Prospect Info: Sharks Prospect Info & Discussion Thread XX

[Kcoyote3]

Scott Wheeler’s prospect pool rankings are coming out and so far only the top 6 haven’t been revealed yet. Sharks are somewhere in that top 6.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Scott Wheeler’s prospect pool rankings are coming out and so far only the top 6 haven’t been revealed yet. Sharks are somewhere in that top 6.

Eklund must still count as a prospect if that’s the case, no?

 

[spintops]

Scott Wheeler’s prospect pool rankings are coming out and so far only the top 6 haven’t been revealed yet. Sharks are somewhere in that top 6.

That seems way too high? I love Smith but do we really have that many more top end prospects?

 

[gaucholoco3]

Eklund must still count as a prospect if that’s the case, no?

No the criteria is U23 and not a full time NHL player. People don’t realize that Smith is one of the best prospects in the league that is not a full time NHL player.

Going back to the top players under 23 ranking the athletic did earlier, Michkov was the only player not in the NHL above Smith.

 

[Jargon]

That seems way too high? I love Smith but do we really have that many more top end prospects?

Musty and Muhk. Cagnoni is having a great season. Bystedt and Havelid are fairly solid and likely both NHLers. Lund is having a good season and while I’m dubious on how he’ll translate, so is Halttunen. Guschin is doing great in the AHL. It makes some amount of sense.

 

[Juxtaposer]

No the criteria is U23 and not a full time NHL player. People don’t realize that Smith is one of the best prospects in the league that is not a full time NHL player.

Ah, gotcha. I guess if you’re taking out Bedard, Benson, Carlsson, Fantilli, etc. then that makes more sense.

 

[CaptainShark]

No the criteria is U23 and not a full time NHL player. People don’t realize that Smith is one of the best prospects in the league that is not a full time NHL player.

I am confused, I just learned here that he is a passenger on the Gabe Perreault (hype) train.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Eklund must still count as a prospect if that’s the case, no?

Seems really high regardless. I’d argue too 10 but verging on top 5 seems like a big jump. They did do really well in the last year though and Muk helps a ton

 

[Barrie22]

Every other fan base drafts practically anywhere in the draft, he is the best prospect of the bunch and hype them up like no other.

San jose drafts literally a top 5 prospect, and everyone here is like oh no all the experts are wrong he is not even top 30 for the draft.

 

[spintops]

San jose drafts literally a top 5 prospect, and everyone here is like oh no all the experts are wrong he is not even top 30 for the draft.

Who??

 

[coooldude]

That seems way too high? I love Smith but do we really have that many more top end prospects?

When you read the evaluations of other teams, it's not hard to see why we are high in the prospect pool evaluation. Most other teams don't have a single prospect like Smith. Many other teams' best prospects are Musty or lower level. We add to that Mukh, Gushchin, Bystedt, Havelid, Cagnoni, Halttunen, Lund, etc. We should be top 3 in prospect pool after this year's draft.

The obvious thing, of course, is that our actual team is bottom 2 in the league, so we god damn well better have a good prospect pool.

The other (less obvious) thing is that these pools swing a lot with a single top prospect's "graduation" or aging out into the NHL. The Wild were #1 overall last year and now they're #11 in these rankings, because they graduated Marco Rossi and Brock Faber.

 

[Hodge]

No the criteria is U23 and not a full time NHL player. People don’t realize that Smith is one of the best prospects in the league that is not a full time NHL player.

Going back to the top players under 23 ranking the athletic did earlier, Michkov was the only player not in the NHL above Smith.

It's a weird dynamic where prospects like Bordeleau and Gushchin who were always extreme longshots get hyped to no end but when we have a legitimate elite prospect, a surefire future star player, he almost seems to be getting underrated.

 

[coooldude]

It's a weird dynamic where prospects like Bordeleau and Gushchin who were always extreme longshots get hyped to no end but when we have a legitimate elite prospect, a surefire future star player, he almost seems to be getting underrated.

It's our years of painful disappointments manifesting themselves. We can't allow ourselves to get excited about an overdog, burned too many times. But an underdog? Much safer!

 

[OrrNumber4]

It's a weird dynamic where prospects like Bordeleau and Gushchin who were always extreme longshots get hyped to no end but when we have a legitimate elite prospect, a surefire future star player, he almost seems to be getting underrated.

It's just the way expectations work. Plus, if there's anything that thrives on the internet, it is being contrarian.

 

[Jargon]

It's a weird dynamic where prospects like Bordeleau and Gushchin who were always extreme longshots get hyped to no end but when we have a legitimate elite prospect, a surefire future star player, he almost seems to be getting underrated.

