OHL Experts on How Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson Will Impact Sharks Next Year

OHL Experts on How Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson Will Impact Sharks Next Year

Welcome to the San Jose Hockey Now podcast. I’m Shang Pang, editor-inchief of San Jose Hockey Now. You can also find my work on NBC Sharks on Twitter, Shang_pang. And on Blue Sky, Shang Pang, and see something a little different today. We have Zubar, Zubar Giwanji, and he is joining me. He is a guest co-host. H Keegan is where is Keegan? That’s the the the big mystery here, right? So anyway though, before we answer that question, want to introduce Zubar. So Zubar, tell us a little bit about yourself. Oh, thanks Shang. Happy to be here and be on the show. Name Zubar Jawanji. Uh lifelong Sharks fan actually. Funny story. I’m first generation and you know my dad and a really good friend of his growing up uh just absolutely loved field hockey and so in the early 90s I got a pamphlet in the mail that was like new hockey team coming to the Bay Area and obviously no professional field hockey in the United States. So they decided to go allin on the San Jose Sharks and bought season tickets the inaugural season. So, my family’s had season tickets since 91 and I’ve been going to games and you got this photo up here of me as a young Zubar at the Sharks game and I’m starting this rumor now. I invented the Chomp. So, we’re so lucky we have a piece of Sharks history on the podcast today, joining the podcast. Exactly. So, yeah. I know. Just really happy to be here and uh talk everything I love about Sharks hockey that’s given me so much in return in regards to community and memory. So, thanks for having me, Shane. And we have a special special guest uh or a big big show today. Actually, we have a couple of guests. We have actually many many guests actually. We have the maybe the most guests we’ve ever had on the show. But anyway, we have talking about Sam Dickinson, Michael Misa, their NHL readiness. We have Will Scouching and we have Brock Auth. We have a panel. This is our first time with a group panel discussion. So that’s very very very exciting. Um there’ll be more boxes than you ever seen on the San Jose Hockey Now podcast. So that’s coming up in a little bit. And also too uh but we have the breaking news of the day. We’re going to talk about that. The breaking news of the Sharks the last couple weeks. But before we get there though, let’s talk about Bring Hockey Back. Our sponsor Bring Hockey Back. they this podcast is free and that it’s but it’s the help of bring hockey back that makes it makes it supports it that we can bring this podcast to you for free so I want to say that upfront but anyway bring hockey back you’ve seen their t-shirts great t-shirts you see they have Melbourne director of vibes t-shirt go to bring hockeybacknet to purchase that also coupon code San Jose hockey now 15% off and also most importantly bring hockey back they make hockey jerseys I don’t know if you Never seen them, but they look great. Custom hockey jerseys for your adult league team for any occasion. So anyway, bring hockey back. Bring hockeyback.net coupon code sounds hockey now for 15% off. And thanks again to bring hockey back for supporting us. So let’s get to the show itself. And so before we get to we have again a a great interview roundtable discussion with Brock Autton and Will Scouching. Before we get to that, let’s talk about sort of the the news. We haven’t recorded in a little while and so there hasn’t been a ton of news, but a couple things that we are going to touch on. Uh obviously Denil Gushian got traded a couple days ago and what’s that I hear? What’s that I hear? Oh my god. By God, it is it’s Keegan’s music. It’s like, “Hey everybody.” It’s like, um, yeah, as soon as you say Denal Guushian, I pop out of the Yes. Yes. pops up. And I want to tease it really quickly before we talk about the Neil Gushian that I do have a little bit of news on Michael Misa and what he might do um this this summer in terms of where he’s going to go next year. So stay tuned for that, too. But first, let’s talk about Guushian. So, Zubar, let’s throw it to you. So, what’s sort of the uh big question in your mind to to ask our I’ve never been in the guest box before. This is great. I’m in the guest box. All right. So, how I mean, I guess the number one question, why did why was he traded? Obviously, great AHL numbers. And so, why? Yeah, it’s um I think it’s it’s an it’s been an interesting road for all of the uh all of the prospects, all of the players that that were prior to the Mike Greer regime. And it started off like kind of slow. Uh we got a few small trades of prospects that we had some hope for um pretty quickly when Mike Greer came on and then it started to just kind of snowball like um guys that weren’t progressing in a way that they were making impacts into the Sharks they were gone pretty quickly. Um now the entirety of the 2020 draft class is essentially gone um except for Timothy Spitzer on August 15th. So, it’s been a I think it’s an interesting study of what happens when you draft a very similar type of player over and over and over again in a draft and over again and over again. Um, looking and how it can backfire. Um, but that that being said, Gushon was even back when I started doing like some of the prospect work, he was the prospect from that draft class that stuck out to me the most, even more than Bordalow at the time. And we there was a time when Bordello was high up as like two in the Sharks prospect pool of um prospects behind like Ryan Mkeley. So Gushon was the guy that had just a little bit more to give I think at the NHL level or theoretically in the NHL level. And we really were by we I mean me really hoping that this was going to be the year specifically Keegan me and a lot of Sharks fans too, right? We’ve been hearing about Gushin and Bordello forever and I’ve been watching them. I’ve watched Gushin I counted like five different levels of hockey and like it is it’s been a long time and the problem is is there’s been some improvements in Gustin’s game but not enough and not in a way that is meaningful to make the NHL long term. So he’s only 23. He still has time. He’s going to a very uh let’s call it thin forward core in Colorado, especially on the wing. Yeah, exactly. That Colorado just doesn’t have a lot of NHL forwards right now. They just don’t. Um especially guys with skill and guys that can play with, you know, the the big horses they have up front. So, I’m interested in his future in Colorado. We’ll see. Could be like a, you know, week one of training camp. He goes sent to the AHL and that’s the last we hear of Denil Gushon or he makes it onto the team. So, but I think he was traded overall because there just wasn’t enough progression. Guys skipped over him. Um, guys like Colin Graph specifically, and he doesn’t fit the uh not the height requirement, but the size requirement that the Sharks are probably going to need for a couple of their wingers. Like they have Celbrini Smith and Ekan who are all like sixfooter or under, and it’s kind of hard to add in a fourth guy in your top six like that. And Ekkan just had an extension. So I I just don’t think that they saw him really getting a spot above a lot of guys, especially with Misa coming. Those guys are going to be monsters in the NHL. So yeah, that’s my beast. I’m sad, but I understand it. That was very very objective of you, Keegan. I I thought that when you came on here, you’d be sobbing. You’d be better flip the table. this podcast. the Sharks. This is why Yeah. This is it. I’m out. I’m becoming a Colorado fan. Yeah. Hey, good scouting report on you though. Of all the other players, even when he was ranked lower, you’re right. The return shows that you are accurate. I think also the return was higher than everyone else that was previously ranked higher than like Bordello or Mercerly. Obvious five, six years ago, Will Scouch was also a huge Goosegen fan. Talked about him as like a steal of a third round pick. So, I mean, I don’t think that’s the real case. He’s not really a steal of a third round pick at all. He’s just he was interesting in a way that like if it all came together, if he developed a little bit more physical side to him, um there’s a lot there like skill-wise and he can definitely score goals. So, we’ll see. He still has time if he decides to stick around and try and hop around leagues for a while because it’s hard to convince a coach to play you when you’re that size. So, yeah. And you you you bring that up that obviously with the Sharks that that size thing does does matter. It’s not the determining factor as we see with Willie Mecclin and Will Smith and guys like that, but it’s something that is important to my career. And I just don’t think the Sharks thought that Denil Gushin has, if we’re being frank, an NHL future, at least immediately, or they would have kept him. And the Sharks are not a good team. Obviously, there’s no doubt about that. So they need all the help they can get and they showed honestly what they thought of Guushian. Doesn’t mean that he can’t do well in Colorado. Colorado is going to have the support of Nathan McKinnon, of Brock Nelson, of Kale Mar, some some really great great players, couple of the best players in the world. And so that might be able to unlock and give Guushian a little more of that time and space that he needs in the NHL. when Guushian was up here with the Sharks last season at the beginning of the season. Mlin Celebrin wasn’t around. He was playing a lot, I think, with Alex Weenberg and sometimes on the bottom line. So, those weren’t places that were the most ideal for Denil to kind of show his his stuff. And granted, he didn’t really show his stuff, and part of it is on him, too. He’s got to grab it himself, and he did not. But also, too, though, that he wasn’t put in a optimal position to succeed. Um, but going back and forth with that though, very rarely are you put in an optimal position to succeed with Nathan McKinnon and Kale Mar on your power play. Denil’s got to earn that, right? Like he’s going to walk in a locker room, he’s going to see Nathan McKinnon and Kale Mar, but he’s got to earn that position to even be on a power play with them. And maybe if all those things line up that maybe the Neo can start kind of putting it together. And I think another part with Deno is sure he had these great AHL numbers but talking with scouts though that I just put out a story on this that Denil as productive as he was in the AHL people just weren’t seeing quite the NHL projectability even though he did get better in the AHL. I want to give Denal credit on that. He’s a right a better player in this past season in AHL than he was his first season, but not enough that people saw that like this guy is going to be a player as a 58 skill winger. And so I think that that’s that’s a that’s a big part of it too. And talk a little bit about the return too. And we will talk about Oscar Olsen in in a little bit. But if you are Mike Greer and you have decided, you and your pro scouting staff basically have decided this guy does not have a significant AHL future, especially immediately, you know, he’s going to be out of options and that sort of thing, right? That okay, so let’s get somebody that his value isn’t that high as we saw getting Oscar Olsson, who was a first round pick, but who hasn’t quite lived up to it, but he was higher than a Thomas Boralo. As you point out, the Sharks got Shane Bowers, who was also first round pick, but in 2017 for Thomas Portal, whereas we have Oscar Olsson here, who’s got a little bit more of a runway. He’s got one more year left on his ELC, though he’s not waver exempt, though. I double checked on that. He’s not waver exempt, but he has one more year of his ELC. So you have a little bit of runway there that maybe you can pull the the most out of Olison um who is also bigger and does have talking with scouts clear skills. He just doesn’t have uh we’ll talk about what what Olison is lacking in a little bit but he is missing that kind of that that that compete element that you hope that you can instill in him basically. But anyway going back to to Guushian uh why was he traded? simply didn’t fit the Sharks profile of the future. Wasn’t honestly a high value player around the league. If uh if you look at honest, it doesn’t matter his angel numbers. If you look at what he got back in return, I asked the scout a couple months ago, hey, because I started kind of hearing that yeah, Denil wasn’t going to be long for the Sharks likely and what’s his trade value? um scouts who have seen Denil grow from when he came over to the Barracuda four years ago to now and they said not not a lot and that’s what we saw right and you know there was that kind of that moment where after Gushian led the preseason in scoring that there was a little bit more of interest I mentioned this on a podcast before that a couple teams were like hey are the Sharks going to protect him uh and they might have picked him up off of waiverss there but another year another season has passed and he did not and you could say, “Hey, the truck should have called him up. Should have had him over. Should have had him over the landria, hold him over Noah Breaker and what have you, right? But it didn’t happen though and he didn’t do enough to define himself where the Sharks were like, “We have to call you up.” Like you mentioned, call him grafted. You know, I think to kind of put a ball on it. You know, Will Smith kind of took his job at the beginning of the season. Will was kind of a he was a top pick. They’re going to give Will every chance to succeed. Um, and they did. and will eventually turn the corner. Colon Graph took the spot from good from Guushian. Basically that same spot because Graph has a more well-rounded game. And Guushian just could not take take that take that spot. Yeah, that’s a uh that’s a great point. I’d say only a certain amount amount of spots. And as sad as I was that he didn’t get the exact opportunity that I wanted for him. He um yeah, he he’s always been a slow starter when he goes up levels, too. So, it’s like he got put on the fourth line. He didn’t really seize the opportunity. He was still kind of adjusting and then they it was over. So, you never know. If he is good enough, he will make it, but if he is not, he he won’t. And that’s that’s the way that that it’ll go. Oh, it’s an interesting scouting opportunity for myself to to review the ways that like you evaluate players and and everything. And yeah, he’s an interesting study. It’s also the reason why in this last initial draft, there’s just so few small forward, small defenseman specifically that were drafted. Like a lot of guys are passed over at um Gushon’s size. Even if they have good numbers or they wait a year, they become an overager, then maybe they’ll take them. Um because yeah it just it’s harder to make the NHL like this and that is that is the truth. Um does not mean that every five foot eight player cannot make the NHL though. There are there are certain guys that can. So just they also guys figure out late too. Yes. Absolutely right. Jonathan Marshall is a classic case. So so I I could see Guushian coming back in like three four years. Uh maybe does have to go back to KHL a little bit but gets a little stronger just gets pace is a little higher and then it clicks for him. Uh uh finally I think Ganonghov’s a case of another guy who went back for for a little bit but I’m pretty sure like a guy like like Matt Sugerella didn’t make the NHL till he was like yeah what is it like 25 26 I think a little later for him too. