2025 NHL Draft: Lose a ton for Porter Martone

[Star Platinum]

Magic number is 23. 13 games left for CHI and SJS, AKA 26 games total to get us to 23 points.

12 Sharks losses or CHI wins does it... but honestly, that's still a little scary given how bad Chicago is. We'll likely clinch it but it might not be until the last few games.

I have faith (or is it total lack of faith?) in us

 

[vortexx]

We'll likely clinch it but it might not be until the last few games.

Yep I think it goes down to the wire, especially if Celebrini has a late surge for the Calder but if we see performances like tonight from him down the stretch we got this in the bag. I'm hoping Knight can steal a game here and there for the Blackhawks and maybe Bedard is heating up? 2 goals in his last 2 games...
Luckily we have the tiebreaker in the bag in case we do end up in a tie in points.

 

[Friday]

Sharks go 3-9 in their last 12 and Hawks go 0-12 and SJ gets last with best odds? Means if Chicago goes 2-10, SJ can go 5-7 annnd still win this haha. That’s pretty comfy tbh

 

[Boy Hedican]

we all know Gergor is gonna get 6 hat tricks to end the season and we go on to win every game

 

[STL Shark]

Yeah, I would happily pass on a trip to Las Vegas, but I'm also the wierdo who hates having to go to Hawaii for work (long flights, hot, awful traffic, awful food, and no time or energy to actually do anything that might be fun because of work).

Actually, that list of reasons might apply to Vegas too.

Do you not have taste buds? Food in Hawaii is fantastic if you don't eat like a 3rd grader...

 

[Cas]

Do you not have taste buds? Food in Hawaii is fantastic if you don't eat like a 3rd grader...

Because of work requirements, I wind up spending a lot of time either in deep tourist areas in Honolulu or culinary dead zones (and I mean dead, like "you can eat at Subway or starve" dead), or everything nearby is closed. Yes, some of this is specific to me and not applicable to most other people, but at this point I'd be happy never to have to go to Oahu again.

I have found some excellent Mexican, Chinese, and Peruvian restaurants there, but I find it really hard to eat well or in quality, and many of the options available are garbage. I get back home and I am literally craving a salad.

 

[Grinner]

Do you not have taste buds? Food in Hawaii is fantastic if you don't eat like a 3rd grader...

 

[fasterthanlight]

It's been said a million times, but, it's /so/ lucky we got Celebrini. No slight to them, but, I can't believe we had a 75% chance of levshunov or Lindstrom instead

 

[Skeksis25]

Speaking of luck, how are we feeling about how the Pittsburgh pick from the Karlsson trade turned out for us? I know some of us were hoping Pittsburgh would finish bottom 10 last year, so we could get their unprotected first from this year, which looks like its going to be in the 5-8 range. Could be someone like baby Eklund in the pick which would have been fun.

Highly doubt anyone would want to trade Dickinson for that pick now though.

 

[spintops]

Speaking of luck, how are we feeling about how the Pittsburgh pick from the Karlsson trade turned out for us? I know some of us were hoping Pittsburgh would finish bottom 10 last year, so we could get their unprotected first from this year, which looks like its going to be in the 5-8 range. Could be someone like baby Eklund in the pick which would have been fun.

Highly doubt anyone would want to trade Dickinson for that pick now though.

Until Pittsburgh wins the lottery

 

[sampler]

Speaking of luck, how are we feeling about how the Pittsburgh pick from the Karlsson trade turned out for us? I know some of us were hoping Pittsburgh would finish bottom 10 last year, so we could get their unprotected first from this year, which looks like its going to be in the 5-8 range. Could be someone like baby Eklund in the pick which would have been fun.

Highly doubt anyone would want to trade Dickinson for that pick now though.

The Dick pick is a great one. last camp, he didn't look very ready, but I wonder if he's ready now.

He is absolutely dominant in jrs, so its obviously time to see what hes got at the pro level...

I think Id rather have dick than anyone this year in the 5-8 range. Hell, I might prefer dick over anyone not named Schaefer.

The EK65 deal looks pretty awesome now. Basically, Dickinson and a Dallas 1st and got rid of 10M in cap hit next year and the year after. Of course, I was hoping that cap space would be highly valuable for adding UFAs for a PO push, but that appears highly unlikely, at least for next year. Perhaps that savings will be helpful in '26-'27. I suppose the trade also helped the sharks be the worst team in the league the last two seasons, which helps to get celly and Schaefer/misa/Martone.Hagens.

Either way, two firsts including Dick is a pretty nice deal, not to mention I have enjoyed watching granny and I think his presence was great for the kids.

Sucks for Pitt though . Bonehead trade from their end...

 

[MackAttack71]

we all know Gergor is gonna get 6 hat tricks to end the season and we go on to win every game

Well he brought us Mack, so i can't blame him.

