Prospect Info: San Jose Sharks Top Prospect #2

[DG93]

I don’t think Bordeleau has the skill, especially in the goal scoring department, to make it as a legit top six forward in the NHL and I don’t think he will ever improve the rest of his game to the point that he is trusted to play consistent bottom six minutes. Similar story with Gushchin, Coe and Robins. Maybe Wiesblatt or Raska sticks as a fourth line energy winger.

Gushchin is boom or bust, so definitely agree there. Robins and Coe seem to have the all-around game to stick in a bottom-6 role just like Wiesblatt. I think Bordeleau could develop his game enough to be a productive middle-6 tweener, I think you're just really down on him lol...

 

[Church Hill]

Bordeleau has confidence but he was not an NHL player by a longshot last season, despite his production. Hoping for more growth from him. Voted Gaudreau

Both of these posts are f***ing hilarious. Yep you just luck into 5 points in your first 8 games. But again this isn’t a place for a bunch of negativity. You can vote and post your reason for voting and not be a total asshole about things.

What did I say above that makes me an asshole? Your comment is more ridiculous than mine.

 

[Gecklund]

What did I say above that makes me an asshole? Your comment is more ridiculous than mine.

HERE WE GO! It’s that time of the year again where we all need a little positivity to distract us from the Sharks so let’s look at the Sharks prospects!

Vote for whoever you think is the Sharks top prospect left. The whole point of this is to get different opinions and different values. Use whatever definition you want for top. If you value long term potential, NHL readiness, translatable skills, whatever it is, go for it!

As always, it’s more fun if you post why you feel your vote is the top prospect as it draws more discussion and interactivity. NO FIGHTING IN THIS THREAD.

This will stay open for 2 days. Cut off is 40 NHL games. Let me know who I should add next.

To add: Scott Reedy, Artemi Kniazev, Santeri Hatakka, Michael Fisher, Jake Furlong, Gannon Laroque

Rankings:
1. William Eklund-92.9%

Read the rules of the thread bud.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Pretty pathetic list once you get past Eklund. It’s almost like Doug Wilson Jr didn’t do that great of a job and deserved to be fired.

Who else should he have drafted?

Your whole view tends to be that pick position is what overwhelmingly contributes to draft success....

Embarrassing to see the laughing emoji reactions to this when it’s so obviously true. This fanbase is in for a rude awakening in a few years when nobody from the current prospect pool has established themselves in the NHL apart from Eklund.

Want to take a bet on that?

I agree that most posters are far too sanguine about the non-Eklund prospects. But yeah, in 3-4 years I'd expect a few of them to be solid NHLers, with an outside chance at one of them being a top-half-of-the-lineup player.

Read the rules of the thread bud.

He can ask all he wants, but that doesn't make it enforceable!

 

[Gecklund]

Who else should he have drafted?

Your whole view tends to be that pick position is what overwhelmingly contributes to draft success....


Want to take a bet on that?

I agree that most posters are far too sanguine about the non-Eklund prospects. But yeah, in 3-4 years I'd expect a few of them to be solid NHLers, with an outside chance at one of them being a top-half-of-the-lineup player.

He can ask all he wants, but that doesn't make it enforceable!

I genuinely just want this thread to be something positive after a bleak season, an offseason that made us even worse, and a season that looks even worse than both of those. People can have differing opinions but when you come in here acting all pompous and asshole-ish like @Hodge does in every thread, it really derails any chance for conversation. I mean last thread was a kindhearted one about Tommy Wingels (love that dude). This one just became hodge coming in with his high and mighty always right attitude.

@Ayahuasca i quoted the wrong post and now I understand your confusion. Meant to quote Hodge’s about him calling everyone dumb for believing that Bordeleau is an NHLer. Apologies!

 

[Shark Finn]

No fighting in this thread? There's sure to be fighting in every thread and it's getting rather tiresome. Anyway, Bordeleau..

 

[Kcoyote3]

It won't matter because even if Gushchin, Coe, Robins, Bordeleau score 40 points in a season they'll still be considered AHLers and busts.

 

[one2gamble]

I'm voting man for #3

 

[Jargon]

Bordeleau was my pick but I had to consider Merkley. I’m sort of fascinated by Merkley - he has all the skill but I’m not sure what it’s going to take for him to reach his potential, if he ever does. I feel like someone needs to lock him in a room and make him watch Dan Boyle tape for 2 straight weeks.

 

[Hodge]

Who else should he have drafted?

Your whole view tends to be that pick position is what overwhelmingly contributes to draft success....


Want to take a bet on that?

I agree that most posters are far too sanguine about the non-Eklund prospects. But yeah, in 3-4 years I'd expect a few of them to be solid NHLers, with an outside chance at one of them being a top-half-of-the-lineup player.

He can ask all he wants, but that doesn't make it enforceable!

The DWJr comment was a bit tongue in cheek but if he was truly as brilliant as some on here make him out to be he would have helped the Sharks outperform their draft position. As it stands it looks like Merkley and Wiesblatt, aka half the first rounders during his tenure as scouting director, are surefire busts. Not unexpected given where in the first round they were drafted but still not a performance where an entirely new management team would or should keep this guy employed.

 

[TheBeard]

Raska

 

[Lebanezer]

Look at all those crappy prospects who have a 50% chance to make the NHL. They will all fail.

 

[Hodge]

Look at all those crappy prospects who have a 50% chance to make the NHL. They will all fail.

We should blindly trust any model that claims Ryan Merkley has an 80% chance of becoming a star. Definitely some sound methodology being used there.

