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How did we grade the San Jose Sharks’ 2025 Draft? (46:54)
Before we get to our thoughts, we break down the latest Sharks’ news.
The San Jose Sharks buy out Marc-Edouard Vlasic…why? (3:18)
Congratulations, Joe Thornton! Jumbo is going to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. (12:01)
We preview free agency…we each make a Sharks’ free agency prediction. Also, what are some realistic signings that San Jose should make? (15:45)
And now, our thoughts on the San Jose Sharks 2025 Draft! (46:54)
Michael Misa: Sheng describes what it was like in Los Angeles on Thursday, as all the Misa vs. Anton Frondell for No. 2 rumors were swirling. What are Keegan’s thoughts about Misa and Frondell? (53:14)
Josh Ravensbergen: Why does this pick make sense? (1:17:13)
Haoxi (Simon) Wang: Keegan gets why the San Jose Sharks opted for Wang over Blake Fiddler. (1:26:52)
Cole McKinney: Sneaky value pick? (1:40:34)
Teddy Mutryn (1:49:49)
Ilyas Magomedsultanov (1:58:13)
Zack Sharp (2:04:10)
Max Heise (2:08:41)
Richard Gallant (2:13:11)
Our San Jose Sharks’ 2025 Draft grades! Sheng is higher on the Sharks’ work than Keegan. (2:18:30)
17 Comments
The Cole McKinney pick has me so excited.
Maybe not as much skill or size as some of our other forward prospects, but he has an intriguing combo of heft and competitiveness.
I think they did it to open a spot for Dickinson so they don’t have to play him every night and can work him in
I'll only be able to watch tomorrow, but excited for this episode.
Sure, Blake fiddler isnt special, but neither is Simon Wang. Both are big dmen with good skating and little to no offense. Fiddler at least is right handed though so that makes him better fit for the sharks. But it's a moot point now. Just hoping Wang makes the NHL at some point.
What does Cole mean for bysty? Is he out?
What if McKenna is landed next year? Or top 3 pick? Or is a wait and see. There’s always plan a) plan b) plan c). Who do the sharks pick and or trade?
Man Free Agency is gonna be so sad for us tomorrow LOL
Vlasic's skills were the sort that some (myself included) figured would be slower to decline. Things like reading the defense, making the first pass, putting the puck in the right spot on a dump, etc etc. No reason to know this, but I got a feeling he stopped caring as much about NHL regular season and that was part of it. Especially since they weren't going to the playoffs.
1:04:41 wow…. just… wow.
Sheng really needs to reavaluate how he assesses his "sources." He claims he has all these industry folks that are well connected to the team, yet they're all clearly saying contradictory things.
Then he talks to both camps, and BOTH camps make statements that are more in less in line with each other, that the sharks are more interested in misa.
Yet he has been making statements all last week before the draft that he has a good feeling that the sharks are going with frondell.
I get that he wants to drum up engagement and attention, but theres a balance to it. At some point people are just going to remember him as the guy that either lied or was completely clueless about draft information.
Also its just insane revisionism to say he was calling it misa the whole time. The prior two weeks he was leaning heavy on frondel, stating he thinks frondell to the sharks "is likely".
Then, the morning of the draft, he completely about faces and calls the pick for misa.
Hey Guys,
I am a 30 year Sharks die hard fan. You have the right of it Sheng for about 12 years Marc Eduard was the best defensive defensemen of his generation. There is a reason the Canadian Olympic team chose him for the Olympics where he won a gold medal. Keegan I think it wasn't that Doug Wilson didn't foresee the problems such a long term contract for an older player would cause for the team and for Vlassic. I think it was Wilson honoring his word when Vlassic was under paid as Sheng alluded to. How many times did Sharks players including Vlassic take "team friendly" deals to keep the group together in an effort to win a cup?
This is what I call the Barry Zito paradox. When you are at your peak as a younger player typically you never get what you are worth. Particularly if you are on a good team like Vlassic was. You take those hair cuts with the understanding that later the team will make it right essentially when the window of opportunity is closed and your skills are declining shunting the older player in question into more of a mentor role who the newer fans hate because you aren't that good anymore when you are in the line up.
When Barry Zito signed with the Giants he was terrible and he signed a huge contract worth something like $12 million a season for like 10 years or some such. For virtually every year he was a Giant Zito had the pleasure of being reviled by Giants fans as Zito was nothing like the pitcher who had a few years earlier had won the Cy Young for the A's. Thus the Zito paradox.
Eddie Debartalo and Carmen Policy did the same type of thing promising playes like Brent Jones the money he deserved at his peak later in his career via sketchy means which even though they stuck to their word they did it against league rules and it cost both men their careers in the NFL.
I am a huge Pavelski fan too. I think Pavelski is the greatest Sharks draft pick ever. 1,300 plus NHL games. Over 1,000 pts. A plus rating for his career and an Olympic silver medal. In addition there is an argument that Pavelski was the best captain the Sharks have had so far AND Pavelski Captained his second Olympic team to boot.