 

[Juxtaposer]

The ever-excellent McKeen's March list is out. Best list I've seen so far.



I mostly agree with the top of their draft. I do feel like their top-13 is probably what mine is too, and where I feel that there is a bit of a drop. They've got the likes of Hensler, Fiddler, Brzustewicz, Zonnon, and McKinney in the 26-32 range, I would love to snag two of those guys with the Dallas 1st and our 2nd, if we don't trade those picks.

They did drop Bear to 20, but I'm not sure if that's taking his injury into account or if they just don't like him much.

 

[sharski]

GMMG: "With the 3rd pick in the 2025 NHL draft, the San Jose Sharks are proud to select... Radim Mrtka"

Do it GMMG, I dare you

 

[NiWa]

The ever-excellent McKeen's March list is out. Best list I've seen so far.



I mostly agree with the top of their draft. I do feel like their top-13 is probably what mine is too, and where I feel that there is a bit of a drop. They've got the likes of Hensler, Fiddler, Brzustewicz, Zonnon, and McKinney in the 26-32 range, I would love to snag two of those guys with the Dallas 1st and our 2nd, if we don't trade those picks.

They did drop Bear to 20, but I'm not sure if that's taking his injury into account or if they just don't like him much.

They had Bear at #22 previously, so I don't think it's based on the injury.

 

[NiWa]

Biggest Gains:

• (C) Jake O'Brien from 23 to 13.
• (C) Benjamin Kindel from 27 to 18.
• (C) Braeden Cootes from 29 to 19.
• (LW) Jack Murtagh from 2nd round to 21.

Biggest Losses:

• (RW) Cameron Schmidt from 14 to 22.
• (LW) Malcom Spence from 13 to 23.
• (RHD) Logan Hensler from 19 to 28.

 

[TheBeard]

Biggest Gains:

• (C) Jake O'Brien from 23 to 13.
• (C) Benjamin Kindel from 27 to 18.
• (C) Braeden Cootes from 29 to 19.
• (LW) Jack Murtagh from 2nd round to 21.

Biggest Losses:

• (RW) Cameron Schmidt from 14 to 22.
• (LW) Malcom Spence from 13 to 23.
• (RHD) Logan Hensler from 19 to 28.

What’s up with Hensler dropping?

 

[gaucholoco3]

What’s up with Hensler dropping?

It’s probably more that he was late to drop him when everyone else did in December.

I do think if they can get Hensler with the Dal 1st that would be a huge win. Schaefer, Dickinson, Mukamadulin, and Hensler is a great D prospect pool.

 

[hohosaregood]

if the draft is perceived to be pretty flat/weak after 13 then we're probably going to see a lot of "off the board" picks this year.

 

[Juxtaposer]

They had Bear at #22 previously, so I don't think it's based on the injury.

Interesting. Maybe it's a question of ceiling?

 

[NiWa]

Curious where they have the next group of RHDs:

• Tretheway & Amico should be early 2nds.

As we have the OTT pick (currently #51) as well, the next group of RHD seems to be in the 60-73 consolidated ranking range:

• Bedkowski (6'5) - #43 Eliteprospects
• Radivojevic (5'10) - McKeen #47 in Dec
• Huang (6'0) - #48 McKeen in Dec
• Kettles (6'5) - #51 Eliteprospects
• Agafonov (6'2) - #54 McKeen in Dec
• Handel (6'1) - #63 McKeen in Dec

If we go D with Dallas, we may go for a faller with the SJ one again (Chernyshov over Badinka), and then go RHD with the Ottawa pick. Hope that Tretheway or Amico drop, if not pick your fav. among the next group.

I suppose a lot comes down to what we do at the top.

 

[coooldude]

We've all been really confident at finishing last, but MoneyPuck has us finishing just 1.6 points back from CHI, where ~2 weeks ago the projected gap was 6+ points. Tankathon has our remaining strength of schedules basically identical. And, our current MoneyPuck power ranking is stronger than CHI by a decent margin.

I think it really will come down to the wire.

Separately, I'm not sure Martone is a guarantee at 3OA or even 4OA. To me, it depends on if he demonstrates the right attitude in interviews and if Grier&co assess him to have the "competitive fire" required to be great. Recent comments by GMMG indicate he may be quite happy with the winger pipeline and less so on D, and C is always premium over W.

It's only March, but I'm gonna seed my hot take that there's a chance GMMG goes with e.g. C Frondell, LD J. Smith or, god forbid, C Desnoyers at 3 or 4OA over Hagens or Martone. Both exemplify "Skilled compete" and Smith may be the best skater in the class and is 6'3". He'd be in many ways a comparable LD prospect to Dickinson.