 

[hohosaregood]

Look at all those crappy prospects who have a 50% chance to make the NHL. They will all fail.

Wait is that saying that Merkley still has good star potential? Weird. I didn't think his production was still pacing for that.

 

[themelkman]

Wait is that saying that Merkley still has good star potential? Weird. I didn't think his production was still pacing for that.

His production in the AHL was pretty solid this year and he’s super young.

It does feel really high but I would think we are all feeling like he’s older than he is

 

[one2gamble]

That team card just seems off to me

 

[hohosaregood]

His production in the AHL was pretty solid this year and he’s super young.

It does feel really high but I would think we are all feeling like he’s older than he is

Probably doesn't help that a lot of the 2018 1st round dmen are kind of established at this point like Bouchard, Miller, Sanding, etc

 

[Pavelski2112]

Merkley at 80% to be a star is high for sure, but I see it. He's one step away from clicking. Whether he does or not, we'll see, but the possibility is there.

 

[OrrNumber4]

The DWJr comment was a bit tongue in cheek but if he was truly as brilliant as some on here make him out to be he would have helped the Sharks outperform their draft position. As it stands it looks like Merkley and Wiesblatt, aka half the first rounders during his tenure as scouting director, are surefire busts. Not unexpected given where in the first round they were drafted but still not a performance where an entirely new management team would or should keep this guy employed.

OK

So let's look at a hypothetical, then, using this quote as the context:

Embarrassing to see the laughing emoji reactions to this when it’s so obviously true. This fanbase is in for a rude awakening in a few years when nobody from the current prospect pool has established themselves in the NHL apart from Eklund.

Let's paste this sentiment onto the prospect pool of 2019. Looking at the past five drafts (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019), and assuming no one had been traded the equivalent would have been:

Embarrassing to see the laughing emoji reactions to this when it’s so obviously true. This fanbase is in for a rude awakening in a few years when nobody from the current prospect pool has established themselves in the NHL apart from Meier.

Since, of course, Meier was the only high draft pick.

Fast forward a few years, and your general point that fans were too optimistic is a fair one. The expectations around Chekhovich, Blichfeld, Gambrell, Balcers, Roy, Leonard, Chmelevski, Merkley, and Gregor were unmet.

But, at the same time, many of those prospects have shown themselves to be NHLers. Ferraro and Norris are top-half-of-the-lineup guys, Balcers and Gregor are firm NHLers, and Reedy, Chmelevski, Merkley, Weatherby, and Hatakka could still become solid NHLers. In fact, it's somewhat amusing how so many guys like Ferraro, Norris, and Weatherby really smashed expectations.

Look at all those crappy prospects who have a 50% chance to make the NHL. They will all fail.

How are they defining "star"?

It's interesting because we kind of think of Merkley as a bust, but if you look at that 2018 class there are still a lot of players looking to establish themselves.

 

[Hodge]

OK

So let's look at a hypothetical, then, using this quote as the context:


Let's paste this sentiment onto the prospect pool of 2019. Looking at the past five drafts (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019), and assuming no one had been traded the equivalent would have been:

Since, of course, Meier was the only high draft pick.

Fast forward a few years, and your general point that fans were too optimistic is a fair one. The expectations around Chekhovich, Blichfeld, Gambrell, Balcers, Roy, Leonard, Chmelevski, Merkley, and Gregor were unmet.

But, at the same time, many of those prospects have shown themselves to be NHLers. Ferraro and Norris are top-half-of-the-lineup guys, Balcers and Gregor are firm NHLers, and Reedy, Chmelevski, Merkley, Weatherby, and Hatakka could still become solid NHLers. In fact, it's somewhat amusing how so many guys like Ferraro, Norris, and Weatherby really smashed expectations.



How are they defining "star"?

It's interesting because we kind of think of Merkley as a bust, but if you look at that 2018 class there are still a lot of players looking to establish themselves.

Norris was a top 20 pick to whom there is no real equivalent in the current Sharks pool aside from Eklund. The rest of your list is mostly guys who were overpromoted because the franchise was in cap hell and delusional in their evaluation of their prospects' NHL readiness.

Grier has no loyalty to the previous regime's draft picks and has already shown a commitment to bringing in legit depth instead of just letting kids have those roster spots so I wouldn't expect history to repeat itself.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Look at all those crappy prospects who have a 50% chance to make the NHL. They will all fail.

Who the in the fresh hell is Joseph Garreffa?

 

[Gecklund]

Who the in the fresh hell is Joseph Garreffa?

He was with the Cuda the last few years. He’s an ECHL tweener but his junior production was crazy good which is probably skewing percentages.

 

[Hodge]

Who the in the fresh hell is Joseph Garreffa?

You haven’t heard of Joseph Garreffa, the 23 year old who scored 9 goals in 38 ECHL games with the Orlando Solar Bears last season, who this prospect model we should definitely take seriously gives a 70% chance of playing 200 NHL games?

 

[Lebanezer]

We should blindly trust any model that claims Ryan Merkley has an 80% chance of becoming a star. Definitely some sound methodology being used there.

From Sheng's latest:



So professional NHL scouts and analytics models agree that all four of these players, especially Sturm and Benning, are useful legit contributors signed to reasonable contracts. On the other hand @SJSharks72 thinks they're worse than Reedy and Meloche. Not sure who to trust here.

You only use these when they fit your narrative?

 

[Hobocop]

Who the in the fresh hell is Joseph Garreffa?

Garreffa is a 5'9" winger/defenseman who got called up to the Cuda a couple times from the Solar Bears and put up zero points in the AHL.

His placement on this list is making me wonder whether the guy is trying to show that his model is broken.