The San Jose Sharks selected some tall players this weekend at the NHL draft in Buffalo, N.Y. But defenseman Alexander Karmanov towers over all of them.

With one pick left on Saturday, the Sharks selected Karmanov, a 7-foot-1, 280-pound defenseman, 201st overall in the seventh round, making him the tallest player ever drafted into the NHL.

Karmanov spent part of this past season with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion. But where the Sharks really got to know Karmanov was at agent Dan Milstein’s camp for his Russian clients earlier this month in South Florida.

“Obviously, he’s not going to get any smaller, and we like the potential,” said Chris Morehouse, the Sharks’ director of amateur scouting, on Saturday. “We obviously understand he’s going to be a long-term project, but he’s a great kid, and he wants to work.

“We’ve got a lot of positive feedback from former coaches, so we’re excited to get him in here with our great development staff and see what we can do with them.”

Karmanov, 18, will attend the Sharks’ development camp this week in San Jose, Milstein confirmed to Bay Area News Group, as he takes another step in his unique journey.

Karmanov was born in 2008 in Moldova but played U16 in Russia and U18 in Belarus before moving to North America, spending the 2024-25 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights U16 AAA team, where he had 23 points in 20 games.

Needless to say, Karmanov has incredible reach for a defenseman, and being around 280 pounds, he can end plays in the defensive zone with a bruising physical style.

 

Without question, Karmanov will need to work on his skating, shooting, and puck-handling to continue advancing. But his imposing presence and raw ability made him one of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s draft. Sunday, his profile was among the most-viewed on HockeyDB and Elite Prospects.

Karmanov was cut by the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs at the start of this past season. But he continued to work on his game with the Brantford Titans of the Greater Ontario Hockey League before he got another chance to compete in the OHL with North Bay, where he was brought along slowly and had two assists in 20 games.

The plan for Karmanov appears to be to return to North Bay this fall before he enrolls at Penn State for the 2027-28 season. If he beats the odds and makes it to the NHL, he would become the tallest player in league history.

“In terms of mobility for that size, stick length, stick reach, competitiveness, first pass type of guy, all those things are there for him,” Morehouse said. “It is eye-popping when you see someone at that size being able to get on the ice and manage play and move pucks, again, it’s a long-term projection.

“But if you look at potentially what could be there, you just never know. I think he’s a very unique athlete, and the more athletes you have, and the more athletic (they are), the better chance they have of continuing on. So we’re excited about that potential.”

Alexander Karmanov is an absolute specimen 😳

Get to know the story behind the seven-foot tall @SanJoseSharks seventh-round pick! #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/NXRRWRFvfp

— NHL (@NHL) June 27, 2026

The Sharks also drafted forward and San Jose native Jake Gustafson at 174th overall. Unsurprisingly, Gustafson, who is 6-foot-4 himself, said he’s never competed against someone as tall as Karmanov.

“It’ll be fun to see him play,” Gustafson said. “I’ve heard a lot about him.”

Other players the Sharks drafted this year were 6-4 defenseman Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9 overall and 6-5 goalie Brady Knowling at No. 127.

The Sharks’ development camp officially begins on Tuesday morning at Sharks Ice in San Jose and ends on Thursday with a scrimmage at Tech CU Arena. Available tickets for the scrimmage, as of Sunday, ranged between $13 and $31.