I think guys like Bordeleau and Guschin have far lower expectations so when they do well, people get very excited. Smith is expected to not only do well but totally dominate because of his very high ceiling. But people definitely take it to an outrageous level. The slight panic and denouncement of the poor kid when he was obviously learning and adjusting to a different league was silly.

 

[Sandisfan]

It's just the way expectations work. Plus, if there's anything that thrives on the internet, it is being contrarian.

It seems at times most everyone here on the Sharks board are contrarians, so can a board filled with contrarians actually be contrarian by definition?

 

[Juxtaposer]

Seems really high regardless. I’d argue too 10 but verging on top 5 seems like a big jump. They did do really well in the last year though and Muk helps a ton

I think Smith, Mukhamadullin, and Musty would all be the top prospect on roughly half of NHL teams, so borderline top-5 could be reasonable if you’re especially high on all those guys. Bystedt is still a real NHL prospect despite his down years and we have a handful of high-upside long shots (Cagnoni/Gushchin/Lund) that might once have passed as our top prospects in the dry years.

If the criteria removes all full-time NHLers and 2024 draftees, then that takes out (as I mentioned above) Bedard, Carlsson, Fantilli, Benson, L. Hughes, Nemec, Cooley, Slafkovsky, K. Johnson, Power, Beniers, Eklund, McTavish, Guenther, maybe Clarke and Jiricek… so Smith’s competition is basically Edvinsson, Reinbacher, Gauthier/Leonard/Perreault, Michkov, and guys like Dvorsky/Danielson/Willander/etc. who are all a clear step down IMO. I could see how Smith is near the top and personally I think the only real competition amongst them is Reinbacher/Michkov/BC freshmen.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I think Smith, Mukhamadullin, and Musty would all be the top prospect on roughly half of NHL teams, so borderline top-5 could be reasonable if you’re especially high on all those guys. Bystedt is still a real NHL prospect despite his down years and we have a handful of high-upside long shots (Cagnoni/Gushchin/Lund) that might once have passed as our top prospects in the dry years.

That's excellent to hear, if true.

 

[hohosaregood]

inb4 Kaut and Chmelevski at 4 and 5.

 

[Gecklund]

I think Smith, Mukhamadullin, and Musty would all be the top prospect on roughly half of NHL teams, so borderline top-5 could be reasonable if you’re especially high on all those guys. Bystedt is still a real NHL prospect despite his down years and we have a handful of high-upside long shots (Cagnoni/Gushchin/Lund) that might once have passed as our top prospects in the dry years.

If the criteria removes all full-time NHLers and 2024 draftees, then that takes out (as I mentioned above) Bedard, Carlsson, Fantilli, Benson, L. Hughes, Nemec, Cooley, Slafkovsky, K. Johnson, Power, Beniers, Eklund, McTavish, Guenther, maybe Clarke and Jiricek… so Smith’s competition is basically Edvinsson, Reinbacher, Gauthier/Leonard/Perreault, Michkov, and guys like Dvorsky/Danielson/Willander/etc. who are all a clear step down IMO. I could see how Smith is near the top and personally I think the only real competition amongst them is Reinbacher/Michkov/BC freshmen.

Wheeler is also notably high on Musty, Smith, Cagnoni and I believe Mukh. So yes agree with all your points but also Wheeler loved a lot of guys in our pool before they were in our pool.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Wheeler is also notably high on Musty, Smith, Cagnoni and I believe Mukh. So yes agree with all your points but also Wheeler loved a lot of guys in our pool before they were in our pool.

he’s probably high Celebrini then

 

[Juxtaposer]

Leonard finally getting a diving call is hilarious. Guy goes down five times a game.

Perrault not playing today, so Gauthier is on Smith’s wing.

 

[coooldude]

Leonard finally getting a diving call is hilarious. Guy goes down five times a game.

Perrault not playing today, so Gauthier is on Smith’s wing.

Leonard's "big dog in a little dog's body" play style is one reason why I think his upside is capped vs. the believers. Not only does he go down, he also gets rekd fairly often, and in the NCAA.

Good sign that coach put Gauthier on Smith's wing and not the other way around.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Leonard's "big dog in a little dog's body" play style is one reason why I think his upside is capped vs. the believers. Not only does he go down, he also gets rekd fairly often, and in the NCAA.

Good sign that coach put Gauthier on Smith's wing and not the other way around.

Smith is a pure center and Gauthier’s skill set is better suited for the wing, I’ve maintained this all along, so it’s not surprising to see it play out that way.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

im interested in how Gauthier is playing with Will Sedin and whether Sedin is doing good away from his brother