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I think so too. To that point too real quick I think Colorado is a great fit for uh just because of their center depth as a smaller skilled winger right playing with one of the best center depths in the league. I think that’s going to benefit his game where to your guys’s point earlier in the Sharks pipeline, you know, you have Musty, you have Shernesh, you have Halton and these heavy like Greer likes his profile of large wingers and to your point because of our, you know, our centers are not massive with Celbrini or if Smith turns center. So I didn’t see him in the pipeline of getting that opportunity. Um, so I think it also better for Denil Guushian’s development to be in Colorado and have more insulation with better center depth. Yeah, I’ve always thought that too. like a place like Colorado or the Lightning maybe where you’ve just they’re spend so much money up front and so much money on big contracts that they don’t have the depth offensively that a guys like Gushon can you know seize the opportunity and he has the ability to bought 30 40 points in the NHL but it’s like can you stick around long enough to do that is the thing so right right no those are the teams up against the cap that they need to find the guy that cost the veterans min minimum that can pop in 20 goals or be helpful on the power play and and kind of get them over over the top. But um anyway, I did look it up. Zukarelloo um he didn’t establish himself as an AHL until he was 26. But looking at statistical profile and it’s just points, but he played three seasons before that before he was 26 and he was averaging half a point a game. So in the NHL so even though it was parts of three seasons. So I just want to say that about Zukarella really quickly. But anyway, I I I think to tie a bow on this, I just wanted to mention uh Mickey sat a little bit biggan that I think back with Guushian like early in the in the season this year like uh he it was in Anaheim. I remember he had such a good game in Anaheim and then he I don’t know if you remember this, he had a breakaway and he he hit the crossar. Yeah, I remember. And it was that single one where it’s like that was the goal, right? Yeah. He had a couple. I think he had one other one that was like sitting on the in the blue paint that was just like a tap in or like a misfit or something and I was like those little Mike was like Mike was like after like no no too small. Yeah, those little moments, you know. Um but it’s true like these these uh that was the opportunity he got it and it just didn’t work out. I’m happy they gave it to him because I would have been more pissed if they did this trade without giving him any chances, right? Like they gave him chances. So yeah, like it would be I would be way more furious if it was just like, well, he’s been sitting in the AHL for three years. We have no idea. And but no, we saw 12 games this year. And yeah, he was okay. Um he just needed to establish a little bit more. So I’m not gonna I’m not going to freak out. I’m not freaking out. It’s going to be okay. There are many good Sharks prospects coming. So how are you going to deal with the rest of the summer, Keegan? How are you gonna you know? Well, how are you going to recover from this? Yeah, that’s actually a good segue is I’m uh I’m trying to get back to my my hockey roots a little bit and I’m doing more prospect work, more um review of the last draft, more um right now I’m watching the World Junior Summer Showcase. So that’s kind of what I want to focus on in the next season is more prospect related stuff because that was the roots of what brought me to the San Jose podcast. For sure. Sure. So yeah, very very exciting. Okay. Well, um I guess that that brings us then to a prospect that you probably saw back in the day a bit in Oscar Olison. And so we’ll we’ll throw it to you first. Uh what do you what do you see out of Oscar Olison? I know that when he was drafted there was a lot of guys that thought it was a steal where he got him cuz he was like a late 20s I think and he for his size and hands and like there was a lot going on with his profile. Um hasn’t come together at all. um right which is now he’s 22 but again first round picks get like multiple chances to to establish themselves I I think um it’s not a bad gamble it’s not a bad tradeoff either you’re it’s it clearly shows that Gushian has some value around the league’s been like half win a game in the AHL since he uh made Colorado system but you know he’s still got that pedigree he’s got that size he still has a lot of skill so I’m not h unhappy with of the trade. It’s a good good pickup. It’s better than Shane Bowers for sure. Um, which is not to not to be mean to Shane Bowers. I’m sure he’s a great guy, but one of them felt like a throwaway. This one kind of felt like a an interesting gamble, more of a trade-off. Kind of like what we did with Wise Blood and Aphanise where it was like, okay, there’s a there’s a a chance there. Um, so there is still a chance with Olen, too, right? Do you feel that like Olen might have a higher floor? Yeah, I guess I think the the um the problem is like Chang said, his compete isn’t he’s not like going to be a real grinder. I mean, his size he can he can sit down in the the bottom six, but I I don’t think he’s going to be a real grindy type that’s going to make it um hard for you to like cut him off the roster. So, I don’t know. Maybe just because of size, but yeah, I hear he’s allergic to the middle of the ice. Keegan, do you think that’s a problem? Yeah, sure. I mean, I haven’t I gotta be honest. I I don’t like I haven’t paid attention to him since his draft year, so I don’t know. But like we’ll see when he get when he joins the Barracuda. I’ll watch him and and give you a better report and see. But um yeah, I I’m not too too hopeful, but who knows? It’s it’s at least a worthwhile gamble, and it’s probably better than like getting a fifth round pick or whatever. Gush might be worth pick-wise, you know, like a fifth or sixth or something. So I’ve heard that phrase though with Olison though. So that that that makes me laugh. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That’s that makes sense. That might be a problem in in Angel Hockey. But anyway, to answer your question, Zubar, about uh Olison and sort of his floor. Yeah, absolutely. I think that this is one of those things where if Guin’s not popping in like 20 goals thereabouts for you and he’s not not on your power play, he doesn’t have much much use in the NHL. Whereas Olison, if Olsen doesn’t need to to fulfill the draft hype, he doesn’t need to be a 20 goal power forward type. He can still be if he learns to not be allergic to the middle of ice, he can be a good grindy player. He’s 6’2. He skates well. He has a good shot. Um so he can be a useful third line winger type, fourth line winger type. And he just needs a little bit of a change to his mental approach. And so can he do that? Can he do that in San Jose? I mean, chances are probably not because that’s the way that these sort of prospect rec reclamation projects go. But though in Olison though, there isn’t a question of the tool set. Uh again, talked with multiple scouts and same read all they all say the same thing. You know, that’s one thing that one of uh the readers asked me afterwards because I asked a lot of scouts about Ol and they wondered Gary um he asked me what did the scouts say about Guushian and in a way it was almost like well the scouts don’t need to say anything about Guushian to me. I didn’t ask because if I say what do you think of Olen? What do you you know if they thought that the sharks are like oh my god how could you give up on Guushian what the what the what WTF? They would have said they would have said like that’s terrible. Why would you give up on Guushian for this guy? But this really is a honest assessment of the the value of Guushian that they’re like yeah you know what I think this is actually a good trade for the Sharks because sure you know you’re you’re you’re you lose a guy that is incredibly fun to watch at the AHL who is a point per game player at the AHL who and the Barracuda are going to be very interesting. We that’s a whole another podcast, but like they have literally zero established elite scoring at at the AHL level now. Now they lost Porterki, now they lost Guushian. So it’s going to be that’s going to be a very interesting team. Uh kind of a rebuild year for them actually as they go in AHL. HL always has a lot of changes. But so it’s going to be really interesting year for them. But anyway though with uh with with Olison that was the consistent feedback. I got it from a couple couple places that hey this is actually a good trade for the Sharks for Olison. He needed a change of scenery. He’s definitely got all the tools. Maybe getting away from Colorado maybe. I don’t know. Who knows? Just you know when your first round pick and everyone expects you to be on a shotgun and Nathan McKinnon for the next half decade, you know, just who knows, you know, maybe maybe just needed that change of pace. Maybe he ends up being Martin Cout another Colorado. That’s literally the exact I was about to I was about to mention like profile, right? Same thing, right? Like C I think was a little bit more I don’t know what the word is. I think there was a higher like he was a little bit even more productive in the AHL and had a little bit more skill. He was better. Yeah. But yeah, same thing. It’s like you could you just Martin C and then that that’s it. But yeah, at the end of the day they’re probably both NHL AHL tweeners. It’s just one is 6’2, one’s 5’8, and um the 5’8 one’s way more fun to watch. So, like I’m a little sad for that reason. There’s no doubt. But, uh 621 might have a better chance to play some games and to help you out even if it’s in a lower role. And I think that’s a part of it. I actually want to add this. Um so, typically when I write stories, I talked with four scouts that day and so that story is out. I just want to add this just because another scout texted me the next day after the story was out. So, I just want to just throw pass on what he said and it it echoes a lot of of what was in the story I wrote about what Oscar Olsen could bring to the Sharks. But he called Olison a good dice row and he says that yeah uh just the tools are there. It’s a low low risk with a good to moderate reward. Uh but he is soft though. Yeah. So So Oscar’s again looks Yeah. But he’s gota he’s he’s got to change his mental approach a bit and so we’ll see if he can do that with Welcome back uh welcome back Brandon Co, right? Like it’s a lawyer approach, right? He’s a skills. I mean Olson has is a higher ceiling than that, but same thing just not doesn’t get to the middle of the ice. Doesn’t play physical enough. doesn’t um yeah and guys like um Musty that’s what sometimes you worry about but I think Musty still has enough to give that you’re your the projectability is there um as opposed to these guys that just cannot get that side of it um figured out. So I think you can also see like Greer executing on his plan that he talks about a lot of just creating a lot of competition. He’s really bringing a lot of people. I think the Zetherland trade was like a part of that too where it’s like bringing in a stock chuck like creating more competition. I think he has an idea drafting as high as they have for as long as they have of what the top six will look like and you can see him really just creating a lot of competition in the lower half of the lineup. And I think this is that too just bringing in as many as you can and have them battle it out. Well, I think it’s competition of types, right? Like Boralo and Guushian had no future competing in the bottom six of the Sharks. they were not going to be in the top six for the Sharks even though they maybe they think they should be or they should have been over the last couple years and given that chance but my career didn’t see it that way. Mike didn’t hand it to them. That’s one of the interesting things actually. you bring up a good point that like um after Borderlow’s his debut right during that the end of the season and he it was Bob Bugner’s team the last year Bob Bner the last year before the the regime changed over and I’ve heard since then that they that Bordello and the thought was the belief was u even among Sharks people then that they thought that Bordal and Ekkan would would start to see 20 2023 2022 23 with the Sharks because that was what was projecting that that was they were just going to take their lumps and develop that way and whatnot, right? And just come come what may, right? And so I think that was a real change when my career comes comes in and it’s like well no we’re going to slow cook these guys a bit which we saw with with William Meckllin and and Bordal and so yeah I I I think that is interesting point that that you bring up that like if you’re Thomas Bordal one moment you think like you’re you’re going to be earmarked for kind of a top six top nine you’re going to get the full shot you’re going to get the Will Smith treatment and maybe and like a lot of space to make these mistakes. And then that kind of gets pulled under from you. And I’m not saying that, oh, you know, woe is Thomas Boralo. He didn’t also get much better than what he was in 2022 in my mind. And that’s that’s some of that is on him for sure. But in fairness to him, Den Gushin, too, that they went through GM regime changes. Actually, if you count Joe Will as one, Doug Wilson, Joe Will, Mike Greer, um, and also many coaches, right? What did Bob Bugner want? what did David David Quinn want? What did Ryan Warski want? And so I think that that wasn’t the ideal kind of playground kind of there too for for Bordello to kind of maximize his abilities. But anyway, yeah, watch Bordello be the one that makes the devils and is like we just don’t talk about him at all. You know what? One thing he’s not is two things he’s he’s got that I liked about him is obviously he can win faceoffs and even in HL level they’ll just use him to to on faceoffs, right? And then um that that year that he was with the Sharks most of it the 2023 24 year uh the year that shall not be named. At the end of the season he was up with the Sharks and actually I like things he was doing. He was good on the power play. I remember him being consistently good on the power play and he was on a top power play unit that was actually statistically quite good at the end of the season. He was a good connecting piece on on that p first unit power play and he won faceoffs too. would use them over Granlin on on the top power play unit. And so I don’t know. I I suspect, you know, when I talk with with scouts, they’re way higher on Guushian consistently because Guushian has just a little bit more of that compete even though it wasn’t quite enough for to make the the Sharks or in for my career’s kind of a vision of the team. And so I hear that consistently. And so people tell me constantly that that that that Bushian is a better prospect. Um but but though yeah Bordal I did I did like a couple things that I saw. So like I don’t rule it out even though yeah the league has spoken though like the difference between Shane Bowers and Oscar Olison are both low value assets again I i.e. Thomas Bordalo and Denil Gushian as productive as they were in the AHL they are all low value ass trade assets too but Olsen is a higher trade asset as we said as value asset than than Bowers and so the league has sort of spoken there I think I mentioned before on the show too that um people scouts question that if Borlo was out on waiverss would anybody pick him up I actually that’s a very very fair I think the same could be said about Guushian if Gusian if sharks had just kept him I know a lot of fans were like, well, why don’t you just keep him, let him compete, and well, you could do that, but then you wave him and his career goes nowhere, you know, like that’s part of it, too, that I I didn’t mention that. Like, from my understanding, yeah, you know, the Sharks did not hold Guushen to get the optimal return, which would not which would not have been much higher than Olison to be honest, too. So, let’s be clear about that. But, sure. Uh, but they also wanted to to do these guys a little bit of a solid. you know, this is good sort of, how do you say it? Um, this is good currency to exchange with their agents. And hey, we’re we’ll, you know, if we don’t have a spot for your guys, we’re going to do your guys right and trade these guys, not wait till the end of camp, but no, there’s no jobs left out there in waivers, right? And that’s a lot of reason why that’s a lot of reason why guys pass through waiverss for the opening rosters because there just isn’t jobs yet. That’s why that’s kind of like the picking ground where if you’re the Sharks and you suck that you can get better players there because they become available at the end of camp because like a Tai Emerson, right? The uh was the Rangers wanted to they they knew they were they were probably Emerson was probably