That said, I think you are not remembering why the Sharks allowed him to leave via free agency when they did. Joe was never quick let alone fast. At the point the Sharks chose not to resign him he was struggling to be defensively responsible for lack of skating ability. Perhaps he was dealing with lingering injuries (seems likely)? Who knows but, I have to tell you it became a real irritation to me as a Pavelski fan because he kept taking hooking and other stick penalties because he was not able to keep up defensively. It was like a guarantee that Pavs was going to take at least 1 penalty per game. He had become a defensive liability. It pains me to say that. When he was younger Pavelski was a good PK guy but, asking him to back check was a nightmare when we chose not to resign him. I was a big fan but, I didn't want him to be resigned.
I have no idea how he managed in Dallas defensively? Perhaps Dallas just told him to get back but, not to compete until he was physically back and in a relatively set position where he was no longer back checking because I have to tell you it was awful to watch one of my favorite players become a liability.
I think the odds of any player making it to the NHL are about as rare as any athlete making it to the NFL, MLB and the NBA is probably the worst of all because there are so few players on each team. "The odds of a registered hockey player making it to the NHL are very low, estimated to be around 0.04% or 4 in 10,000,…" (Google AI search) Given the odds you guys have the right of it when it comes to picking 18-20 year olds and projecting what they will be as a hockey player.
Then you think about some of the notable Sharks who were late picks or were not drafted at all. Nabakov (7th), Pavelski (7th), Braun (6th I think), Jake Middleton (5th I think) and Dan Boyle who wasn't drafted at all. Obviously all of those examples are outliers and it can't be expected to happen very often. Perhaps 1 in 10 drafts might yield a lucky pick like that that manages to forge a viable NHL career (not necessarily a star like Nabby or Pavs). To my mind the top two rounds are more predictable but, if you are going to have a team that can contend for a cup you need some of those late round picks to pan out like a Justin Braun or Jake Middleton at the least.
If you manage to hit a home run with a 6-7th round pick that is franchise changing. If you manage to hit a grand-slam like a Pavelski that is a massive lift for your team. To my mind some of those guys are where the real action is from the draft. If you can manage to find 2-3 guys in the 3-7th rounds who become viable NHLers for you that is how you build depth and become like Florida where you get no relief. All 4 lines are hard on the puck and relentless fore-checkers even if they fail to produce goals like Florida's 4th line did. If your 4th line can pin opposing teams in their defensive zone there is a chance they will draw a penalty or better yet that they are able to line change with one of your top lines while they are controlling the puck in the offensive zone.
Pete Firehose of information turned off. hahaha Thanks guys for the video. Fun times.
Peter St. John
Clovis, CA
I'm cheating cause I'm commenting after a bunch of guys are getting signed. But I'm prepared for there to be no one for us to sign, that moves the needle, at least. But it's fine since I'm on the DuPont train. Fans acting like we can just force people to sign by throwing money at them, so many things never change.
Grier made it very clear that the defense has to improve. I find it hard to believe that his plan is to just sign a couple low end defenders.
I want them to sign RD Nick Perbix from TBL for a 4-5 year deal for around 4.5-5 mil. For a forward either Pius Suter or Roslovic as a decent scoring middle six option. If they sign Perbix I will be happy no matter who else they get.
Sorry for my mean comment. Not a fan of this “trusted” scout you talk about. If the same scout as you’ve mentioned before on certain topics as the one on Frondell. I would stop talking to him. He’s imo leading you with agendas rather than correct information. I feel you’re being played to push narratives.
I believe you’re being lead astray by these guys. But honestly it’s the arguing strongly for them that’s not sitting well. Misa and frondell are really not in the same tier right now. Yet you really took the bait and fell for it. Thsts were your gonna frustrate and lose smart shark fans.
All good to report, but worrying when you’re defending these crazy stances as if they’re the smart plays.
You’re one of my 2 favorite sharks reporters. I really like. But man you really need to be careful as it sounds like anyone with a position can lead you any way they want.
Love it guys. Appreciate the time you guys put into this.
Does the fact that Grier is taking so damn long to invest in developing a defense for this team mean that maybe he actually values Dickinson, Muk, Cagnoni, etc more than the rest of us are?
Maybe he sees Dickinson as a true top pairing guy long term, and Muk/Cag as strong middle pair guys?
And maybe he even values guys like Havelid, Wallenius, and now Wang way more than the rest of us are thinking.
Is that possibly why he’s not in a hurry to heavily invest in the defense lately? (Whether investing with draft capital, or trade capital, etc)
I cannot believe we didn’t target Hensler or Fiddler at the end of the 1st round. The way the draft worked out, with picks 30-33-53 I woulda preferred Fiddler, Spence, Ryabkin instead of the 3 we got there.
Having said that, the first 4 picks Grier went with are fine-to-good.
Although, I think this is my least favorite draft of Mike G’s so far. (And not just because of the talent differential to other drafts.. but because of the way Grier went about it with the picks he chose).
But, hard to hate a draft where you get the best player in the draft at 2 positions, forward & goalie.
Ryabkin would have been redundant after the Misa pick. McKinney was a solid pick for the prospect pool.