Will Smith joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!
Before we get to our interview with the latest San Jose Sharks sensation, Keegan (@half-wallhockey) and Sheng Peng talked about the culmination of Sharks development camp, Thursday night’s prospects scrimmage (1:55).
Sheng shares pre and post-scrimmage insights from Sharks director of player development Todd Marchant and San Jose Barracuda head coach John McCarthy about development camp, as he and Keegan talk about how Team Teal’s Will Smith (4:15), Cam Lund (9:54), Theo Jacobsson (11:05), Kasper Halttunen (15:42), Michael Fisher (17:05), Luca Cagnoni (18:50), and Eric Pohlkamp performed in the scrimmage. They then chat about the performances of Team White’s Quentin Musty (23:15), Filip Bystedt, Ethan Cardwell, Brandon Svoboda (31:18), Ozzy Wiesblatt (33:32), Jake Furlong (36:04), Mattias Havelid, Dylan Ernst (39:38), and Valtteri Pulli (40:30).
Sheng adds some interesting Marchant/McCarthy thoughts about the development camps of Henry Thrun (44:20), Nick Cicek, and Thomas Bordeleau (45:48).
Then, Keegan and Sheng review what the San Jose Sharks have done so far in free agency, including the acquisitions of Anthony Duclair (51:53) and Leon Gawanke (57:08), and the signings of Givani Smith (1:05:57) and Kyle Burroughs.
They also talk about why it makes sense for the Sharks to be in on remaining high-end free agents Matt Dumba and Vladimir Tarasenko (1:13:41), even in the midst of their rebuild. With the help of independent scouting service Team 33 (1:19:00), Sheng gets into why Dumba, despite his recent statistical decline, could be a fantastic fit for San Jose.
Next, Keegan and Sheng talk about Erik Karlsson (1:27:50), and why the lack of suitors for Karlsson could spell trouble for the Sharks.
Finally, Will Smith (1:36:55)! Smith talks about who’s the best bowler among the Sharks prospects (1:37:32), why he chose No. 2 as his jersey number (1:37:58), how his sister Grace supported his career (1:40:40), carrying one of his grandpa Bill’s last business cards at the Draft (1:41:35), his dog Rigney and being the great-great grandson of Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey (1:42:45), his favorite nickname — non-Fresh Prince or Smitty category (1:43:50), and hooking William Eklund up with a sponsorship deal with Chipotle (1:44:50).
2 Comments
Love it!!
Good wide ranging discussion Keegan and Sheng! I would argue that post-2016 Sharks were not working enough on player development and their steady progress to NHL regulars if enough attention is paid to their skills. It would be good to look back at each year's draft class and compare their development. Also key for Sharks is the fact that there are always many more undrafted players than the 250 that get drafted each year by the NHL, and in that vast pool of disappointed and undrafted players there must be unseen potential. More try out camps and a bigger pool of prospects beyond the AHL team Barracudas is needed. Sharks need depth and depth comes from within an organization, not by UFAs and trades.
The other thing to remember is that players develop at different speeds, and defence in particular take longer to develop so that they don't make foolish mistakes and cost the team more goals by gross inexperience at NHL level. The other thing to remember is players from non-North American teams that need to develop their skills on NHL size ice, and get into the rougher play that Europeans don't encounter. "Competition" means ready to fight for a job and never accepting losing easily, but it is just another hockey buzzword for earnestness and full effort. Quentin Musty might surprise everyone and make the team after an outstanding training camp. If he is already better than the journeymen players, then let him play with NHL skilled players to develop even faster.