2025 SAN JOSE SHARKS DEEP DIVE #hockey #nhl #draft #trade #barracuda #gm #jaws #marner #california
Over the past few seasons, the San Jose Sharks have no doubt been the NHL’s bottom feeder. But while they’ve been down there, they have been building a rock solid foundation for their future with franchise changing draft picks as well as big-time draft capital for their future. So, today we’re asking the question, do the San Jose Sharks need a bigger boat? Hey everybody, welcome in to Clearing the Benches, your one-stop shop for hockey content. If you go ahead and hit your subscribe button right now, you’ll be sure to be in on all of our future videos. Well, today’s episode, we are going to take a look at what the Sharks already have in the boat on the NHL roster in the pipeline just below the surface. Guys that are going to be cracking the lineup in the next season or two. And then finally, we’re going to look at what they’ve got as far as draft capital goes, what they could do in free agency as well in the draft. So, when I look at the San Jose Sharks, obviously the big name is center Mlin Celibbrini. When I look at what they’ve got up at their forward position, I think rightwing right now looks to be their strongest, not only now, but I think moving forward. Uh, you’ve got Will Smith. This kid is definitely the real deal. you know, you saw it while he was uh playing with all of those other big stars on the US uh developmental team. Then you saw when he went to college, he lit it up. And then when you saw he got to the San Jose Sharks, didn’t look like the lights were too bright for him. Took him a few games, but he started to find his footing and he’s definitely showing that he’s going to be a star in the NHL for years to come. You got Tyler Tofoley. Yeah, I think he’s about 30 something years old and I think he is an excellent um mentor for guys like Celibbrini, Will Smith, you know, you got a lot of young guys on this team and Tofolei is a little bit of a you know sandpaper type of a guy. I think his personality is probably that way as well. But Smith and Celibbrini seem to really like him and he seems like he’s teaching them a lot. So, when I look at a guy like Tofoley, he’s definitely got a lot of value for this franchise. Also on the right wing, this is going to be a name you’re going to be hearing for years to come. Cameron Lond, uh he’s 6’2, 190 pounds. He’s already played 11 games for the Sharks, two goals and an assist, three points. He’s got four penalty minutes as well. Uh these are all kids that just are getting their feet wet. You know, this year is going to be a learning process, but come 26 27, these kids are going to really be ready to hit the floor running. Uh Nikolai Kovaleeno is another guy that they acquired this year. Uh 25 years old, he’s got 20 points in just 57 career games. So, you really don’t know uh what you can tap into as far as this kid’s potential. And then you’ve got another big college star, Colin Graph, 61, 195 pounds. He’s a right wing, but he can also play center. This kid is very, very versatile. I’m sure you’ve heard his name in the past. He was on Quinnipiac, and they were just, you know, taking the NCAA by storm. They just established an excellent program and they started beating all of the big teams. Colin Graph was a huge part of that team. So, when I look at what they’ve got on the right wing right now, the Sharks are pretty set. You look down the middle and there’s a couple of names and you say, “Hey, they’re not so bad down the middle either.” You’re starting off with Mlin Celabbrini. You know what else do you need to say about that kid? In my opinion, for what I’ve seen of them so far, and we’re splitting whiskers here, but I think he’s just this much better than Connor Baddard. just my opinion. Uh behind him, you’ve got Alex Wenberg, 30 years old. He’s got 370 NHL points in 789 games. He plays a type of game that a guy uh like Celibbrini could learn from. You know, he’s a little bit more of a two-way player. And I’m not saying Cabbrini doesn’t do it in his own zone because he definitely does. He is a puck hound. But a guy like Wenberg, you know, he’s a little bit older. he could teach the kid some of the uh tricks of the trade. Uh you know, when you look at last year, four of their top five scorers were centers. So, they’ve got, you know, that’s there. Now, they kind of just got to build around it. You got guys like Barkley Gdro, Ty Dandria, you know, uh those are grit guys. Those are guys you need on your team. Those are fourthline guys. when you get a goal lead five minutes left in the game, you can throw them over the boards and you know pretty much they’re not getting scored on. And Barkley Gdro and Deandria both excellent short-handed goal scorers. So when I look at what they’ve got right wing center so far, it’s looking pretty good. And again, once we get to what they’ve got in the pipeline is when you see this team really starts to fill out. Uh the two names that I see that they’ve got on the left wing and one they just bought back. They drafted him in the fourth round 2016. He played with Ottawa for a while and that is Noah Greor. Greor is another guy again Mike Greer, the GM of the Sharks. He was a big robust player. He’s looking for guys that are not scared of their own shadow. They’ll go in the corners and they’re not afraid, you know, of the physicality they’re going to see when they get to the corner. A guy like Noah Greor, he fits in on this roster, in my opinion, very well. He’s going to be a role player for sure, but he’s going to bring you value. The Sharks are going to start being in some games in the third period. They’re either going to be tied or possibly even leading with