If we do pick Hagens, I think that means one of Eklund or Smith is gonna get moved before we're really contenders. Just no way Mike Grier is trying to build a team with 4 out of the top 6 at 6' or under.

There's still 3mo, playoffs, the combine, and pre-draft trades and insider leaks left to solidify this opinion, and I fully acknowledge it's a hot take, but I don't currently think Martone is as locked in at 3 as maybe we've been assuming.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

We've all been really confident at finishing last, but MoneyPuck has us finishing just 1.6 points back from CHI, where ~2 weeks ago the projected gap was 6+ points. Tankathon has our remaining strength of schedules basically identical. And, our current MoneyPuck power ranking is stronger than CHI by a decent margin.

I think it really will come down to the wire.

Separately, I'm not sure Martone is a guarantee at 3OA or even 4OA. To me, it depends on if he demonstrates the right attitude in interviews and if Grier&co assess him to have the "competitive fire" required to be great. Recent comments by GMMG indicate he may be quite happy with the winger pipeline and less so on D, and C is always premium over W.

It's only March, but I'm gonna seed my hot take that there's a chance GMMG goes with e.g. C Frondell, LD J. Smith or, god forbid, C Desnoyers at 3 or 4OA over Hagens or Martone. Both exemplify "Skilled compete" and Smith may be the best skater in the class and is 6'3". He'd be in many ways a comparable LD prospect to Dickinson.

If we do pick Hagens, I think that means one of Eklund or Smith is gonna get moved before we're really contenders. Just no way Mike Grier is trying to build a team with 4 out of the top 6 at 6' or under.

There's still 3mo, playoffs, the combine, and pre-draft trades and insider leaks left to solidify this opinion, and I fully acknowledge it's a hot take, but I don't currently think Martone is as locked in at 3 as maybe we've been assuming.

I don’t see a problem with having four top six at 6’ or under. They can play one on the 3rd line of a competitive team but I do agree it’s likely Grier would build roster bigger.

 

[matt trick]

I really like Martone, and I think he'd be an excellent compliment to Eklund and Celebrini, as they would be for him. He'd be a dream addition to the PP. I just don't love taking a non-play driving, finishing winger with a top 3 pick. Centers and D have so much more of a premium on them. I think I'd opt for Hagens over Frondell and Desnoyers (who I really like, but at like 6). You can have four smaller forwards, but then everyone else needs to be big.

Eklund-Celebrini-Tofolli
Marchment-Smith-Cherny
Musty-Hagens-Tuch
UFA-Ostapchuk-Graf

One probably ends up traded, but if an elite D is available, having a top C (Frondell, Smith, Hagens) as your young player/prospect to include is something few teams have.

 

[Juxtaposer]

We've all been really confident at finishing last, but MoneyPuck has us finishing just 1.6 points back from CHI, where ~2 weeks ago the projected gap was 6+ points. Tankathon has our remaining strength of schedules basically identical. And, our current MoneyPuck power ranking is stronger than CHI by a decent margin.

I think it really will come down to the wire.

Separately, I'm not sure Martone is a guarantee at 3OA or even 4OA. To me, it depends on if he demonstrates the right attitude in interviews and if Grier&co assess him to have the "competitive fire" required to be great. Recent comments by GMMG indicate he may be quite happy with the winger pipeline and less so on D, and C is always premium over W.

It's only March, but I'm gonna seed my hot take that there's a chance GMMG goes with e.g. C Frondell, LD J. Smith or, god forbid, C Desnoyers at 3 or 4OA over Hagens or Martone. Both exemplify "Skilled compete" and Smith may be the best skater in the class and is 6'3". He'd be in many ways a comparable LD prospect to Dickinson.

If we do pick Hagens, I think that means one of Eklund or Smith is gonna get moved before we're really contenders. Just no way Mike Grier is trying to build a team with 4 out of the top 6 at 6' or under.

There's still 3mo, playoffs, the combine, and pre-draft trades and insider leaks left to solidify this opinion, and I fully acknowledge it's a hot take, but I don't currently think Martone is as locked in at 3 as maybe we've been assuming.

The difference between 3 and 4 is semantic. I only care about clinching last because of the 45% chance at Schaefer/Misa, not because dropping to 4 would be any worse than dropping to 3.

I think any of Hagens/Martone/Desnoyers/Frondell will be options at 3 or 4 for Grier, and I don't see a ton of separation between them. Martone has higher upside than anyone else but the other three have much higher floors, so my risk tolerance puts them all in the same group.

Of our remaining 12 games, the only ones against teams not fighting for a playoff spot are Seattle and Anaheim. Lots of games against teams fighting for a playoff spot (NYR, Calgary, Vancouver, Minnesota or teams jockeying for seeding (LA, Edmonton, Toronto). In Georgiev we must trust.