Prospect Info: Sharks Prospect Info & Discussion thread XXI: "New, improved, and wayyyy to much info" Edition

[Star Platinum]

Which isn't Muldowney. It should be an AHL-proven scorer like Regenda or some other veteran. The priority for next season's Cuda will be the development of Musty, Chernyshov, Bystedt, Halttunen and Lund. That's already a ton of rookie forwards. We need to surround them with reliable AHL vets beyond Poturalski.

Regenda is not a scorer.

If I'm signing a reliable AHL vet, I'm looking for another center, not a wing. Bystedt is a checking line player, not a 2C, and there's no use pretending there's some untapped scoring potential left to find that he's never shown.

 

[Hodge]

Regenda is not a scorer.

If I'm signing a reliable AHL vet, I'm looking for another center, not a wing. Bystedt is a checking line player, not a 2C, and there's no use pretending there's some untapped scoring potential left to find that he's never shown.

Bystedt and Regenda have both produced like top six AHL forwards for the Cuda this season. We definitely do need another vet center down there though if Colin White isn't coming back. When you're already breaking in four rookie forwards who are all significant prospects in the org I don't understand why we would also rush the likes of Muldowney and Svoboda to pro hockey or why their agents would advise them to go along with it.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I'm not even against signing Muldowney from a Sharks perspective but I don't see what's in it for him. We already have 4 superior wing prospects coming in as rookie pros next season. He's more likely to get lost in the shuffle and end up wasting a year of development than if he simply goes back for his junior year.

I mean, it's a pro contract. It's self-evident what's in it for him. You're far too sure of yourself that those superior kids are ahead of anyone before they've even finished their seasons now. There's plenty of fluidity to the Barracuda.

 

[timorous me]

All I know is that I'm a fan of Muldowney because a few years ago one of my students here in upstate NY (I teach college freshmen) learned I was a Sharks fan and was like, "Dude, my buddy back in Buffalo was just drafted by the Sharks!"

That buddy, of course, was Muldowney, and while I wasn't harboring a lot of hope for him for a while, I do remember watching one of his games against B.C. last year and liking what I saw, so hearing about him taking these big steps forward this year is pretty awesome.

 

[Cas]

Cam Lund gets an assist and then a game-tying goal in the Northeastern-Maine game. Game is tied with seven minutes remaining.

 

[The Nemesis]

Apparently the WHL is moving to a free, non geo-restricted streaming platform on March 28 and will be making the rest of the regular season (whatever might still be to play at that point) and playoffs available to anyone. At least until the Final, which is on TSN and I think maybe the NHL Network.

That means if you want you can watch Misskey (Victoria), Wetsch (Calgary) and Roberts (Vancouver) in the playoffs.

Victory+ and WHL Come Together on Most Comprehensive Streaming Deal in Junior Hockey History - Vancouver Giants

This will be the first time in the WHL’s history that their games will be available to stream for free to fans around the world.

chl.ca

Victory+

Victory+

victoryplus.com

This also seems to be an ongoing agreement an next season will also be available for free.

Hopefully their setup is better than CHLtv. I miss the ability to choose which audio stream I get and reliable delivery that doesn't crash.

 

[Hodge]

I mean, it's a pro contract. It's self-evident what's in it for him. You're far too sure of yourself that those superior kids are ahead of anyone before they've even finished their seasons now. There's plenty of fluidity to the Barracuda.

A pro contract that will still be waiting for him a year from now unless he regresses significantly. He'll be eligible for a 2 year ELC by then too.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

A pro contract that will still be waiting for him a year from now unless he regresses significantly. He'll be eligible for a 2 year ELC by then too.

A 6th round pick shouldn't be so certain that anything is waiting for them in a year.

 

[Cas]

Well, Northeastern's season is over, so we should see Lund in teal very soon.

 

[Kcoyote3]

I think if the Sharks offer the contract to Muldowney yes he should take it but I bet they want to see another year of growth from him in college. Good story and he’s becoming a better player every year. Good scout by their staff on a late rounder.

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Which isn't Muldowney. It should be an AHL-proven scorer like Regenda or some other veteran. The priority for next season's Cuda will be the development of Musty, Chernyshov, Bystedt, Halttunen and Lund. That's already a ton of rookie forwards. We need to surround them with reliable AHL vets beyond Poturalski.