not going to make the team, but they wanted to give him a shot during camp, see if they would surprise him. He didn’t. They let him go. So the Sharks were able to pluck kind of a okay bottom pairing defenseman out of that. And so, but there’s also the other flip side of that is there just aren’t a lot of jobs available at that point. So, pretty good talents like or okay talents, decent talents like a Guushian of Borlo, Henry Thun that I mentioned, they might have passed through waiverss if the Sharks had just held on to them. So, you give these guys a shot in the middle of the summer. They let them get acclimated to their new situations in Colorado and New Jersey. Yeah, you took a little less than you could have got for for a Boral Danaguchian. uh you know you get useful players back that’s you know kind of I think my career sort of like okay we have Guushian a little higher than Borlo we need to get useful pro players back no matter what it is right and they did in both cases and Olson definitely has a little more promise than than Bowers and you do you kind of do right by the guys um and I’ve seen again I’ve seen that common complaint like oh you didn’t get the fair value for a point per game AHL player what is the fair value for point per game AHL player you’re not going to get a point per game AHL player back that’s just not how that works when you talk about the AHL and not typically at least when you talk about like trades of AHL assets and whatnot and also too like I said that I think Mike did want to do them a degree of a solid without getting like completely fleeced but a degree of a solid. It’s um it’s just important to keep in mind the the ways that these small players make the NHL. I want to go back to like the scouting aspect of it is like the the guys that make it have elite something, right? They have either they have elite an elite shot. They’re Cole Caulfield, right? They have elite compete like Stanovven and and Seth Jarvis. They have, you know, elite hands and skills. Whereas Guushian like he had good to above good very good. Yeah. Exactly. But it was like everything was good and or very good. He’s got a very good shot. He’s got good to very good hands. He’s got good speed. But it’s like not enough of one specific element to really to make it just yet. You never know. But and that’s something to keep in mind is as people look into players is they NHL GMs do this too and scouts and like they always evaluate on that what’s the projectable skill. Um Cam Schmidt was one that fell this year in the draft to the third round right before the Sharks pick at 95. And I mean, for him, he’s got like an elite shot, so maybe he’s got a chance, but he’s a very small guy. And then he still fell to like the 94th pick, even though he was like one and a half points per game in in the CHL or whatever. So, it’s every year there’s a guy like this just it’s an interesting thing to look back on which ones make it, which ones do not. I think Hens is an example of that this this last draft, too. Yeah, Aens is a little a little bigger, but he’s elite in in the way that he moves and the way that he thinks. So he’s probably he’s going to make it. It’s just that he’s going to make it. But just how he dropped from the beginning of last year to this year and mostly because the size and competing. That’s a really good point as well. It’s like even somebody as good as Hagens can still drop and Exactly. Yeah. And anyway, all this said about Guushian that I I I’m with I’m with Greer on this trade, but if Guushian does pop off, then then then then it’s right to criticize because they need Starks need as much help as they can get still on the wings. And so if he does, I know his Gucci fans think maybe he can score 20 goals at NHL level. If he does that on a playoff caliber team, then you have to question the Sharks pro-evaluating and and and what they’ve decided. But look at it right now though, right? It Yeah, it it looks like the rest of the league agreed. So it wasn’t like a team has picked up Guushian thinking that, oh, this is like the steal of the century. What are the Sharks thinking? So don’t get that sense. So, uh, cool. Uh, I enjoyed my guest spot on the on the San Jose Hockey Now podcast, uh, as the Goose expert. Yep. Well, let’s talk a little about Michael Misa to close off and then we’re gonna throw it to to other experts, uh, Brock and Will Scouching talking about Misa and Sam Dickinson and the like. But anyway, uh, I have not been able to cooperate this and so that’s why I haven’t written a story about it because if I if I wrote it, it’s it’s it’s a big story. Uh, but I talked to somebody that I do trust though. that my understanding is that Michael Misa is not interested in the NCAA path. And that says a lot then because that basically leaves one path for him which is the ELC and which is the Sharks and which is the OHL if he doesn’t quite make the Sharks which is going to be the whole show with scouting and with Brock just talking about the uh the NHL readiness of Michael Misa next year. But anyway, so that’s that’s what I understand. I’m still working to cooperate that. But um if I were to say like last year I was I was very consistent and in and telling you guys that Will Smith he’s going to sign Mlin celebrating he’s going to sign. That wasn’t just like a feeling I had, right? Like this was like very educated guesses talking with people, right? I don’t know if I feel quite as strongly about Misa because I this is something I heard from one person that I trust, but again, not enough that you know that I really believe in it if I put it well pen on paper. I mean it nowadays it’s put it online in a story that people can link and laugh at me for years on end if I’m wrong. So that’s the same kind of thing as pen on paper. So, I’m still working on getting a cooperation on that. But that’s that’s my strong belief and it does fit consistently with uh everything that we’ve heard that Michael Misa believes that he will make the NHL. He’s not even I don’t know if NCA is NCAA is even a thought he seriously is thinking about and Mike said consistently too. He’s going to get his chance. And so I think that that fits with that. And also too there are a couple possibilities with okay sure he can sign. We I mentioned this on a podcast before. You can sign his atto and then go to that’s really hairy. That’s I I went through multiple people. I I mentioned this on the pod in terms of to get a confirmation on that. It’s really people aren’t quite sure on on that, but I mean agents and teams and I asked the NCAA and they got back to me and they’re like uh you know gota that depends on the specific player. And so they weren’t very clear uh on on Misa’s eligibility if he does sign something like a lot of complications with that too. You got to get insurance for the player and that’s got to be the agents got to get that right. Um, and then it adds other layer too that actually Brock Oen’s going to talk about that typically if players are going to NCAA like a Porter Mone that this is about the time that they need to enroll that sure colleges can hold spots till like September for if you’re going to do it, it’s going to be for a Michael Misa, exceptional player like Michael Misa, but it’s just not the norm of how things are are done. And so anyway, I don’t think that’s going to be the path. That would be my guess. I don’t think they’re going to hold that option open. Um because if a player doesn’t have an interest in it, that just that just kind of resolves that, right? And so again, I would guess that strongly that Misa ELC will hear about that whenever they come out with that. And I I heard of there’s one another prominent pick that has already signed it too that has been announced yet. So again, I’m not sure why some of this stuff is being held, but um anyway, so I’m gonna start projecting when I do lines misa into it because I wasn’t sure about that. And so when I did like last a couple weeks ago with Steve Peters, I did lines and wasn’t sure Misa’s place in it. And but now I’m going to start I’m going to start doing that because that’s how that I do feel confident enough about that because I think that that’s going to be the course that that Misa Misa decides. It’s exciting. Yeah, I think that’s uh I I think he I know you guys are gonna talk with Will and and Brock. Yeah. What are your thoughts on on his NHL readiness? Yeah, I think I saw him as one of the most ready NHL NHL ready players from the draft. Like there was there’s parts to his game. Um physically he’s not as you know he he could get a little bit more developed before he goes, but the the brain is there, the speed is there, the the skill is there. I think he would do fine in the NHL. Um I think there would be there’s a learning curve obviously. Um and he’s not going to like light the world on fire immediately, but I I think like he would still provide value on like a third line if you started down there. And that would be my um assessment. He just he has all of the tools and it’s it’s a question of what’s right for his development. Kind of like Will Smith where right you need a challenge and I do not think the OL is going to be a challenge. the NCAA might be a challenge, but the OHL will not be a challenge at all. So, he’s it’s interesting this like players have kind of because Porto Mone did it for a minute there. Porto Morone was like, I’m going to make the Flyers and everybody was like, are you? And the Flyers were like, are you? And he was like, okay, maybe I’m not. And then he went and and uh signed in college. So, you know, probably for one year. And then that was part of the the deal with the Flyers is like, hey, it’s a oneand done. like we’re gonna sign you in the offseason, you can come right over or or in the in the spring or whatever, right? Right. End of the season. Yeah. Um and that’s probably part of the deal. But it was interesting because he came out flat and said it and Misa is saying it kind of the same way. He’s like hasn’t signed anywhere and you’ve heard some things that he doesn’t want to go to the NCAA route. So yeah, I also think it’s interesting the there’s been rumor about the removal of the 20-year-old age limit. And I think it’s because a guy like the 20-y old age limit where basically you can’t play in the AHL until you’re 20 or you have to go back to the OHL. It’s just cuz like a guy could move leagues for a year and then just go to the NHL, right? They could go to the NCAA till they’re 19 then sign in the NHL. So the CHL is like a If we want players to play that 19-year-old year with us instead of playing it in, you know, Minnesota DUTH, we need to adjust our thing or else we’re going to lose two years of players instead of just one. So that’s interesting to me. You make a good point about that. Um, actually Brock talks about that too, but that the CHL might be hurt in some ways with the talent loss, but actually though I think that the CHL might see it as this will keep players there. Yeah. Because okay, we’ll play your 18-year-old with in the CHL, but the next year you have a chance to go you’re not locked instead of being locked in for three years in the CHO or whatever, you’re really locked in now to if you’re a top prospect to one year. Yep. And that’s that’s a big difference and that might keep guys in the CHL who are like you know the NCAA flexibility like um you know I think Mlin why did Mlin picked the NCAA a lot of it was yeah playing against older players but also too I’ve heard too that there’s also that flexibility too that like you don’t want to be stuck in the CHO or NHL kind of that no middle ground like that’s not good for your development and so yeah I I think I think that’s that’s that’s a good point. Fortunately, Sam Dickinson will be able to benefit from that this year. That role isn’t uh starting until next year. Worried about We’re worried about Dickson in a way even though he’s older, but just defense is hard and you can get sheltered with Misa. Misa can be sheltered by his linemates. He can be sheltered by lower minutes or or sitting. Um whereas Dickinson, you know, you are the last layer of defense and the coaches are going to notice if you make mistakes. So, no worried about that. Well, let’s finish up with this then. And since uh you’re not on the the next segment, actually wish you were that would have been great. You would have been a great panel guest too. But we asked we asked Brock and Will this ask you this too then. So do you think that Michael Misa stays the whole season with the Sharks? Do you think that Sam Dickinson stays the whole season with the Sharks? Um yeah, I’m gonna go yes on both. Okay, I’m going I’m going with yes on both. only uh Misa I think if he’s done this I I don’t see a way that they’re going to send him I mean unless he’s really struggling but I think he’s got the the talent there to do it and Dickinson they they might do like a little bit of like oh you’re going to go play the world juniors kind of thing and they might spread out his games more but I think they both stay maybe they do the Shane Wright thing where they send him back to London before the trade deadline. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think they will have to like early January. That’s typically the trade deadline for the O, sorry, the CHL. CHL trade deadline. Yeah. So, okay. Just curious your thoughts. Yes. On Misa. 65% yes on Dickinson. Okay. All right. So, quick followup, Keegan. If Dickinson wins a job, who is he bumping down? Uh, I would say Henry Thun, but we have no more Thrron. Yeah. Earn a right. You can’t you can’t you can’t bully Markic anymore. Um I mean Dehorn is probably going to be your seven eight no matter what. Like he’s just he’s the perfect one. Um it’s hard to You’re right. Like who does he consistently keep out? Maybe a little sugar and maybe or or Clingberg if he’s not um or Lety if they don’t have the the healthiness. So not going to be Ferraro. It’s not going to be Or love. It’ll be either sitting out Lety sometimes or Lil Shagrin. Yeah. Or whoever’s injured. Every year a defenseman gets injured and then they end up making the then that’s just the way it goes. And they they cleared Thrron, which is kind of the biggest hurdle, right? They they moved that out. So I think that they know that they need to try to find a spot for him. um or at least have him get the opportunity for the spot because with thr there it’s like it’s really hard to Yeah, it’s hard. Well, you have eight you have eight guys instead of seven, right? So, it makes that much easier. And Vloic’s another one, too, that would have just been there as a kind of a placeholder. So, they’ll find a spot. I’m uh it won’t be every game. I think he’ll sit out some games, but Nick is old, you know. He’s 34. He’s old. He played he played 31 games last year. He, you know, 18 minutes a night last year. Sometimes these things he needs some he needs some rest on his legs. So yeah, they were using Blic in that role, too, but not anymore. So I’m gonna go with Nicki or Lagrin if Lagrin is not playing well. Yeah, but uh and you know it’s I’m excited for Mugabulan. I think this is going to be a big year for him. Yeah, I have I have good I have good um I have good thoughts about Muga and Yeah, me too. where he gets to sit. We’ve always thought highly of Yeah. Oh, sorry about that. Hopefully just have a full season and stay healthy. Yes. Yeah. Stay healthy. Stay confident too when he um when he has confidence. He’s a he’s an NHL player. When he actually he’s an NHL defender when he plays with confidence with the puck. Um but a lot of times he just loses it because he hasn’t played because he gets injured or he’s been down for a while. So, or he falls awkwardly when a 510 player pushes him. Yeah. It’s topheavy. But yeah, actually it’s a great place to uh promote my article. How did Shakira Mukua improve last year? So looked at a lot of stat leads, micro stats. You actually can see in those stats where he improved, how he was killing plays more, how he’s being more physical, even how his puck movement improved, just all the kind of quadrants that Shakir has to has to hit. He really did. He kind of came out of nowhere because he really was bad actually with the Sharks when he was uh early in the season with the Sharks and even with the Barracuda, he just was okay. And so it didn’t come out of nowhere because you and I, we like his