Prospect Info: San Jose Sharks #7 Prospect

[themelkman]

He wont win but im letting the Gush loose here. I bet he heads back to Russia but eventually hits his stride and comes back to score a bunch of goals

 

[DG93]

Bystedt although Edstrom is really close here

 

[Hodge]

He wont win but im letting the Gush loose here. I bet he heads back to Russia but eventually hits his stride and comes back to score a bunch of goals

I hope you're right. Gush or Afanasyev on a cheap deal when Celebrini and Smith are on their big boy contracts could prove to be clutch.

 

[OrrNumber4]

You know the drill. Age cutoff 25, NHL games played cutoff 40. Poll will close after 2 days unless the results are incredibly lopsided.

1. Macklin Celebrini ~95%
2. Will Smith ~90%
3. Sam Dickinson ~95%
4. Quentin Musty ~49%
5. Shakir Mukhamadullin ~77%
6. Igor Chernyshov ~39%

I just realized...Ty Emberson has to be on this list. He is 24 and only has 30ish games under his belt. I know that older prospects have less variability and hence don't have the sexy "could-be" aspect of a younger prospect, but I think I'd take Emberson over anyone else on here. Many nights he was the best defenseman on the team!

 

[Hodge]

I just realized...Ty Emberson has to be on this list. He is 24 and only has 30ish games under his belt. I know that older prospects have less variability and hence don't have the sexy "could-be" aspect of a younger prospect, but I think I'd take Emberson over anyone else on here. Many nights he was the best defenseman on the team!

Good call. I would rank him ahead of the Chernyshov/Halttunen/Bystedt/Edstrom tier.

 

[Lebanezer]

I just realized...Ty Emberson has to be on this list. He is 24 and only has 30ish games under his belt. I know that older prospects have less variability and hence don't have the sexy "could-be" aspect of a younger prospect, but I think I'd take Emberson over anyone else on here. Many nights he was the best defenseman on the team!

I will add him to the next poll.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Good call. I would rank him ahead of the Chernyshov/Halttunen/Bystedt/Edstrom tier.

In my rankings, I had him 8th for all prospects (age <24); just after Chernyshov and just ahead of Mukhamadullin. That's what prompted me to realize that he is missing...

 

[bullslugg]

Crazy that even at 10 we have guys who could be NHLers. I remember when our best prospect was Benn Ferreiro and we have 3 guys that if you squinted through teal colored glasses you could see as NHLers

Hell, I remember the "pirate" Sgarbosa

 

[Juxtaposer]

Hell, I remember the "pirate" Sgarbosa

That’s nothing, I remember Marek Viedensky being a surefire 3C.

 

[Mattb124]

He played on the third line.

If Bystedt/Edstrom were on that team, would they be on the 3rd line? Guessing not.

 

[DG93]

That’s nothing, I remember Marek Viedensky being a surefire 3C.

Who? (very vaguely remember that name...)

 

[timorous me]

Who? (very vaguely remember that name...)

Just another 7th round pick. Who wouldn't realistically have high hopes for him after previous years of nabbing Braun, Demers, and Pavelski in the 7th??

 

[OrrNumber4]

Who? (very vaguely remember that name...)

Just another 7th round pick. Who wouldn't realistically have high hopes for him after previous years of nabbing Braun, Demers, and Pavelski in the 7th??

7th-round pick who had a good trajectory in juniors and then crashed in the AHL. There was some drama with him in the AHL as well; I think he was very uncoachable and very bad in the room.

 

[timorous me]

7th-round pick who had a good trajectory in juniors and then crashed in the AHL. There was some drama with him in the AHL as well; I think he was very uncoachable and very bad in the room.

I didn't know that--or at least didn't remember it--but I guess it's not that surprising if true; guys end up dropping in the draft for all sorts of reasons and that's certainly one of them.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I didn't know that--or at least didn't remember it--but I guess it's not that surprising if true; guys end up dropping in the draft for all sorts of reasons and that's certainly one of them.

I think what happens to many of these very skilled-but-not-enough-to-make-the-top-6 is that they need to be willing to put in the work (and have the attitude) to take on a different (i.e. lesser) role. For non-NA players, getting buy-in is even harder since they often have the option to play a top-line role on a European team for good money.

 

[Gecklund]

If Bystedt/Edstrom were on that team, would they be on the 3rd line? Guessing not.

I don’t know what that has to do with anything.

