Tank Talk: Dan Rusanowsky

Tank Talk: Dan Rusanowsky

Rusei, I think a lot of people wonder what happened from two seasons ago to last Shark season, like where did the team improve or get better? I think the biggest thing I noticed was a culture shift. Did you see that, too? And on that note, what did you notice in a culture shift with the Sharks? Well, some of the building blocks have been going on for the last couple of years without question of a doubt. I mean, it’s the changing of the guard, the tear down of the roster, and so until that all of that is done, you really can’t establish the culture that you want. But uh definitely under coach Ryan Warsovski and his staff, I I saw a step forward for the club, a sense of of a compass of the direction that the team is going and a positive direction. So in my mind, these guys were difficult to play against each and every game. They were fun to be around. They enjoyed each other. Uh they were not happy with with losing more games than they won, which I think is an important factor in the culture that has to be accentuated and and encouraged. But I do think that that the general focus has has gone into the right direction for this team. The conversation probably does have to include Mlin and Will and we’ll get to that in just a second. But I also want to talk about Yarlav. We saw enough of him at the NHL level, I think, to get a taste. He obviously had a majority of the rest of his season in the AHL. Also had an injury. But what do we make of of his first impression and also his projection as a Shark? All of his impressions are very good. But I think first of all, he’s got a big personality, and I think that that’s something you love to have in a goalender. He likes to be that good humor guy sometimes in the dressing room to get uh to get people uh not so focused on the the drudgery of the dayto-day and enjoying the game. And I think he does that. I think he does it every time he comes out of the goal crease and handles the puck with three guys on him and does so with confidence and and is able to make plays. that drives a coach crazy, I’m sure, but it certainly enlightens his his teammates as to what he can do. As far as his goalending ability is concerned, I think he’s projected to be a starting goalender in the National Hockey League. And if things go well, he could be an elite goalender in the NHL. That’s why he went 11th overall in the draft because he had that capability. You know, you look at other goalenders that have been drafted in the first round. Spencer Knight is a guy that the Chicago Blackhawks have. He’s somebody that’s still trying to find his way a little bit. On the other side of it, you got Vasilyki who went about 20th to the Tampa Bay Lightning and he became an absolutely elite goalender. So, there are little different types of of of ways you can sort of evaluate these goalending positions at draft time, but the Sharks have never drafted a goalender that high. So, this is somebody unique that they have. As for the future of the goalending position for the Sharks, I think it’s only partially done because San Jose really does need to have more than one goalender in the hopper that’s definitely pushing for a starting job. That’ll be the next thing that happens. And I’m not talking about a veteran that’s here for a couple of years to to sort of stabilize things and you know, sort of the the Mike Vernon or the Kelly Rudy back before you know Barkov was ready to be the starter. They need another guy like a Kippersoft type or a Tuscular type that can push Ascarov to make sure that he’s is at his absolute best. And so it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Sharks continue to as the drafts go on pick goalenders and try to get that next guy. Kipper, Nabi, and Toscala was the golden age of of Sharks goending depth. It really was. So outside of 71 and outside of two, we’ll get to them in just a second. Who was another Young Sharks player this year that caught your eye or that you feel not enough people were talking about? Well, the one player that nobody’s talking about is uh is Igor Chernishoff. He’s somebody that just got here. He was injured for much of the year. But everything that I’m hearing about this kid is that he might actually be ready to play in the NHL next year. And if that’s the case, that’s a big big boost. Aside from him, I’d say that Luca Canon is somebody that’s really impressed me given the the fact that Lane Hudson has had such a success with the Montreal Canadians. You look at the two guys, you say, can Lane Hudson be sort of the future path for somebody like Luca Canon? If he is anything close to that, the Sharks have gotten a steal for a draft pick. And of course, um, you know, some of the other guys that haven’t even gotten here yet. But, you know, we’ve talked about Colin Graph being a big surprise to the coaching staff. I’ve just been so impressed with his uh attention to detail and his ability to uh to make plays and to accept a role that maybe was different than one that he’s had before. He wants to be in the NHL and he wants to be a big part of the team. Those are a couple of names that I think that come to mind. And of course, we’re going to be really excited to see uh people like Dickinson and whoever they draft, you know, here, Musty coming up as another guy, but but