talent, but came out of nowhere in terms of just like what he was putting on the ice, you know? It was it was a little disturbing in the in the first half of the season. Of course, he had a significant groin injury, too. So, want to say that for him, but yeah. Yeah. And I I’m I’m very excited uh for uh for Shaq. So yep. Um but that’s uh that’s it. Yeah. Wait, I don’t know why I’m saying that, said, but you should say that. We’re so used to it. But with Misa though, it’s gonna be interesting though because um if you count all the forwards that the Sharks have, they have a lot of I mean, not a lot of them are great AHL forwards, but they have a lot of AHL caliber forwards. And so if Misa is assumed to be in the lineup, yeah, then that’s going to be an interesting one to start to calculate because that’s part of the reason why I didn’t calculate him as much because it’s it makes for a lot of decisions down there where is it going to be well a stop check is waver exempt I believe so that’s fine but good uh Grundstromandria Gro Reeves um even like Giles and Graph who was waver exempt too, so he can go down without an issue. Like it starts to create an in interesting kind of, you know, it’s still not a log jam of a great team, but still though, there’s going to be there’s going to be some some some question marks there. Misa is going to push somebody out that you assumed would have an angel job because he is he’s has that he’s the number two pick. Um he’s not signing the ELC for no reason. Yeah. Um uh as again to remind people that like even if he plays nine games in with the Sharks and he gets sent back, like that’s $100,000 he’s made there. And that’s that’s a Adrian told me this and that made so much sense. Like if you’re if if you’re Michael Mis and you’re balancing the that the NCAA versus the NHL, if that was a a question that if you play those nine games with the AHL, you’re guaranteed those nine games, then you’ve basically made most of your NCAA money already. Yeah. Right. And so anyway, um so that’s that’s an interesting one. We’ll talk about that on a future episode. So it might be good to close off here. So unless we talk, you know, we’ll talk another half hour about it. But yeah. Yeah. Reeves and Grundstrom are kind of Yeah, I think probably Reeves is safe though. Sorry guys. Yeah, Ree is he he is he is he got way by Toronto last year. So that was a year a year ago. He did. But I feel like his skill set though is so particular. You know, I used the kitchen utensil comparison. I said that Thrron is a fork. Yeah, he’s useful, but there’s a lot of forks in the kitchen. And so that’s why he was very uh very tradable. And I said Reeves was a spatula, but actually Reeves is more I couldn’t think of at the time time, but Reeves is clearly more of a meat tenderizer. That’s fair. And there was just one of those in your kitchen. And you don’t need it often, but when you do use it, you know, meander is a good that’s a good Yeah. Yeah, that’s pretty good. But here’s my thought. If you needed to get Misa to try nine games, like Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe you can get Reeds down to the AHL for the first month and a half of the season. Well, that’s going to be tough. Yeah, maybe. Maybe someone will just pick him up. But I then that that also makes uh if you have both Mis and Dixon up, then you have that are you going to go 147 or 138? And that’s gonna be kind of kind of kind of tough there, too. And so, Jack Thompson, too. Does he get waved, right? Because like he’s had a good No, he’s he’s kind of productive. Yeah. Yeah, I know. But he’s going to be waved is what I mean. It’s like they have to make the choice. He’s had a he had a good year like overall he it doesn’t mean that he will be a NHL player, but he had a good enough year that I think somebody might take a chance on him on waivers. Maybe. I predict he passes through, but Okay. But, you know, we’ll we’ll it’s Yeah, they got to wave guys like him, right? And then that gives you eight defenseman, Dickson, Dear and and everything. So may might do 138 then that’s hard for Misa to make it. So yeah, that’s Well, but you assume he’s going to make it though. So then that means unless he’s really like bad, you know, right? But if he’s good, then he’s going to get more grace. Like the grace that Guushian did not get, he still will get Will Smith got, right? So, um, so then that becomes, well, like can you pass through Gruntstrom and Dandre, which you might be able to because they both struggled last year and they both are making actually a pretty decent amount for a fourth line forward. So, yeah, you might be able to do that. So, yeah, they they definitely could. It’s just will they or will they do the I mean, I they’re in an more interesting spot than most years, right? They they don’t have the opportunity to to send Misor Dickinson to perfect landing spots. They just have like a where they got to be or you know suboptimal landing spots if they can’t fit them in or the fans will hate it. But Graph Graph is a perfect candidate to hey the age the the Barracuda need a leading scorer. This is your chance. You and Ethan Cardwell take the reigns. We we need we need you to take the reigns down there. There’s a good test for you guys. your waiver exempt. And as as like promising as Colin was last year, I mean, come on. Like, he’s, you know, he was playing top nine minutes for a very very bad team. And it doesn’t mean that he is, you know, he’s a shoein by any stretch. I don’t think so. I I think some people have have him as a shoein. I like Holland, but I especially with all this sort of um they’ve added so so many pieces that maybe not like the highest end pieces, but they’ve added a lot of angel holy pieces and like I said, Misa is going to get a lot a lot more grace that we’ll see. Yeah, we’ll see. But I I feel like I saw way more from the moments of Graph than I ever did Grunstrom or Dandria. I agree. So, and then Reeves also like is not good at hockey right now. Like he’s good at some things, but he’s not good at hockey. Well, let me let me let me let me argue with you guys though that yeah, like Colin at his best did show more than uh Well, I don’t know. I I like the Landre at times a lot, but but but okay, but let but let me let me phrase it this way, though, that like a lot of your roster competition is on the fourth line. Sure. And there’s no sense in putting Brath down there. Right. There isn’t. I don’t think there is. His his I I feel like he’s best served by either playing top nine minutes or leading the Barracuda. He’s not so good that he must be in the NHL is all I’m saying. He’s not Mlin obviously. He’s not Willie Mlin and he’s a guy that can benefit from being the guy in the AHL still and just working on that part of it. He’s not a guy that has nothing to learn in AHL, I guess, is what I’m saying. And for the specific fourth line role that Reeves, Grundstrom, and Alandria provide more reliability and you’re not hurting their development by by by leaving them for that role. So that’s what I feel that’s why I feel he he might be cut out graph because he’s got to win a top nine role or his penalty killing too was extremely valuable last year at the Sharks. I thought he looked great on the penalty kill relative look at the results. I I thought he was fine, but not enough that you got to keep him for that reason. You know, you’ve added guys that um who can play that role. Yeah. Yeah. Like like PK is he’s not he he he he did he did fine there, but he’s not like a spectacular penalty killer that I don’t think so at least. And penalty kill is a thing that I don’t evaluate as well, but you look at the results of the Sharks actual the actual results of their penalty kill uh wasn’t that great. And I, you know, I think that’s something that he’s good at, but he can still get better at. And he can do that in AHL. Uh, so you bring up a good point about what’s best for his development, too, because he’s, you know, and where’s he going to get really good time? He has a lot of opportunity with all the exits and departures in the HL team. And you’ll be able to bring a little experience to some of the wingers that are coming up. Yeah. Like Henman and Shernov and these guys to play with them. So yeah, good point. My only counterargument is this is the exact same argument we give with guys like Gushin until they’re 23 and then they don’t they can’t go through waiverss anymore. It’s like well they don’t fit on a fourth line so we never gave him experience in the NHL. So they never got used to the NHL. another 23 and we have no idea if they can play in the NHL and then they got to go somewhere else because they’re or not. And I I feel like Graph showed enough that he can hang with them that even if you do put him on the fourth line, I don’t maybe he maybe another year in the AHL is good for him, but he’s already played like a ton of NCAA. Yeah, he was good at the NHL level. Not good. He was passable at the NHL level last year. um with some like standard development I think he would do okay better than like yeah I understand your point that guys like Grunstrom and Dandria can like fill that hole but yeah he does have more utility up and down the lineup that I don’t know I it’s it’s tough to say that like I’d rather have Dandria there or not even if you risk mo losing them I don’t think that that’s a huge loss whereas like yeah I’ I’d want to get him more pro time because he He has enough of a he thinks the game enough to to be able to play as a as a pro, I think. So, I don’t know. I kind of agree with you, Keegan. I mean, I saw a lot of great details just from the eye test of last season. The details in his game were pretty sound. You saw really positive develop like he is a player who developed a lot over the course of last year. I think it put him in that position again. I think that he just seems like a player who can who can take advantage of that. And he looked NHL already. He had some impact plays, too. Like I remember his puck retrieval was quite good. he was winning more battles and on the defensive side of the puck he seemed reliable and Orsovski he really built the trust of Orsovski so and ultimately that’s what it comes down to and I think he built a lot of trust with the coaching staff too so I counter counter that that I I think that Graph won’t suffer the same fate as Guian so I don’t think you have to worry too much about him uh while I’m not as wowed by Graas only killing um he can still do it though yes he can potential level which Guushian could not do. And so I think I think Graph’s going to be fine. That’s I don’t think another year will hurt him is is if the Sharks choose to do that. And hopefully Graph takes another step. I feel like Graph needs to take another step for me at least for me to be like this is a bonafide NHL is is I guess the the the main point of it. And can you get gain that step better on a Barracuda or on the fourth line of the Sharks? I think with the Barracuda, if Grath has earned himself a top nine spot with the Sharks, then that okay, that means he’s good enough for that and that’s good. That’s good for him. That means he’s like better than than he was last year. Um, but yeah, so we’ll see. But he’s an interesting one though. It just wouldn’t surprise me just again with logistics that it’s just a little simpler to just to put him down and you’re putting him in a good place. It’s not like you’re putting him in the OHL and we’re just concerned for Dickinson, for Misa. are they served best served by going back there. Whereas with Graph, it’s he’s not hurt by it. He’s he’s still helped by it really actually. So fair. Yeah, that is fair. So pro projections going to make it or not? We’ll know in a couple weeks. Well, we got look at I gota look at that again, you know, but yeah, we’ll need to do a full dive. And also waivers happen too. So trucks might get somebody on waivers that they really like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, well, it’s coming up there, though. We’re starting to get into, um, World Junior Summer Showcase in Helinka, which means that hockey is kind of back, at least for some kind of hockey. Yeah. So, I’m excited. But, yeah, the Sharks have a lot of prospects at though. So, I’ll be excited to hear your thoughts on that. So, yeah, the game I watched today, they did not have any. Um, but there is a game coming up at uh, in about an hour that they’ll have um, players. So, okay. Um, pretty sure they’ll have Leo Sol and Willanius playing. Um, and uh, who else? Because they split them up into like white and blue teams and stuff. Oh, they’ll have um, um, McKenna from the second round this year. Okay. So, that’ll be fun. Get a little bit more uh, I’ve been um, craving hockey. It’s it becomes a very tough offseason. So, I’ve been watching a bunch of old hockey stuff from the last draft. But anyway, it’s sad, but telling that what excites you is not Sharks hockey, but it’s Well, it’s the prospects of the Sharks. Once the Sharks are good, I’ll come back. I’m a bandwagon fan. I sat through so much badness. No, I’m kidding. I’m sorry. Yeah, I apologize. It’s not It’s not my responsibility, but not my fault. But we were on the show together through the the lean years. So, God, we were I’m hopeful that this next year will be a better year and we’ll have more happy things to talk about. Um rather than just the saddest two years. I mean, we had a you know, no, last year was good. I mean, I’m talking about like two years ago. That was that was tough. Yeah. And I’m not I’m not I’m not uh going anywhere. There might uh we’ll see might be changes on the podcast, but I’m still going to be around. Um, so you guys will see a little tease there. So, yeah. Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll talk about that soon. So, but uh yeah, anything else? And Zubar, nice to meet you. I have not met you as all the fans are meeting you too. Oh, thanks buddy. Happy to be here. Thanks for everything. So, well, now is a good time then to throw it to uh throw it to Brock Autton. Throw it to Will Scouching. We have a great discussion of a lot of what we just talked about here. Will is Michael Misa in ready? Is Sam Dickinson a ready? And between Igor Churnishoff and Quentyn Musty and Casper Halton, which of those guys could surprise and make the Sharks? So anyway, stay tuned for that. That is coming right up. All right, guys. See you. See you. Now, all right. On today’s episode, we’re joined by two of the sharpest minds in amateur scouting. Brock Uton, director of scouting for Mckin’s hockey, a leaning expert on the Ontario Hockey League, and Will Scouching of Fractal Hockey and Scouching.ca. Also check out his YouTube. He’s got some great deep analytical approaches to player evaluation and development. Today we’re going to dive into the Sharks top OHL prospects, Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson, Casper Haltonin, Igor Shernershop, and Quinton Mussy. We’re going to talk about their likelihood to play in this upcoming season for the Sharks and whether they’re actually ready to take that next step and how they fit into the Sharks long-term plans. It’s a four mic round table of insights, analysis of top Sharks OHL prospects. Hey guys, how’s it going? Yeah, how’s it how’s your summer going? Oh, lovely. It’s a little hot these days out here, but you know, you probably know plenty about that being in California, but it’s lovely. It’s you know, it’s nice. Yeah, I I dig the heat, so you know, bring it on. I mean, maybe it’s been a little little on the humid side. I could go for just a nice dry heat like maybe you guys have there, Shank. But, you know, I go I go on I go on vacation in the summer to go places that are cooler. That’s my my mentality. So, that’s where I’m at. So, it’s a reverse snowbird. Yes, exactly. Yeah. I’m a I don’t know what you would call it, a polar bear. I don’t know. All right. Well, let’s get into it, guys. All right, so we’ll jump right in. So, based on the performances last year in the OHL, let’s hear about Michael Misa, Dickinson, Shernaw, Halton, and Leusty in their NHL readiness. Um, let’s start at the top with Misa. I’ll let you go first, Will. Yeah, I mean, the shark the thing that I’m really excited about for this whole discussion is like the Sharks, I think, still have a lot of capital and freedom to to play around a little bit, you know? I think I think that they are