Given the nature of the UConn lineup, built largely with 4th and 5th year players, it doesn't seem likely he leaves after his second season. On the other hand, knowing the Huskies will have several holes to fill he may see this as an opportunity to hit the pro level.

 

[The Nemesis]

Last weekend of the WHL season starts tonight with playoff seeding implications for all 3 Shark prospects. Before we begin, it's important to note that the WHL seeds the playoffs by giving the 2 division winners in each conference the 1 and 2 seeds, then the 6 remaining spots are filled in points order regardless of division. So only the 2nd place team can be in a position where they have fewer points than teams ranked behind them in the playoff seeding.

Victoria (Misskey) are 2nd in the west, 12 points behind 1st place Everett. However, they are only 2 points up on the next best team in their division, Prince George, and their weekend slate is a pair of road games against the Cougars tonight and tomorrow. If Prince George passes them Victoria would fall to 4th in the conference because the #3 team, Spokane, is already 2 points up on the Royals (but have the misfortune of being in the same division as the league-leading Silvetips)

Vancouver (Roberts) is 6th in the west. They can't pass Portland for 5th because they're 4 points back with just 2 games to play and I believe the Winterhawks have the tiebraeker thanks to their win last week, but they could fall to 7th if they stumble over the last couple of game because they are only 3 points ahead of Tri-City and the Americans have 3 games left to play to the Giants' 2. That said, the Giants are in the driver's seat because their wrap-up schedule is tonight in Kamloops against the lowly Blazers and then Sunday at home against the even more lowly Rockets. Meanwhile Tri-City has 3 games in 3 days against a trio of playoff-bound teams in Spokane, Portland, and Seattle.

Calgary (Wetsch) is 3rd in the east, but are actually tied atop the division with conference-leader Medicine Hat, only slotting down on tiebreakers. Both teams have 2 games left on the weekend. Saturday has Calgary against Red Deer and Medicine Hat against Lethbridge, and then a game against each other on Sunday afternoon to likely decide the fate of the division and conference. Medicine Hat having the tiebreaker means they need to lose both games to get leapfrogged, but Calgary has the advantage on Saturday as the Rebels are a non-playoff team while the the Tigers draw a more difficult assigment against the Hurricanes, who are 4th in the conference. The Hitmen are 7 points up on the Hurricanes, so they cannot drop down even if they lose both remaining games.

If the current seedings hold then the playoffs would start next weekend with the following matchups:

Victoria would host Tri-City
Vancouver would start on the road in Spokane
Calgary would host Brandon

But there are the alternate scenarios to consider:
If the Royals fall to 4th they would instead get Portland
If the Giants fall to 7th they would get either Victoria (as things are now) or Prince George (if the Cougars overtake the Royals)
If the Hitmen jump past Medicine Hat they would host Swift Current, who are locked into 8th

 

[Star Platinum]

Musty out with upper body injury with Sudbury last few games

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[Star Platinum]

Dickinson's other goal (2G, 1A)



Halttunen scored 2 as well

 

[Cas]

So Halttunen's been taking faceoffs? Is this a "big, skilled kid takes the right-handed faceoffs because why not" situation, or is London giving him more defensive responsibility?

...

Maine wins the Hockey East championship, no points for Muldowney, but both teams will play in the NCAA tournament anyway.

 

[The Nemesis]

Victoria beat Prince George tonight to sew up the BC Division and 2nd in the western conference. But with both Vancouver and Tri-City winning tonight nothing has been solved in the 6th/7th seeding race. Tri-City now needs to win both their games and have the Giants lose (possibly specifically in regulation, I don't know the tiebreaker status for these teams) to have a chance to move up. Meanwhile the Giants need only beat the hapless Kelowna Rockets on Sunday to clinch their "prize" of a 1st round date with Berkley Catton and Andrew Cristall in Spokane.

 

[Juxtaposer]

So Halttunen's been taking faceoffs? Is this a "big, skilled kid takes the right-handed faceoffs because why not" situation, or is London giving him more defensive responsibility?

A little of both.

 

[Juxtaposer]

EP's U23 organizational rankings were published today with the Sharks at #1. They said that they debated between us, Chicago (#2), Anaheim (#3), and Montreal (#4) for the first slot, but ended up picking us due to belief in our combination of "development, elite prospects, and NHL environment" the most of the bunch.