 

[Lebanezer]

That’s nothing, I remember Marek Viedensky being a surefire 3C.

To be fair, his career is still going. Seems we only got the league wrong, not his projection.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Halttunen has said that he got used to the smaller ice towards the end of the year, which would coincide with his uptick in production during the playoffs.

I’m sure there’s more to it, but I’m optimistic he’ll continue to grow with that in mind.

I’m probably guilty of forgetting that Halttunen did transition from international to small ice along with everything else entailed from leaving Europe for Canada this last season.

That, on top of London being so deep I think at least partially helps explain the trajectory of his season and how he ended up finishing much stronger than he started. I have some optimism that he isn’t just a great shot and has some further runway and a solid environment to surface and grow other aspects of his game.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

The fact that the most sought-after college free agent last year and one of our most recent 2nd-rounders won't be in our top 10...it truly is a new era of Sharks hockey.

I actually initially put Graf in for this vote, but after ready some other perspectives changed my vote to Halttunen. But I think Graf could end up ranking higher than Bystedt and Edstrom in a couple of seasons. I admit that I’m largely basing what follows off the small set of games he got at the end of the season:

- I can see why he was so successful in College, he clearly thinks the game well and has real shiftiness, deception, and creativity in his game
- He is really good in small space situations and uses his teammates well, plays a good give and go game
- While he has a good frame, he clearly needs to add some muscle, he both gets bodied off the puck and is too passive attacking puck carriers. Adding the obligatory 10-15lbs of muscle would really help him on both counts.
- it doesn’t look like he has explosive skating or a dangerous shot, it’ll be interesting to see if he can develop in those areas prior to breaking into the NHL full time.

IMO, if things go well for Graf he could end up as a middle six utility forward you can plug in at center or wing that can compliment and enhance the performance of a second line or take the keys and drive a third line. If you believe me, then it’s a matter of what you value more, a quality middle 6 guy with offensive upside(Graf) or someone who can center a shutdown third line with some offensive pop (Bystedt/Edstrom).

Disclaimer: I am in no way putting myself forward as knowing what the hell I’m talking about in regards to prospect projections.

 

[TheBeard]

The problem with these polls now is they're not clear in regards to what the ranking means. Is it closest to the NHL? Most realistic to play for the team? Best player?

 

[The Nemesis]

The problem with these polls now is they're not clear in regards to what the ranking means. Is it closest to the NHL? Most realistic to play for the team? Best player?

The polls have, historically to the best of my recollection, always let each person decide how they're ranking players (ceiling/floor, proximity to NHL, best current performance, etc) because you'll never get anyone to agree on a concrete set of criteria, nor will you get everyone to believe that they have an equal ability to assess any possible set of criteria.

It makes the rankings a bit messy but #1) who cares it's just for fun and #2) when you've got like 100+ votes at each spot with a broad array of personal frameworks for how each person is voting there's a very reasonable chance that all the different viewpoints average out into some sort of consensus take on all possible factors.

 

[TheBeard]

The polls have, historically to the best of my recollection, always let each person decide how they're ranking players (ceiling/floor, proximity to NHL, best current performance, etc) because you'll never get anyone to agree on a concrete set of criteria, nor will you get everyone to believe that they have an equal ability to assess any possible set of criteria.

It makes the rankings a bit messy but #1) who cares it's just for fun and #2) when you've got like 100+ votes at each spot with a broad array of personal frameworks for how each person is voting there's a very reasonable chance that all the different viewpoints average out into some sort of consensus take on all possible factors.

I agree, however for my own pointless and thoroughly undereducated opinion, Guschchin is a more skilled player than Edstrom but they're not even close in terms of how I would rank them.

 

[Gecklund]

The problem with these polls now is they're not clear in regards to what the ranking means. Is it closest to the NHL? Most realistic to play for the team? Best player?

I think it’s all about what you value. Some people value ceilings even if it’s unlikely they reach that ceiling (see Merkley, hell you can even make that argument for Halttunen). Other people value likelihood to be an NHL player. It really just depends what you like most.

I agree, however for my own pointless and thoroughly undereducated opinion, Guschchin is a more skilled player than Edstrom but they're not even close in terms of how I would rank them.

And that’s fine I’d say. Vote for who you have next.

 

[one2gamble]

well, a run off isnt going to help on this one unless you drop edstrom

 

[Lebanezer]

well, a run off isnt going to help on this one unless you drop edstrom

Could do a 3 way tie and jump to 10.