one of the teams I’d say a small handful that really are taking I think the right route with younger players on the lineup where the you know like I think about Montreal a lot. You know Montreal every single year under the weight of I would say very low expectations. I feel like they continuously kind of find ways to outperform a little bit in some way. And I think in San Jose, there’s a lot of that as well where it’s like, yeah, the team might not win a whole lot of games, but you can tell that they’re building chemistry, they’re building something there, that the young guys are building confidence, and they’re not, you know, on a short leash, and they’re just letting them go. And so that to me gives me a lot of confidence that a number of players we probably discussed today could probably get a look in the NHL. You know, there are jobs open on the Sharks roster. I think that they have every opportunity to do it. And when you look up the middle of the roster right now, I mean, I think there’s easily a job open for a Michael Misa this fall, right? Like I look at their centers right now. I’m looking on their listed centers. It’s Celabbrini, Smith, Wenberg, and Ochuk. Like I could see Michael Misa outplaying a couple of those guys for something, right? And the obviously the danger is you don’t want him playing 12 minutes a night. You know, you don’t want him not playing. But at the same time, I’d rather that than him, you know, maybe college hockey makes sense, but for me, in the environment the Sharks have kind of fostered, I feel like the NHL might make some sense at least for a good good go, but you better be sure because if you’re not and he doesn’t really quite work out and you don’t want him in the NHL anymore, he’s got to go back to the OHL. And I’m not sure that’s the best scenario at all. But uh anyway, Brock, what do you what are you thinking? Yeah, I think Misa probably has the best chance out of that group. I think the forwards, forwards in general, I I think you look at what San Jose did this offseason with their defense and and bringing in a lot of veterans. I think that speaks volumes as to the fact that perhaps they don’t want to rush Dickinson and they’re they’ve got some sort of idea in mind about how they want his development to go. Maybe that means him returning to the OHL for another year. I I know from a statistical perspective it kind of looks like he doesn’t have uh a ton to work on, but I I think there still is some things that he can improve on from, you know, a puck management perspective, a defensive perspective. Um whereas Misa, I would agree with Will. I think that you’re looking at at a player who was one of the top two players in the OHL this past year. I I think that another thing that he has going for him is that he can easily play the wing. um you know that that might even be his his long-term forecast anyway in the future. I would love to see him stay at pivot, but he has a lot of versatility. He’s the kind of guy that is a bit of a Swiss Army knife that can play a variety of different roles um moving forward. So, he’s going to easily slide into the middle of the lineup if he earns that that opportunity. Um maybe that means at center, maybe that means he starts his NHL career on the wing and eventually slides to the middle just like he did in the OHL, right? That’s that was his uh path in the OHL playing the first two seasons in Sagena on the wing and moving to the center uh this past year. So I could see him doing the same thing at the NHL level depending on you know the kind of camp that he has. U it’s all going to just depend on strength for him um because I think he has everything else. I think his his two-way game improved a ton this year sliding back to the middle. Um, I think that his physical engagement is an underrated component of his game and something that a lot a lot of people sort of talk about. Um, so really it’s just going to be a matter of whether he’s strong enough um to play the way that he wants to play uh at the NHL level. And obviously San Jose is in a position with a ton of young talent that they don’t need to rush him. You know, if if he comes into camp and he looks good but but not amazing. um and some of the other younger guys that they have uh in camp, you know, are on par with him. They might find an ulterior route like Will said. Maybe that means, you know, joining his brother in the NCAA. Maybe um you know, that does mean going back to the OHL and trying to win a championship this year. Obviously, Sagenov didn’t have the kind of end of the season that they wanted to last year. Um and they have won a M Cup, but not an OHL championship. So, you know, maybe that’s something they look at. Um, I I would be shocked if he doesn’t get at least a couple games look. I would say probably the same with Dickinson, right? Um, I think that he’s another guy that they probably give a couple games look to. I mean, you with the amount of veterans they brought in, I mean, somebody might get hurt in camp, opportunity for him to, you know, play one or two games, go back down. The only problem is, um, you know, all the things that you’ve got to think about in terms of NCAA eligibility, right? Yeah. I think that it’s not just with San Jose, but how teams deal with their younger prospects that don’t have NHL contracts yet. It’s going to be telling uh in camp this year. Um because normally we we do see a handful of players get a game, two games to start the year, then they get sent back to junior or whatever. But this year, that might not be the case because teams want to leave uh that path open for their players moving forward, right? It’s the same reason why we haven’t seen a ton of guys sign their ELC’s. I mean, normally um I mean, I haven’t done the numbers, but I feel like normally we’re at like, you know, at least 20 by now, uh of the high-end first rounders or or guys who haven’t signed from last year signing, and that just hasn’t been the case. I think I think maybe we’ve got like seven uh guys who signed from this past draft class already this year and that’s that’s a pretty low number than what we’re used to. So, it’s it’s a new world uh in the NHL in terms of development and I think a lot of teams are are trying to navigate how they want to approach it too. Yeah, I I highly suspect uh I I I’ve heard that and Zubar and I we talked about this earlier in the show that Michael Misa that I’ve heard that and I haven’t confirmed it, so that’s why I haven’t uh written about it. But I I heard from somebody that that I trust though that I believe that that Michael hasn’t shown much of any interest in the NCAA. And so I think that he probably will sign his ELC at some point. I’m not really sure why it’s being held off. I I know that there’s another first round pick that has signed his ELC and hasn’t been announced yet and I’m not sure why the teams are holding off on it, but uh but if that happens though, if Michael does sign his ELC, that eliminates the NCAA option and that means that it’s going to be the NHL or bust for Michael Misa or the OHL. And so anyway, in that scenario, so the best guess I think is that both Misa and Dickinson will get their at least their nine games this year. The Sharks just traded Henry Thrun, so now they have seven AHL defenseman. So there’s a little bit more of a path for Sam to to get a job now. And with the Michael Misa, I think part of if you if he signs his ELC and he forgoes the college route, um, an agent pointed this out to me that if he plays his nine games, he makes over over six figures. He makes over $100,000. So that covers pretty much what a college could offer him. And so so as a kind of a encouragement for him to sign that, okay, you know, you’ve got to give me these these nine games here. So anyway, I’m not saying that’s it’s like a deal that has been struck that way, but it kind of makes sense that they’re going to give him at least that much if he makes the the the commitment to to to sign with the Sharks. So anyway though, yeah, and I mean I mean just to add to that, Chang, another thing to think about too that I I don’t know if enough people are talking about is the fact that, you know, these guys need to be eligible. Like it’s not like NC NCAA teams can just add these guys, you know, right at at whatever they want. I mean, they need to be enrolled in classes. Well, usually around and from what I understand from from talking to a few agents that there is a little bit of flexibility there depending on on the program. Some schools do allow, you know, a little bit later enrollment or, you know, they can kind of save a spot for a guy. Um, but I I I think the more likely scenario is that the guys who haven’t really committed uh officially yet are probably, you know, dead steadfast on trying to make the NHL like you said, like it’s it’s NHL or it’s okay, I’ll go back to the CHL or or whatever. Um, you know, it’s just they these are t top end prospects. a guy like Nissa knows that, you know, if he doesn’t make the Sharks this year, you know, he’s probably going to make the Sharks next year. Um, so it’s a scenario that it’s really not the end of the world. I mean, we’ve seen so many prospects find a ton of success over the years going back to to play their draft plus one year in the CHL. I mean, it’s not the end of the world that I think maybe some people are kind of making it out to be now that the NCAA route is available. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I just to put a bow on that. I mean I I agree to a point. I think the problem is that a lot of good players are leaving the CHL and that is you know like the CHL’s quality of play probably will take at least a hit in some way relative next year. And I mean the thing again like to go back to the Sharks themselves like they I think the more we talk about it the more I think it makes sense for Michael Misa just to hang with the Sharks almost like I would much rather especially because I know from watching the Sharks last year and sort of keeping up as best I can. There does seem to be a really good environment there. like the organization itself seems to have taken some really big steps with regards to fostering a sort of culture of like growth almost and and trusting younger players to you know obviously they’re going to make mistakes and everything right but it’s like you can afford I I feel like him on the Sharks and I think Brock said it earlier I think he does make that team a little bit better or at the very least no worse like I think he is much he’s He’s just way beyond smart enough, I think, for the NHL level of play. He’s he’s one of these guys that Yeah. He’s one of these guys that just seems to get it no matter who he’s on the ice with. And And when we spoke to him a few months ago one-on-one, like he was really adamant about his own abilities. Like he was really confident and really likes to come off like he really knows what he’s doing out there. And I feel like that anyone would notice that. So, that’s my hunch as of this moment, but it we’ll see. It’s interesting because I feel like it’s almost like the curse of too much flexibility, right? Like, what do you do with him? Because there’s all these other options and you have all these other young players and all this stuff going on. So, what do you do? It’s like the the the abundance of choice is almost a downside. But to me, I could see an NHL job for him pretty easily and and especially in the in like if it was a different team, I probably wouldn’t be as sure, but the Sharks seem like a really really good setup for him in the situation they’re in. Yeah. They just got to add a fourth bed to the sleepover. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, so to that point, guys, in terms of Misa’s immediate translation of the NHL, uh what are you guys most concerned about from what you guys have seen this last year? what you’ve seen of Misa. Wow, that’s a that’s a tough question. Um, yeah, I I would guess just maybe like the strength component because like I said, he is a guy that that likes to play a somewhat physically intense brand of hockey. Like he’s active on the forche. Um, you know, he he is somebody that will find a way to the net. Um, he he’s not a soft player. He’s not a perimeter player by any means. So, you know, if if the strength component is lacking, you know, maybe you’re concerned about injury because, you know, he’s yes, he you know, he he’s not a small guy. You know, he’s he’s 6’1. Um you we’re not talking about a a 5’9, 510 guy. Um there is an ability for him to add even more weight this off season for sure. But if you’re any bit concerned about, you know, him getting injured the way that he likes to play, you know, maybe that’s something that creeps into your mind, you know, maybe you want to give Misa another year to continue to add weight, continue to to bulk up his frame so that, you know, he can find success playing the way that he wants to play. I would agree honestly. I feel like word for word, I would agree with that. I mean, with Misa, he is I would say like there’s no concern to me about like the actual player, right? Like I feel like he’s a guy who if the game is quick, if the game is slow on, off the puck, like he’s chipping in doing the right stuff a lot of the time, you know, like Brock mentioned it, his forcheing ability is ridiculous. Like a lot of people did, I think, overestimate just how like I hate to use the word soft, but like how how he played cuz he just he wasn’t like the bruiser, you know? He’s not Brady Martin, but he is an intense player. like there is a lot of energy in his game and he is really tactical about it and I think that the way the way that he plays, the way he passes the puck, the way he skates, the way he does all these things, it’s kind of it’s very it reminds me a lot of how I felt about Celibbrini when he was in college where it’s like I have no real concerns about the player in the NHL. like I feel like it’ll be fine, but like Brock said, the the the size of these guys, the speed of the game, the there is potential for, you know, all it takes is one wrong move or one little whatever, you know, one crash to the net and, you know, just it it could it could affect him. But I don’t really like like Brock said again, like I don’t really like using that as like a fear of like ah well I don’t know, right? like it’s like you kind of just at some point you got to you got to give him a give him a test and I feel like the player is is there. It’s just going to be a matter of of what the NHL is like and how he’ll handle that. I think more than anything. Yeah, it feels like just hearing what you guys are saying that with Michael that the just to kind of uh put uh summarize it that the clear skill of his that may allow him to survive in the NHL as a 18-year-old is his intelligence, but the thing that might hold him back is his maybe his his frame is not quite NHL ready. So, is that a kind of a good way to kind of summarize it for both you guys? He’s eight. He’s 18 and there are very very very very few players at this age who come in and torch the like even Connor Bard, right? Like we’re still waiting for Conor Bard to score 30 goals, right? Like it’s we have to keep our expectations in line. And I think that, you know, I I think that the learning environment and the team environment that he’d be in with San Jose makes sense. It just kind of makes sense to me. Right. And before we we get to we’ll talk about Sam Dickinson in a second, but one thing that I wanted to check with you guys is you mentioned Misa going to the wing and the Sharks have already stated that they want to put Will Smith back on the wing. That’s that’s what uh was the plan at the end of season availability and I think that they’re going to stick with that. So if they go with Celbrini, Smith, and Weenberg, it’s really hard to see them going with three rookie centers. Actually was joking with the Angel coach about this. We put Celebrini Smith and and Nissa uh as your top three centers. 