Notably, we don't have any meaningful guys above 23 years old (Thrun was the only guy listed...) whereas Chicago has Vlasic and Knight, Anaheim has Zegras and LaCombe, and Montreal has Caufield that don't count for this ranking.

 

[Jargon]

EP's U23 organizational rankings were published today with the Sharks at #1. They said that they debated between us, Chicago (#2), Anaheim (#3), and Montreal (#4) for the first slot, but ended up picking us due to belief in our combination of "development, elite prospects, and NHL environment" the most of the bunch.

Notably, we don't have any meaningful guys above 23 years old (Thrun was the only guy listed...) whereas Chicago has Vlasic and Knight, Anaheim has Zegras and LaCombe, and Montreal has Caufield that don't count for this ranking.

I will say that our development has seemed to be quite good under Grier. We’ll see ultimately with how many of these guys make the NHL, but the growth of Muhk, Zetterlund, Smith, Cagnoni, Graf, and even the younger guys like Haltunnen, Chernyshov (that feels more like drafting though) and Dickinson has been really fantastic.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I will say that our development has seemed to be quite good under Grier. We’ll see ultimately with how many of these guys make the NHL, but the growth of Muhk, Zetterlund, Smith, Cagnoni, Graf, and even the younger guys like Haltunnen, Chernyshov (that feels more like drafting though) and Dickinson has been really fantastic.

Yup. To me, if felt like each of the other teams had one of those aspects lacking. Anaheim lacks good development, Montreal lacks elite talent, and Chicago lacks a good NHL environment. We seem to have all three so far. I really think Grier (and Warsofsky to some degree) deserve a lot of credit for their resolute belief in Smith all year, even when seemingly everyone was doubting him. They picked the right time to call up Graf IMO, and whatever they had him do over the summer was perfect. They made the right choices on Cagnoni and Halttunen with regards to AHL/CHL, and Cagnoni has rewarded their faith. The handling of Mukh considering his tough and injury-ridden start to the season deserves some kudos as well. I hope we can see a similar level of patience and growth in Ostapchuk, Lund, Askarov, and the OHL grads next year.

 

[Cas]

Hockeyallsvenskan updates:

LW Theo Jacobsson (Östersunds) finished 12th out of the 14 teams of the Allsvenskan and so neither advanced to the playoffs, nor the relegation series. His SHL rights are held by MODO, who finished 13th of 14 in the SHL and are currently playing HV71 in the relegation series (best of seven, currently tied 2-2). Jacobsson has not appeared in the relegation series. Former Shark Alexander True is playing for MODO, as an aside.

RD Mattias Hävelid (Djurgårdens) has advanced to the second round of the Allsvenskan playoffs after sweeping Mora. His SHL rights are held by Linköping, whose season is over (finished 12th, neither playoffs nor relegation). Grier has mentioned bringing Hävalid over when his season is over - that will not be before 6 April, and if Djurgårdens advances to the final, will not happen this season.

RD Axel Landén (Oskarshamn) is in the first round of the Allsvenskan playoffs, currently tied 2-2 vs Karlskoga. Landén's SHL rights are held by HV71 (fighting in the relegation series against MODO).

Season stats in brief:

Jacobsson - (SHL) 15 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 0 PIM, +0, 3 SOG; (Alls) 34 GP, 8 G, 4 A, 2 PIM, -10, 48 SOG, 3 PPG
Hävelid- (SHL) 19 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 4 PIM, -10, 14 SOG; (Alls) 18 GP, 2 G, 12 A, 4 PIM, +7, 42 SOG
Landén- (SHL) 4 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 2 PIM, +0, 0 SOG; (Alls) 45 GP, 2 G, 6 A, 29 PIM, +5, 49 SOG

...

Additionally, Leo Sahlin Wallenius has returned to Växjö (SHL) after a few games in Finland (TPS Turku). Växjö is currently down 0-2 against Luleå in the first round of the SHL playoffs - LSW appears to be a scratch so far. He had been loaned to Nybro of the Allsvenskan earlier this season, but their season appears to be over.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Havelid's numbers are very underwhelming. I wonder what Grier sees in him, or if he got him confused for someone else...

 

[Jargon]

Havelid's numbers are very underwhelming. I wonder what Grier sees in him, or if he got him confused for someone else...

He googled Martin Havlat and was like I don’t know this guy seems good