt Irwin is a depth player (and likely not much more considering he is already 27 years old). Brendan Dillon offers some size and Matt Tennyson offers some two way potential. The blueline group in general is, however, underwhelming.
With Thornton and Marleau long in the tooth (shark pun) the Sharks could do with adding a quality forward to go along Pavelski and Couture, the undoubted focus of the new generation in San Jose. Of course, the Sharks could really do with addressing the aforementioned, woefully shallow blueline while, once a hallmark of this consistent yet underachieving franchise, the goaltending pipeline looks all dried up unless you’re still waiting for Alex Stalock to be that guy. There are quite a few needs in San Jose it seems.
What’s down on the farm? In their last season in the AHL, Worcester’s (who will be moving to San Jose themselves) the baby Sharks made the first round of the playoffs before being ousted by Hershey, a defeat that included a 10-4 drubbing to close out the Worcester chapter. Not a great way to leave a city behind. The AHL Sharks do offer some legitimate talent for the big club however. Chris Tierney was a point per game player at the AHL level (29 in 29) and put up respectable numbers in a predominantly depth role in San Jose scoring 21 points in 43 games. Former 2014 first round pick Nikolai Goldobin came over from Helsinki where the young Russian put up solid numbers as a teen; he looks a good right wing prospect. Goldobin saw some brief time in the AHL at the end of the year and chipped in immediately which obviously bodes well for his future.
Beyond the pro ranks there’s still the paucity of goaltending prospects and the team appear in dire need of some physicality on the blueline. A true, physically imposing defenseman is lacking in the Sharks system among other needs. Overall, the entire system needs replenishing; a common problem a consistently competitive club eventually experiences.
So with the ninth overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, who will the Sharks consider taking? The organisation would love to have a goaltending prospect the calibre of Ilya Samsanov but even though he’s far and away the best goaltending prospect entering the draft, 9th overall is a reach and thus unlikely. Expect his name to go later in the first round. Michigan blueliner Zach Werenski would be appealing. The NCAA standout boasts great skills, solid size and would immediately be the best defensive prospect on the Sharks. USHL stud Kyle Connor offers positional flexibility, a goalscorers touch and a frame that he should fill out, but he’s likely a few years away from making an impact and the Sharks would surely prefer someone that can step in sooner rather than later.
The Sharks will go with a forward. They will go for a guy that offers a good blend of size, skill and readiness. They will go for someone who offers help at a position the team is at the NHL level is lacking at, and despite boasting a solid prospect in Nikolai Goldobin, the Sharks will take a chance on right winger Timo Meier.
The Sharks really don’t have much (natural) right wing talent at the NHL level and the club haven’t been shy on “going European” with their first round picks in recent years. Meier can score goals and is coming off a spectacular season with Halifax in the QMJHL. Also important is that Meier represents solid value at nine and isn’t the reach that some players would be with this pick. So…with that said, expect to hear the following announcement come draft day.
“With the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the San Jose Sharks select forward Timo Meier of the Halifax Mooseheads.”
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