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old, which probably never happened in NHL history. If you win 38% of your faceoffs on a night, that’s going to be a good night. That’s going to be the the best night of the season. And I know faceoffs aren’t as important as sort of measured as much importance as before, but 38% is a little too low, right? For a good night, it’s a little too important. So what you’re saying Shang is that that’s a good way to get Gavin McKenna. Is that exactly? Yeah. Get him the fourth center in there and put one of the competition to not be in the four se. So but in that scenario though then so Michael from what I understand just to confirm with you guys is that he’s most likely to play left wing then. Right. That’s that’s what I’ve seen that he’s that’s the wing position that he’s played the most um outside of center. Yes. Yes. If you were to slot at the wing that’s where he would play. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. I would absolutely be I I’ve never seen Will Smith as a center in the NHL. I I would be I would be if I’m San Jose, I would be very very sure that like I would really really push Misa at center instead of Smith if it’s if it comes down to a choice between the two, especially if they said at the end of season availability that like that’s kind of the plan. But Will Smith, like I love Will Smith to death, but like I just don’t think he’s an NHL center and never really have. Maybe maybe there’s something in his game that I’ve missed or anything, but I think that I think that it I would much rather have Smith like Brock, you mentioned Misa’s play at center sort of unlocking a lot. I think that’s just by how he like I think you’re doing him a disservice by putting him on the wing like just to play him more. Like to me, I think that’s not the long-term solution. So if the long-term plan is Smith on the wing, Misa up the middle, that would make a ton of sense to me. And I would definitely as soon as this season like you know obviously two centers even two rookie centers 18 and 19 years old is is tough but also one is Mlin Celerini who was amazing last year I thought and and and Misa I think will be capable you know and I and and again like it’s the the expectations are pretty limited I would think you know obviously you don’t want to be losing nine out of 10 games again but you know you can you can take the learning period so for me you mentioning that about Will Smith. I didn’t know, but that makes a ton of sense to me. Yeah, it might be one of those things where they try Will in the beginning and then very quickly they they pull the the Kane out. That’s what they did actually last year with Will. They started Will at center last year, but within a month of that, they’re like, “Eh, you know what? Well, that’s when start to pick up too, right?” Yeah. Exact. Exact. And that’s kind of what I’m saying is like both of those players, their games kind of pick up when they play those their role those roles, right? Like that. So, I would say try to lean into that. Yeah. Yeah. But let’s let’s let’s go back to to Sam Dickinson here a little bit and um like we talked about a little bit with Michael Misa here. Which of Sam Dickinson’s skills are like what do you think will translate immediately to the NHL with with the Sam Dickinson? The skating ability. I mean that’s that’s that’s the first thing, right? I mean he’s an NHL level skater right now. He he’s a he’s a top I would say top 40. I’d feel very confident saying top 40 NHL skating defender right right now. Top 40 among all the defensive in the league. Yeah, I honestly truly believe that as a skater just ability, it’s still so impressive in terms of his overall mobility that I I would feel pretty confident saying that just as I would say like Matthew Schaefer would be probably top 20 already in the league. Um the other components of his game, I think it’s just a little bit less confident. Um yeah. Well, we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that in a second. But I wanted to hear Will is skating too. Is that what is like that is his like skill, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think for a defenseman like in I’d say like 85% of the of the things that you need skating to do as a defenseman, he’s like there. Like I I think that he has so many areas of the game and areas of the ice where when he’s using his feet it is he’s and he knows how to use it like and there’s no real issue and especially when he’s got the puck on his stick like he can wheel up from below the goal line and then just take right off and not many guys can do it like that and that’s always been the thing that that’s been the draw for me to him is just that on puck like do like just confidence and dominance and and the energy and his skating ability. I Yeah, like in that sense, yeah, I would say that the NHL, he can keep up, I would think. You know, it would it would probably be an adjustment, but he he not a failure, I don’t think. Right. Right. And and that’s something that the Hunters have really done well to to allow uh him to do to to foster. Um you know, the Hunters aren’t necessarily known for that from from their defense core. Um, but they’ve done a really good job allowing Sam to to be extremely aggressive in activation. Um, you know, they’ve kind of given the green light at all times to to try to make something happen. Um, you know, and sometimes that means, yeah, there there have been some issues with turnovers. There have been um, you know, some issues with puck management. I think that they were better this year than they were in his draft year. Um, you know, but it’s something that he’s going to have to continue to clean up. but he’s not going to get better unless he’s given that green light at the junior level, right? So, you know, kudos to to the Hunters to allow him to to play that aggressively um because it’s allowed him to to make some improvements and I think that area of his game as Will said is the area that’s going to translate the best at least right now. Yeah. So similarly similar to Misa’s question, you know, I think there’s a little bit more concern about Dickinson obviously being in a defensive position, but also, you know, what sort of things are you guys concerned about in terms of translation to the NHL for Dickinson? And is his skating good enough to, you know, when he has a defensive lapse to sort of make up for that with his skating ability somewhat? Is is it that good skating? Well, I’ll let you take that one if you want first. Yeah, I mean I think I think with him I mentioned like with regards to his skating like that 85% is is already there, but to me the 15% that kind of isn’t can be very important for a defenseman. And that’s the part where I think it’s not it’s a question mark, right? Like I I went and watched a couple of games of his from the Memorial Cup before this just to see what he was doing most recently. And I mean, look, like I I think I think on the rush and and and when he can close a gap and find a way to close the gaps, like his stick checking and how he uses his feet to like position himself in lanes and everything really really good. Like that is not really a concern for me. But it is that like real close quarters defending, right? like when guys really attack him with the puck wide or you know uh try to sort of physically hold him off of of you know like they get through that stick check and then try to sort of like the the the speed of the NHL that that a defenseman is required to defend at is really tough and that’s I think the thing that might be an issue and then the other thing too is dealing with NHL for checks right like if you want to be that if you want to be that puck carrying reliable defenseman out of your own end you better have a lot of skill and you have a better you better have a good ability to read an oncoming forch check and judge the speed of it and and know who’s coming at you and and like it requires a lot and so it’ll be I think it’s just going to be a matter of like where he finds his comfort zone more than anything you know like where he can push the envelope a little bit learning what his limits are pushing them comfortably but I think more than anything my whole issue with him last year was a lot of this real real close quarters like along the boards in front of the net defending where I kind of went, oh boy, like we’ve got a ways to go here. But then also that especially defensive zone puck management where sometimes you sort of go, it’s better than it was though, for sure. Especially as rush defense is better than it was, but there are definitely some areas where I think for a defenseman too, it’s like those are those are some key things that might might might change the pros and cons of his game at the NHL level for me. Yeah, I think retrieval routes uh is something I think that he’s kind of at a point now where he, you know, as he matures and as he gains experience at the OA level, he understands the sort of advantage that his skating ability can give him at that level. So, it’s kind of created some bad habits sometimes. I I feel like he doesn’t always take the best routes to retrieve pucks and it puts himself sort of at a disadvantage sometimes to handle the forche as Will said. And at the NHL level, that’s that’s going to be an issue. Um, because he’s not going to be able to rely solely on his feet to get him out of trouble. Um, and and I think the other sort of concern that I’d have is sort of something that will brought up in talking about you you want him to to be confident. You want him to to continue to play the way that he is in London, which is aggressive offensively because that’s when he’s at his best. Um, I think we saw at the World Juniors most recently, he and and Cameron definitely were not on the same page and you could see that he made some mistakes early on in the tournament, his role was kind of altered and he kind of reverted to a bit of a shell. Um, and the end of that tournament didn’t go incredibly well for him because I felt like he he just kind of wasn’t disengage is is the wrong word, but I feel like he was just hesitant. he didn’t really know or understand how he was supposed to help the team um because he felt you could tell that there was some apprehensiveness in terms of taking those offensive chances because you know he was afraid of making those mistakes and you know if he makes those early on in his NHL career you know and he gets benched or he gets scratched or whatever you know what kind of impact is that going to have on his psyche is it going to be the same sort of thing where he sort of verts into that shell um and you don’t want that you want his offensive game to to flourish. You want him to develop into a top flight offensive defender. You want him to be a power play quarterback. You want him to be that guy that’s that’s able to put points up. Uh and you know, obviously you want his defensive game to to continue to improve. Um but you know, maybe that’s in year two or year three of NHL career where San Jose’s at right now. you know, they have to be if they’re if they’re going to take Sam on their roster and play him on a nightly basis, I think you have to just live with some of those mistakes that are going to happen because if you ask him to alter his game, I don’t think it’s going to go well for, you know, his development. I I think you kind of have to you can’t clip his wings, right? You you have to let him, you know, find out and figure out, you know, how he can play the way that he needs to play. Um, rather than trying to fit him into a box. Um, so I think maybe that would be another concern that that I would have. Um, you know, maybe his decision- making as well mentioned maybe isn’t quite NHL ready yet and it could sort of put a cap on on his actual upside uh if he were to be rushed to the NHL. Right. And Brock, you touched on a great point that leads to my next question. listening to what you guys are saying and of course we don’t know the season hasn’t started yet but it doesn’t sound like with Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson that you would project that they have the kind of immediate NHL impact that a Minabbrini had because Mlin is just Mlin and so that kind of leads to maybe the bigger question uh the the more important thing is their long-term development and so do you think that they are whether it’s physically or mentally are they better serve staying in the NHL all year or returning to juniors to protect them or another way to put it is could a year of struggling someone in the NHL like can they grow from that or could it ruin them and we’ve seen this with defenseman especially that uh you’re in the NHL struggling seeing that red light behind you a lot that is a a huge mental barrier to overcome so anyway wanted to just hear what you guys thought about that? Uh, I mean, sorry. No, go ahead, Will. Yeah. Okay. I mean, it it’s tough, right? Like I think I think the whole thing too is like there that we’re we’re in in in the summer fall 2025. Like it’s a tough time to know things, right? Cuz cuz I personally like I watched Sam Dickinson in the OHL last year and I go I don’t know what he’s like if he comes back next year like what’s the point, right? Like, but is he an NHL defenseman? I don’t know. I really am not sure. Michael Misa I am much more confident in as like he’ll be fine. He’ll figure something out. They’ll be able to work with it. And like there’s not as much concern for me. But with Dickinson, like again, the OL there’s a lot of players leaving. You know, a lot of guys, you know, they’re going to trend younger. Maybe not immediately and maybe next year will be fine. So maybe everything will be fine. But it’s hard to know. And so for me, I I look at it and go, Sam Dickinson also is going to be losing a lot of his fun toys to play with this year. You know, London’s losing Denver Barky, East Cowan, uh a number of players that were important to that team are gone. And so when he goes back, is he going to play half an hour, 40, you know, like what is he what and if he does, then what’s the benefit? But is he an NHL defenseman? So what’s the right path forward? And I think again like I I think you’re right Shang saying that the like you don’t want to be an NHL level defenseman and see the red light on all the time and everything. But at the same time all of these things like are about it’s sometimes I feel like it’s not necessarily always about the events that happen on the ice but how you handle the events that happen on the ice. And that’s that’s and that’s a human behavior response right. So, like if the environment that he is in is like, look, we know you’re going to make mistakes. This is the player you are. We’re going to find a way to to massage you into the lineup in a way that makes sense without without, like you said, Brock, clipping your wings, then that’s what they might try to do. And if the right people are in the environment, then he should be able to handle those red lights going on more than they should as like, okay, baby steps in the right direction. The thing for me though, like when I look at San Jose’s roster as they are right now, I totally forgot who they landed in in free agency this summer, but they have a lot of Sam Dickinsons. Like they already have Timothy Ljigrin, they have Dmitri Orof now, they have John Clingberg, Shakir Mukulan, like all of these defensemen have similar profiles, right? Where the offensive game, the puck carrying, the possession game is is even a little bit. