SAN JOSE, Calif – With the 2017 NHL draft looming, San Jose Sharks will be picking nineteenth following their first-round exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Looking through the roster list, the Sharks look like a well-balanced and solid unit, the big offensive unit of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and captain Joe Pavelski leading from the front. Closely followed up by players such as Logan Couture, Joel Ward and 
Tomas Hertl.
Then, at the back, Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Paul Martin are certainly doing their part.
Netminder of choice for the Sharks in 16/17 was Martin Jones, backed up by Aaron Dell, both looking good, and certainly capable of protecting the net.
The problem for the Sharks, comes from the expansion draft, which will be taking place Wednesday, 21st June.
The league rules put both Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau in positions where they are unrestricted free agents, leaving them open to discussions from the Las Vegas Golden Knights. This, coupled with the ages of the two veterans, could expose the Sharks at the front, if not following the expansion draft but within a year or two as time catches up with the seemingly ageless pair.
The expectation is the Sharks will protect Couture, Pavelski and Hertl and if they go with the 7-3-1 option (protect seven forwards, three defencemen and one netminder), and as Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc are exempt, they have enough space to retain just about the rest of their offence.
The Sharks also need to expose a netminder, and it is pretty much a given that they will protect Jones after his efforts through last season. This leaves Dell eligible for the draft, but to lose the backup netminder would be a more pressing concern than a draft pick, so while the Sharks may be looking to bring on a netminder, this would be with a later pick than finding a talented skater to put out on the ice.
Defence would see Burns and Edouard-Vlasic being protected, and one would expect either Justin Braun or Paul Martin (assuming Sharks go with the 7-3-1 route for the expansion draft). Losing one of the other defencemen, would be a hit to the Sharks, but with their stable core it probably won’t cause them any real problems.
This means that the most pressing issue for the Sharks this draft, is the age of some of their players. As previously mentioned, Marleau and Thornton are both aging, and Joel Ward isn’t far behind. In fact, of their twelve current forwards shown on the roster, only four are 90’s kids, Couture, at 28 can still claim to be one of the young ones on the team.
With that in mind, the Sharks will be looking to move a young forward to San Jose, someone they can develop and prepare to be the eventual replacement for one of the big names – even perhaps Thornton.
“With the nineteenth overall pick in the NHL 2017 draft, San Jose Sharks pick from Ontario, Canada, Nick Suzuki”
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