these are these are players that we’ve talked about a little bit. But I I really think that Chernoff and Canone are two of the ones that I’m looking at. Canone for Calder 2026. He’ll be eligible still next year, but who knows how exactly that goes. Okay. So Will and Mlin and I don’t think you can put them in the same exact class of expectations or whatever. like they’re they’re they’re two different people, two different situations, but I think equally, if you do want to say they’re equally, equally impressive in what they did this year and equally impressive how they’re probably ahead of timing that anybody could have expected this past season. Well, it reminds me very much of some other times in history of hockey where you had two players sort of uh marinating together and growing together at a very high level. Let’s not forget about the fact that it’s really difficult to do what they did this season as teenagers to step right into the NHL, not really look out of place, have their ups and their downs during the season, uh, but still show tremendous, tremendous potential, and look at what’s happening in the World Championships, uh, after the season is over. They’ve got Mlin Celtrin and Sydney Crosby not not only playing a lot together, not only sitting next to each other in the dressing room and talking all the time, but also taking part in interviews together. So, I I think that there’s a a great deal of excitement about what he’s going to do. I think that Will Smith is sort of the Patrick Marlo of the roster in that Joe Thornton had all of the spotlights on him and Patrick Marlo silently, quietly went about his business and all he did was score over 500 goals and play more games than anybody else in the history of the league. a superstar in his own right and a Hall of Famer. I think that’s what we’re starting to see with these guys. You know, the fact that they both left college, which was a big gamble. Um they are working together to be part of that culture and they’re also starting to show some leadership. Um Will Smith’s growth was really really impressive to see. Celbrini’s starting point was incredible, but also his ability to withstand some of the problems. Now what what they’re going to face now is that everybody knows them now and so it’s that second season. Uh do they have a little bit of a step back maybe or do they really rock it forward? I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how that all goes. We all know that it’s sort of like a stock market chart where there’s some volatility to the progress but uh but this is a pretty stable stock market chart for the San Jose Sharks for the future. Right. Final thing here and it’s not up to me to decide this or you to decide this but I think it is a fun conversation. The Sharks are eventually going to have a new captain. And maybe that doesn’t even happen this year. Who knows how it goes. But when it is that next person and whoever that person is, what are the qualities that person needs to have as the next captain of this team? And considering where this group is at, he needs to have the personality where people follow him. Um, and and that that’s a personality trait as much as it is um uh you know, somebody who goes about his business and is excels. You you want a guy that that excels, but you want to have a player that that brings people together, that gets people to uh under tough circumstances follow him to do the right thing. In that regard, I think, you know, everybody is looking at Mlin Celibbrini as a potential captain for this team because he has that leadership capability. He has that hatred of losing. He has that uh good example every single day at at every single practice kind of a a mentality. And I think that that’s something that that we’re looking for, I think, from from the next captain of the San Jose Sharks, whether or not they name a captain of the team right away or whether they wait until uh let’s say they think that he’s the guy that they’ll wait till he’s ready to to assume that official role, I think is going to be one of the more fascinating parts of the next couple of seasons. And my guess is they’re going to take their time. They may find somebody that’s a veteran player that assumes that role. Remember a couple years ago, Rob Blake was acquired and was named captain of the San Jose Sharks for a couple of years. I think that’s something uh along the lines of what we might see here before they really anoint the next one. Well, and speaking of acquiring new players, like it’s going to be an opportunity for the Sharks in free agency, one like we haven’t seen in a long time, the team has to spend to get up to the salary cap floor. So, I’ll tell you what, I’ll pause our conversation right there, Rosie. We’ll pick it up after free agency because I have a feeling we have we’re going to have a lot of new players to talk about. So, uh, Dan of the Sharks Audio Network, feels like you could call a game tonight if you had to. I could. Let’s go. Let’s get this season started. I’m excited about it. I I really am. I’m really excited about the upcoming free agency, the draft that the Sharks have with a couple of first round picks, and so many more things. Thanks, Brody. Thank you, Rosie.

One of our favorites behind the mic, Dan Rusanowsky of Sharks Audio Network, checks in with Brodie Brazil.