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And but the but beyond that the the finer details the defensive game I’m less concerned about Ljigrin in that in that regard but Clingberg and Orlov and maybe Muka Madulan all have these sort of Sam Dickinson like pros and cons lists where it kind of goes well what is he going to bring that complements those guys like what’s the what’s the job he’s going to have because if he’s not that possessionheavy defenseman that’s sort of the way the one that the puck flows through a lot then what is he and I don’t know what the answer to that is so That leaves me with a lot less confidence about what what his job is going to be in the NHL if he’s there. And if that’s the case, that’s where I feel like you can start to think about ruining a guy where it’s like we don’t know what his job is going to be because there’s so many 30-year-old guys who’ve been doing it for 15 years on the roster and you know, so maybe London does make sense. It it just also sucks because they’re adding a rule that I think would be perfect for Sam Dickerson where they could slap him in the AHL for a year at 19 years old and call it a day. That’s the that’s the part that, you know, luckily they’re fixing it, but it’s a tricky spot to be in if I’m if I’m saying Jose, especially considering who they signed in the summer this year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly what I was going to say. Like it’s it’s unfortunate because the rule that’s being put in place is exactly for players like Dickinson. Yeah. Um, you know, if he were to be able to play in the AHL, he could play on the power play. He could play, you know, 21 22 minutes a night in the top four in the AHL. You know, you can live with some of the mistakes he’s going to make. Um, the game’s just a a smidge slower. You’re still getting the strength component that he’s going to need defensively. I mean, it would be the perfect scenario, but I mean, there’s no point talking about it because it’s just not an option, right? So, yeah. Um, it’s unfortunate, but I mean, like you said, they are fixing it and and it’s great that they’re going to have that flexibility moving forward. I mean, not great for the CHL. Um, but ultimately, we’re talking about player development. It should be what’s best for the players. Yeah. So, let’s let’s try predictions. Misa and Dickinson, full year in the NHL or not? Misa, yes. Dickinson, no. That’s my thought. Agreed. Okay. Okay. All right. And then here’s another prediction question for me then. Since you guys think that Misa will stay the whole season in the NHL, give me a point prediction. Is he on the power play? Yeah, I I think they’re scoring that 42. Yeah, I was going to say 40. I was going to say 40. Yeah, like half a point a game. 40. Maybe like a Yeah, like a 1723 kind of year. Yeah. 1535. You know, if he’s playing, look, if he’s playing with Will Smith on his wing or something next year, those two are going to be a problem for other teams in the offensive zone with how much they I think complement each other. Like the thing I love about Michael Misa is that, you know, he scored 62 goals this year or whatever it was. Like he p pushed 70 and you don’t and it’s and he didn’t do it in the way that me I can be a chromogen about, right? It’s not like he was just getting out to the boards turning and firing and going over the shoulder of some 16-year-old who, you know, has an 822 save percentage in the season, right? Like, he’s not doing that. He’s tipping pucks. He’s getting rebounds. He’s attacking the net, but he also can shoot the puck. Like, he’s a great mid-range shooter. Like, he scores in a lot of different ways. And so, if he’s playing with a guy like a Will Smith who is very, very, very good at finding guys in scoring areas and very, very good playing with the puck, then those two could really do some damage together. And who knows, right? Like maybe there’s a 50 or 60 point season there. 30 goals 30 is 25 is I don’t know like right he all it takes all it takes is a couple of rebounds a couple of tips in front and Misa does that kind of thing right so so who knows but I would say like a yeah like Brock said like a 15 25 17 23 type year I think is reasonable. I it’s interesting how you bring up Misa and Smith in your mind being a a very complimentary duel or a strong duel potentially. Yeah. potentially. What kind of player do you think would be their their actually their complimentary player? Who do you think would be on on their in his case their left wing? Because Smith played a lot of right wing last year center. You need you need somebody who can drive play down low I would say right like somebody who’s going to be able to take some pressure off Misa being a forch checker. Um you know somebody who can keep plays alive along the wall. Somebody who can get to the net. Yeah. I mean perhaps depend depending on how other parts of his game develop but you know maybe even a guy like Musty depending on if the you know the physical engagement becomes a little bit more consistent right there are some players in San Jose system that you know maybe fit that role or they don’t even have to I mean once San Jose gets to a point where these younger players start paying off you know that’s when you can dip into free agency for somebody that could you know fill that kind of role or or you make a trade You you trade from your prospect depth, make a big deal, and you bring in a veteran who’s going to be able to play that kind of role. Yeah. Okay. Like a like a Sam Bennett, like that that kind of Yeah. Yeah. That’s a mentality would be would be great. I I mean, there’s not only so many of those guys floating around the league. It doesn’t have to be that Yeah. Barkley Gdro today, but you try to find someone else later. I don’t know. You know, like something like that. Barkley Gro like three years ago, right? Yes. Exactly. You know, temporary band-aid for now, you know, the band-aid over the crack in the concrete, you know. Right. Right. Right. Okay. Okay. Okay. Um, so you guys have kind of touched on this, but just want to check in on this because this is a real possibility for the both of them. If Misa or Dickinson, they end up in the OHL, what can they still learn there? Well, I mean, Dickinson, like it’s what we already talked about, right? It’s it’s decision- making and puck management and defensive play. um it’s developing into the OHL’s best all-around defender and not just one of the OHL’s best offensive defenders and and I think that’s sort of the big one for him. Maybe that’s in London. Uh London finds a way as we’ll said is a bit of a we’ll call it a retool in London, but yeah, I mean London tends to find a way. They they always do um to hang around the middle part of of the standings even when it doesn’t look like they should be able to. I mean, they’re still going to have a good defense. They’re still going to have good goalending. um just a matter of finding the scoring. Um and I think the Hunters will find a creative way to do that. Um whereas Sageno, they’ve brought in a lot of different players this off seasonason to try to fill in some gaps of of guys that have left. So I don’t really know if we can say what to expect from from them um in the OHL. I mean, if they get Michael Misameac, sure. I mean, maybe, you know, they’re they’re challenging in the Western Conference. Maybe it’s a situation like we’ve seen in previous years where San Jose kind of draws things out. Um Misa ends up maybe going to play at the World Juniors and then gets returned after the World Juniors, gets returned to, you know, the possibility of a trade to another team that’s, you know, looking like a an OHL favorite or a World Cup favorite. Um and he sort of negotiate that. So he’s really only playing maybe 30 games uh in the OHL. Um, we’ve seen that with with other higher profile players over the years. Um, it’s just going to depend on how some of these teams start the year. Uh, I think that’s going to be very telling. Um, because, uh, you know, I think that, as we talked about earlier, it does seem likely that these guys get a bit of a look at the beginning of the season and with the way that the junior season, you know, is is positioned, you know, that’s going to take them out of the first probably 10 games of their OHL season at least. So Brock, on to you and then we’ll go to Will real quick. Long-term ceilings, Misa and Dickinson and any NHL comps that you guys see. Um, okay. So long-term ceiling for for Misa, I think you’re looking at, you know, a potential 4040 guy every year. I think that that’s that’s his ceiling. You know, he’s a a consistent 80point guy. Um, you know, somebody that’s going to be a consistent all-star, one of the better offensive players in the league. I do truly believe that, you know, his ceiling is is incredibly high. Um Dickinson, yeah, the same thing. He’s going to be somebody that could run power play one. Um especially as a trigger man with his big point shot. Uh you know, he’s going to score a lot of points on the power play potentially. You know, I I think you look at like the impact a guy like a former Luna Knight has had in Evan Buchard, right? I think maybe not they’re not similar players in terms of their skating ability. Dickinson is a is a way better skater than than Evan ever was. But I think in terms of employment, I think maybe that’s sort of like what you’re hoping for for Dickinson. You know, a guy that runs the top power play unit with all those talented players that that they have up front. Um, you know, maybe a consistent like 50point defender. Um, I I think that that’s what you’re hoping for. Uh, in terms of a comp, uh, I’ll think about it. I’ll let Wills talk about the ceiling for a Yeah, I mean I uh I I largely agree with Brock. I think that’s like absolutely the peak of his potential. I think the big thing with Misa is going to be the speed of the NHL and adapting to like I think his style of play will be just fine in terms of producing offense, but it’s going to be a matter of how often he’s going to be able to generate those chances, how often he’s going to be able to get, you know, how much power play time he’s going to get because when you look at the Sharks roster up front, they’ve got a lot of offensive skill and a lot of offensive talent. And so it might just come down to like luck of the draw, like who’s playing on the power play. And that could be a big thing with this production. But for me, like a one-two punch of Celabbrini, one two and Misa up the middle is I I who cares who’s your number one and who’s your number two, right? You just play them and those guys can probably eat up a ton of minutes and do so really really well. So for me like I I I always have seen Michael Misa as just a fascinating like example of a guy who just seems to just get the game in both directions, right? Like a guy who like I what I said during the season quite a bit was like he has the same sort of abilities in in terms of how he plays as like a Sydney Crosby where it’s like he’s not big and heavy and physical. He’s not a sniper. He’s not a playmaker. He’s not anything but he’s just kind of good. Like he gets it. He he he if you leave him alone, he can score with an open shot, but if you leave him alone, he can tip it. He can he can set up a play. He can play defensively, but he’s not that super intense guy, but he’s not obviously not Sydney Crosby, but it’s that vibe. So, like a Nico Heir comes to mind. Maybe not quite as skilled, but like that two-way presence, the smarts, right? Everything there is kind of there. And just solid like point a game, 70 points, but like really good minutes, you know? Again, I wouldn’t expect him to be like, you know, throwing hits every night, but I I don’t think he’s the type of player who benefits from that. So, I’ve always seen like a Sydney Crosby like template, but just not, you know, one of the greatest in the world level. You know what I mean? So, if that if that helps, I hope that helps. You know, it helps any team, right? Yeah. All right. So, prop for Dickson, anyone? Ah, oh, I forgot about Dickinson. There you go. That shows what I Yeah. Um, I mean, Dickinson is Dickinson is interesting because I feel like Yeah, like Evan Buchard is an interesting one. A Morgan Riley kind of comes to mind like early early career Morgan Riley was a little bit of a horse and was a little bit you had to sort of let him go and in his own end sometimes you were like I just am going to have to live with with the with the problems here. But, you know, and and it took a long time to find the right person to play with Morgan Riley. And even when they did find the right person, it didn’t last very long, you know, like it it’s it’s a matter of like where I I but but Morgan Riley did improve in the areas where he was really deficient at the beginning of his career and he’s a guy who like loves to carry the puck. He loves to have it. He’s a great skater. You know, maybe there’s something similar there. Um Noah Dobson is one that I see around a lot. I think that’s that’s not bad. I think that’s that’s probably maybe as close as you can get. U at least in terms of how you project them to be effectively anyway. I think in terms of deployment, I I do think that San Jose is probably hoping that he can be a Bushard type. Uh like we talked about, I think that the point shot and how it’s utilized on the power play as a weapon is is something that you’re going to look at. Uh if you’re saying and if you’re not uh I think they’re doing it wrong. Um, but uh I think that’s that’s what you want to aim for. You you want that to be a big weapon uh for your power play moving forward because I mean that’s that’s how it is uh at the OHL level. It’s kind of how it’s always been for Dickinson. Okay. Well, we spent so much time talking about Dickinson and Nissa that let’s let’s close off the show with let’s let’s touch on this a hat tip to the these many wingers OHL wingers that the Sharks have in their system. And so here’s just a general question about Eigor Chernop, Quentyn Musty, and Casper Hen for you guys. It doesn’t seem like like you guys feel that that these any of these three will make the NHL this year, but if you were to pick one of them, who do you think is the most likely and why between Churnishov, Musty, and Hal? Churnishov. Yep. Easy. Easy. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I would agree. I do think I think that his game is is the most mature of the three of them. I think when you look at Halton, he’s going to have to learn how to utilize his shot. Sure. Uh, you know, and adjust the speed of of the pro game and how, you know, how to find a ways to get open, find ways to to be a differencemaker away from the puck. Uh, I think his skating has improved uh in his OHL career thus far, but I think it, you know, there’s still, you know, a need to improve it even further there. Um, physical engagement is inconsistent. Um, so I I think that there’s there’s a need for him to round out his game other than being that guy that that’s got that killer one-time. Um, and I don’t think San Jose wants him to just be a onenote player. Um, you know, they don’t want a Mike Hoffman type on the power play and that’s it, right? They want a guy that that’s going to be able to to be a contributor in a lot of different ways. So, I I can’t see him pushing for an NHL roster spot. They’re going to want him playing, you know, decent minutes in the AHL. They’re going to want him getting power play time for sure. Um, you know, musty maybe last year I would have said that might have been the case, but I I don’t know. I would maybe it’s sounding harsh, but I would say that his game maybe took a little bit of a step back. Right. You mentioned this on a show before. Yeah. Yeah. I I think that some of the positive things that we saw from from him in terms of improving his his defensive play, his his physical engagement, I think all of that kind of reverted back a little bit to his draft year um this past season. Um, and and maybe the light goes on. You know, maybe he’s at training camp and, you know, you know, he, for lack of a better term, beasts out. Um, but I think he’s a guy that that needs some age time. I think that, you know, he he needs to figure out how he needs to play consistently to to be an impact player at the pro level. um whereas Chernosave, you know, step right into the OHL and he was an impact player because he does a lot of little things well and he found some instant chemistry with with Michael Misa for for that reason as well. Um you know there he’s a guy that I don’t think has a ton of weaknesses in his game. I think that he is a very well-rounded player. um especially, you know, in the offensive end, you know, maybe, yeah, there there are some things that he can do to improve his play away from the puck, you know, in the neutral zone, in the defensive end. Um, but I think that he’s somebody that supports play well in the offensive end. I think that he is a guy that, you know, can drive possession. Um, I think he’s skilled enough. I think he’s smart enough. Um, I was really impressed with his play in the OHL this year and I think that he of the three has the potential to move the quickest. Okay. Okay. Will, what do you think of these three? Pretty much exactly agreed. I am most skeptical of Haltonin. I mean, I I I uh with him it’s like he he kind of checks a lot of the boxes for at the very best for me like a long-term project, right? Like I think his game is very limited as it is. Like I mean again I I agree the skating is better than it was but it was when he was a draft eligible it was