- Apr 3, 2012
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- 12,452
2016 - Gambrell and Gregor will both likely pass the 200 game marks in their careers, but are essentially 4th liners/depth. Wiederer/Shoemaker/Blichfeld are out.
2017- Norris is a top 6 guy. Ferraro is...something. Maybe a 4th D if he regains his form. McGrew/Chekhovich are out. Chem/Reedy are 4th line options/AHL players (if Chem ever comes back)
2018- Merkley is a bust unless he somehow takes off in Colorado. Karlsson will likely be a bottom six guy if he makes it. Weatherby/Leonard are 4th line options/AHL players. Emond isn't out yet but likely will be.
2019- Kniazev has a chance to be a depth NHL guy, but a team would have to want a speedy undersized guy in reserves. Hamaliuk/Spirodonov/Ibragimov were never even really thoughts of being NHL guys. Hatakka will probably make the NHL eventually as a bottom pairing/depth guy.
2020- Bordeleau will be in the NHL eventually, probably in a third line center capacity, maybe top 6 winger if somehow he converts. Coe/Wiesblatt have the chance to be depth NHL guys but need lots of refinement. Robins/Gushchin have a chance to be 3rd line wingers with refinement. Raska won't have an NHL career except for the occasional callup to punch or hit people. Oberg/Spitserov are out. Young is a wildcard. He could be a 4th liner if he adapts to the pro game.
2021- Eklund will probably be a top 6 winger. Gaudreau has some talent and is very unrefined. Maybe he figures it out but a projection here is hard. Laroque probably plays in the NHL as long as his footspeed increases. Cardwell is a dude I love that I think will be a bottom six winger in the NHL eventually. Guryev/McCue/Gilmartin/Kashnikov/Jacobsson have all in one way or another made it extremely unlikely to see the NHL.
2022- Bystedt seems like a safe bottom six center already in a pro league, I imagine that's where he'll end up in the NHL but who knows, he has some runway. Lund/Havelid/Fisher/Beaupit/Furlong all are still in the conversation as NHLers one day. Laubach/Barnett/Muldowney have such little production in very poor leagues that it's really really hard to think they'll make the NHL on numbers alone. Sad when players like Fabian Wagner/Servac Petrovsky/Dom Divincentiis/Kyle Jackson/Ben Hemmerling/Kirill Kudryavtsev were all available in those rounds, among others who while they may never be stars, have much higher chances to at least be trade bait or depth pieces than the Sharks picks.
So from 2016-2021 (realistic ceilings only, 2022 is still too nebulous to even guess) we're looking at:Top line forwards: Norris
Second liners: Eklund
Third liners: Bordeleau or Gushchin/Robins (if they reach the top of their ceiling, but could be fourth line/depth otherwise)
Fourth liners: Cardwell/Gambrell/Young/Karlsson
Depth/AHL: Gregor, Coe, Wiesblatt, Reedy, Weatherby, Chem (if he comes back, could also be a 4th liner), Leonard
Top pairing defensemen: None
Second pairing defensemen: Ferraro (this is a kind ceiling for Ferraro.) / Laroque (if he figures it all out but could still be 3rd pair or depth)
Third pairing defensemen: Hatakka/Kniazev (if they figure it all out)
Depth: Merkley
Starting goalies: none
Backup goalie: Ehhh
AHL/maybe a goalie one day: Gaudreau
OUT: Wiederer, Shoemaker, Blichfeld, Chekhovich, McGrew, Emond, Ibragimov, Spirodonov, Hamaliuk, Spitserov, Oberg
Likely out: Raska, Gilmartin, McCue, Jacobsson, Kashnikov, Guryev
It's a lot of misses, and a lot of depth, but it isn't HORRIBLE. For 39 picks it's not awful, but you'd kind of want more top of the lineup guys, especially since Norris isn't ours anymore. No starting goalies, no top defensemen, no top line forwards still with the team (unless Eklund hits the top of his ceiling).
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