bad. And like it was he was slow and not very skilled and but he could hammer a hockey puck. Like he can shoot. And so it’s like but to me the whole thing the old the whole thing with guys who shoot really well is like that’s the end of a chain of events. And if you’re only really useful at the end of the chain of events that everyone else needs to work at, then what value do you bring? Right? And so for me that I agree like I agree with Brock. Like I think he’s a guy where you you you do need to see more engagement, use the tools that he’s got more and and I think he’s at best like you’re going to see him compleimement some really heavy possession players. Like I could see him kind of in the same vein as like a Clim Cen with a shot because but he does need to learn that sort of I’m going to rip your head off instinct because he does have that that edge in his game sometimes. Like I remember his draft here. He was throwing some big hits in a men’s league in Finland and you’re going I could see why NHL teams really like this guy. He can hit and he can shoot. The rest is a work in progress, but we’ll see. So I will be very I think he’s an AHL baby steps up guy and maybe he’s in the NHL. Musty I think the floor is similar with Musty where it’s like I am I but he’s the type of player where I watch him and I just want to grab him by the shoulders and go, “Do you have any idea how good you are?” like you it’s but because there are moments where you go what is he thinking? What is going on in this guy’s brain? Right? Like I don’t understand like the defensive end of things sometimes moving the puck he will have some mystifying moments where you’re like he’s his head’s not really in the game but when he’s ripping he can rip. And so it’s like what are you going to get with that? And I find that over time coaches, if you have a high off high offense sort of skilled guy, when they are unreliable, that’s when coaches go, I would rather play someone more reliable without maybe as much skill because I just know what I’m going to get out of them rather than what Musty can be, which is a bit of a wild card. Cherishave, I love Cherishave. I think he is a great example of the type of player that I think Halton and could be where it’s like he compliments and augments guys like Will Smith so or Will Yeah, Will Smith is another one but Michael Misa too. William Ecklund like I think he compliments those types of players so well with regards to if you need a guy to help you out, take some pressure off you in the offensive zone, you know, or entering the offensive zone in the neutral zone, he can skill it up. He can make a play. He can go to the net. He can shoot from mid-range. He can power down low and do all the things you need a forward to do pretty well. So, there’s a lot of things that he brings. But again, like if you’re expecting a 200 foot impact, you know, play driving, you know, super steel on day two of the draft, I don’t think he’s that. But I think he is a very very very good complimentary option to have on the on the roster. similar. It’s very similar to kind of how I feel about an Anton Fondell this year where it’s like you’re gonna you’re probably not the guy on a second or first line in the NHL, but I could see you augmenting those types of players really really well and looking like you belong there, especially on the wings. So for that, I see Cherishave really positively and other than that, I think the other two are pro are doub doubtable, but yeah, but much less so than than a Chair, I think. Okay. Okay. Henin. I don’t know if you guys are fans of the Mighty Ducks movie. Uh he strikes me as Fton Reed. Is that there’s a little bit of that to him. Yeah, I think. Yeah, he had a he scored important goals for the team, you know, like he he had a he had his moments. I wanted to ask you finally to kind of close off here then with each of these three guys then Jernishoff Musky and Halton just it’s of course it’s hard to hard to predict obviously because they’re all of them entering their first full pro seasons here but where do you see their ceilings? Do you have any comp NHL comps for them? So do do you think these guys make it basically is sort of the the the put up or shut up shut up question that we’re going to end with here. Um, so here’s something that I’ve said before, be it on podcasts, be be it to people, you know, with my background in education, one thing that I kind of always have believed in is that that sort of competitive drive that that willingness to engage physically, to be that, you know, dog on a bone. That’s something that you’re born with. I don’t think that’s something that you necessarily learn. I think that’s something that’s innate. You’re you’re either Yeah. you’re either really that kind of driven person. You’re that Brady Martin type, you know, who’s out there every shift, you know, competing and and playing physical or you’re not. And I think that we’ve seen so many players come through junior, come through the NCAA, come through Europe, where, you know, the the red flag against them as draft eligible players is, well, you know, the physical consistency, the physical engagement is consistent. And I would harbor a guess in saying that the majority of those players, that’s the reason that they’re not able to reach their ceilings. Um, so that’s something that I kind of believe in. And that’s sort of my worry with with guys like Musty and Halton, right? Two guys who, you know, you want them to to be a little bit harder on pucks. You want them to be a little bit more physically engaged. You want that consistency there. You want them to, as Will said, you want them to figure out how dominant they could be if if they were just physically dialed in every shift. Um, using some of their physical gifts, right? Um, not just their their tools offensively as as skilled players. Um, and I don’t know, is that something that they end up developing? Is it is it not? I mean, very few guys end up, you know, having that light bulb sort of turn on as pro players. Um, you know, it’s sort of a reason that I was a little bit skeptical of a guy like Lynon Lakovich uh this year at the draft. You know, similar kind of guy, right, with similar kind of red flags. You know, you want he’s a big guy who happens to be skilled that you want him to play, you know, a sort of harder game more consistently. Um, so, you know, for Musty and Haltonin, um, I I mean, I hope they do. Um, I think there’s a there’s a place in the NHL for them potentially, even if that light bulb doesn’t come on to be sort of, you know, consistent physical players, but I don’t know if they’ll ever sort of reach the ceiling that they would have. And that ceiling would be as as top six forwards in my opinion. You know, if both of these guys reach their ceiling, they are top six forwards. Whereas a guy like Chernos, I think that there’s an NHL player there even if the offensive ceiling isn’t reached. I think there’s a place in the NHL for him, you know, as as a potential bottom six guy who can be sort of a role player as as Will said, somebody who’s a supportive piece, whereas, you know, if Musty and Halton aren’t I I don’t think that they’re NHL players. If if they’re not top six guys, if they’re not on your power play unit, um I don’t know if they’re they’re NHL pieces. Okay. Yeah, I would agree with pretty much all of that. I think I think there that Musty is a fascinating type of player. Like I think Brock is correct. Mo I mostly agree with the whole like there are certain things that I think you’re born with. Like it it just changes the equation really. Like it becomes way more like playing just based off of your talent. Look, I live in Toronto. I saw Phil Kessle do it for 10 years, right? like he had all the talent in the world and did not really care to go beyond what he’s capable of. And like fair enough, you know, you’re Phil Kessle, you can do that, but you cannot expect that to be a universal strategy for guys like him. And I see similarities in a guy like Musty where you’re just like it just the way he plays, it comes off as though not every shift is the same approach, not every shift is the same mentality, not every shift is the same focus level. and and it and that can be like when there are millions of dollars on the line, you know, there is a huge the stage in the NHL is enormous. Like it’s a reason a lot of people complain about how little young players play in Europe for the draft or something, but the guys who run those teams, it’s their job and like they need to keep their teams afloat. So if they’re 18year-old is not helping them, they’re not going to play them. And so in this case in the NHL, the same applies. So, if you can’t trust a player, they’re not going to play you as much unless you can outperform. It’s like, oh, I screwed up that one shift, but I still scored a goal and an assist. It’s like, okay, it’s a little frustrating, but like whatever, we got there, right? So, it’s going to be tricky with him on that. Halton, I just think his stop his actual output of play, I think, is the furthest from the NHL, but it could get there in a role player’s role, I would say. Like, again, I mentioned a Klim C for example before. I think he’s a better shooter than a Glen Cen, but if he can learn that sort of physical edge to his game that I have seen here and there, then maybe there’s a more down the lineup type role for him. With regards to Musty, that’s a really tough one to to sort of project as an NHL type player because they’re just I just don’t really know of a I can’t think of one off the top of my head where there’s this like high high talent level, but sometime like a Daniel Sprung maybe where you’re just like you’re getting 40 points, you’re getting 40 50 points, but like at what cost, right? It’s like there are times where it’s just a bit of a hair pulling thing. But hey, Daniel Sprung scores and scores and scores. So, like you kind of take it or leave it, right? But I agree with Brock on the competitive side of things, and I think you can tell when you watch players. The guy I’ve kind of always thought of with Musty was Thomas Vanic. Um, okay. Ah, that’s a good one. That kind of guy who’s going to put up points, but, you know, maybe is jumping around teams because, yeah, you’re kind of always wanting that that little bit more. Um, and depending on what your team needs at that current moment, you know, maybe you don’t need that kind of player. Um, or maybe you do. Maybe you need somebody on your power play, right? So, I think that a guy like Vanic, you know, who had some really successful years uh in the NHL, you know, could be a comp. It’s kind of the one that I’ve always sort of thought of with Musty. Yeah, I really I really like the Phil Kessle one because Phil Kessle was supposed to be a number one pick. He ended up being a top five pick and but not everybody has Phil Kessle talent that they can just score goals and eat hot dogs. Yeah. Yeah. Also too, the other part about Phil Kesso is people talk about, oh, he’s a Staling Cup winner, but he had to go to a place where he was surrounded by he he had to go to a place where he became like the fourth best player or the fifth best player, right? And so, so that’s that’s not the example that you want players to necessarily shoot for. Not everybody can do that. Kind of just roll off the roll roll out of bed and pop in a hat-tick. So, but if you get a Phil Kessle in the draft at the end of the first round, sure. That’s what Quinton Musty, not that Quinton Musty’s not Phil Kessle, right? But, you know, uh I don’t know. I mean, look, the hot dogs are what kept me out of the NHL. So, maybe that’s maybe that’s just a prompt, but yeah. No, we’ll see what happens. But it’s that brand for sure. No, but I like these comps though. Castle and Vanic though. Yeah, for most I would say. Is there any part of his development that you guys think is also just playing on the Wolves? because you know as you guys know he asked for a trade out of there and they just play that super offensive game and that’s partially it and also Brock you said he took a step back this season he also had a big injury right at the beginning of the year so I don’t know how much of the Wolves and you know Sbury’s game and also the injury also stagnated some of his defensive side of the game and also just development this season. Well, I I mean, you kind of can also twist that into what I was mentioning earlier about, you know, being that dog on a bone and being born with it, right? Like, you can take that situation and you can be that leader that that team needs and, you know, take them to the promised land. I mean, you look at the situation that Michael Misa was faced with Sagena this year. Um, I mean, you know, his his winger is his his top winger was not even on the team heading into the year and was a castoff from the NDP, right? Um, so you know, he came into that situation and really ran with it as that leader that Sagenot needed, right? So, you know, I could flip that script and say, you know, I don’t really care for that as an excuse, right? Like, you’re in a program, you have that responsibility to be the best that you can be in that program and and to to try to lead that team to the to the best of of your capability. Um, and you know, we’re not talking about Subbury like they were Peterborough this year where they were, you know, scrambling to try to find wins on a nightly basis. They they were a decent team. Um, and, you know, there shouldn’t have been frustration there. It’s not like they were losing every single game, right? If if you’re on a bottom feeding team and your trade request is, you know, isn’t met, maybe I can see it. um especially if it’s your last year in junior. But at the end of the day, uh I just I don’t know if I agree with that kind of mentality. I would I would prefer the a player who sees that as a challenge and and wanting to accept that challenge. Yeah, Brock, that’s a good good way to end there. So with the the elbow, no mercy. I Hey, I I think that’s pretty reasonable, honestly. You know, it’s uh I’m with you. Yeah. Well guys, really really appreciate your time here. This was a great chat. Uh just uh just so much fun to talk to you, talk to you guys and talk with the the smartest guys watching OHL hockey out there. So really really appreciate it. So just want to close off again. Uh so follow Brock Uton. Um his Twitter handle, that’s just your name actually, Brock Oton, right? And he is the director of scouting at McKain’s hockey and he has a blog spot, OHL prospect. So if you can find it, that’s how I discovered and met Brock a long long time ago. Good. Probably a good decade ago, actually. Yeah, I think maybe even older than that. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Right. And Will uh Will Scouching, of course, you can find at Scouching CA. That’s where you can subscribe. He also has a a a business of scouting, Fractal Hockey. And um your YouTube is it also Scouching, too? Oh, yeah. Big time. Okay. All right, guys. enjoy the rest of the summer and we’ll talk with you soon. Okay. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thanks very much. Anytime. [Music]

The San Jose Hockey Now Podcast is sponsored by Bring Hockey Back!

Two of the OHL’s top analysts, Brock Otten (McKeen’s Hockey) and Will Scouch (Scouching.ca) (1:03:19), break down whether Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson are NHL-ready and if they can crack the San Jose Sharks lineup this season. We also dive into Sharks winger prospects Quentin Musty, Kasper Halttunen, and Igor Chernysov. We also talk Danil Gushchin trade and bold 2025-26 predictions for the prospects.

00:00 Intro & Sponsor
04:19 Why Danil Gushchin Was Traded
19:27 Oskar Olausson: Can He Break Out with San Jose Sharks?
29:47 Thomas Bordeleau & Sharks Development Shift
37:00 Is Michael Misa Skipping College?
41:00 Is Michael Misa NHL Ready?
44:45 Will Sam Dickinson Make the NHL Roster?
56:00 Should Sharks Keep Collin Graf in NHL?
1:03:19 Roundtable with Brock Otten and Will Scouch: Are Sharks OHL Prospects NHL Ready?
1:07:01 Will Michael Misa Make the San Jose Sharks Roster?
1:15:03 What Role Will Misa Play: Wing or Center?
1:24:00 Is Sam Dickinson NHL Ready or Rushed?
1:49:00 Which Sharks Winger Prospect Makes the NHL First?
1:57:00 Ceilings & NHL Comparisons: Musty, Halttunen, Chernysov
2:06:00 Final Thoughts & Sign-Off