five minutes to go. You want to see your team progress and you want to see if they can hold on to a lead. And of course, the big name on left wing for the Sharks is William Ecklan. uh he started to tap into his potential this year and I think the sky’s the limit when you put him with a guy like Celraini and Smith and then you get you know Tofoley you got the power play and then some other guys that I think they’re going to add in the off season I look at William Ecklan and I think he could be a name that skyrockets this year in the NHL and he becomes a guy that everyone is talking about. So overall, I would say that they need to upgrade, you know, and add some depth on the left wing for sure and a little bit down the middle. They’re more, you know, set down the middle, but left wing, you know, the cupboard is pretty bare. Uh, when I look at what they’ve got on their back end on the Sharks roster, you got Timothy Lilligrin, 26 years old. You know, normally he would be a second or third pairing, but because it’s the Sharks, he’s gonna get a lot of playing time. I like his game. He’s still young enough where you could see him develop, you know, he could uh change any bad habits he has and he could turn into a really good player. Uh Mario Ferraro is a guy this organization just loves. 26 years old. You know, he brings hustle and effort on the ice, but he is the glue in the locker room that keeps this team together. And a couple of years ago when they were just getting shellacked, you know, you’re going into the third period down seven goals. You need a guy who’s going to, you know, get everybody to go out there and still compete during the third period. And to me, that’s Mario Ferraro. Henry Thrun is another guy. He’s only 24 years old, 62210. He’s got 12 points in 60 games this past season. Look, he’s a guy that when you see scrums after the whistle, Veron’s always around there. I think he brings a little bit of physicality. He’s not overly physical. He’s not going to beat anybody up. You know, he’s not taking on Tom Wilson or anything like that, but he’s still got enough sandpaper and grit in his game that he is definitely efficient. And I think the Sharks really are going to hold on to this kid for years to come. Another guy then they got this guy in the Anthony Duclair trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning and that is Jack Thompson. 61 190 pounds. He’s got 10 points in 34 NHL games. Uh when you start to look here, you’re going to see that a lot of these kids that are up at the front at the forefront, Celbrini, Smith, Eklan, they’re not the biggest, most physical guys, they’re almost a little on the frail side. They’ve still got some room to put on weight, but when you see, you know, the guys on the back end, the depth players, and especially the players we’re talking about in the system, you’re going to see that Mike Greer is building a team that is definitely going to be playoff ready when the time comes. They’re going to have the physicality, they’re going to have the size, they’re going to have the snarl, but they’re also going to have the scoring power up front. Uh Yari Rud is another guy. he’s okay on the back end. You know, who knows? You got to see these kids playing at the NHL level for more than 200 games before you really know what you got. And then you got the big kid they got in the New Jersey Devils trade. The Devils drafted him 20th overall five years ago, 2020, and 6’4, 200 pounds. And that is Shakir McMullen. And they got him in the Teemo Meyer deal. He’s got nine points in 30 NHL games this year. He’s a big kid. He’s got to grow into his body. He’s got to find his footing. But when I saw him on the back end, listen, he looks like a guy when the Sharks do make the playoffs in a few years. This guy’s going to be the type of player you need back there. He’s huge. I think he’s like 66 67 if not bigger. So, he’s a big part of their future. Uh Mark Edward Vlic. So, so I think he’s going to be the seventh defenseman a lot of times this year. He’s probably going to play in 3540 games, but I don’t think he’s going to see all that much ice. When you look at what they’ve got between the pipes right now, you’ve got Yurus Ascarov and then you’ve got Georgie Romanov is a free agent. Um, Gorgiev, it looks like he’s going elsewhere. You know, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if they made him a little bit of an offer. Gorgiev couple of years ago with Colorado, you know, granted you had the avalanche in front of you, but two years in a row he led the NHL in victories, you know, for a goalender. I think he had 36 back-to-back years. So, it’s not like he can’t get the job done. Excuse me. And I think he might be a good mentor or just a guy to show the NHL ropes, the everyday life stuff to a guy like Ascarov. So, between the pipes, I think they are okay. Then next up, let’s take a look at what the Sharks have in the pipeline. And this is where it really starts to get exciting. This is where you see two years from now, the Sharks are going to have taken a huge jump. Let’s start off with the forwards on left wing. You’ve got Quinton Musty, 62, 200 pounds. This kid just reres havoc along the boards. He loves board play. He’s a guy he’s going to bowl you over. He’s going to take the puck and he’s got great vision and he’s an excellent passer. So if he takes the puck off some guy off the boards, he sees you open in front of the net or in the slot, he’s going to get it tape to tape to you or he’s going to put his head down, you know, like Matthew Kachchuk, Brady Kachchuk, and he’s just going to, you know, radar in on the net. So Quinton Musty is a guy Sharks fans get excited for this kid. He is going to bring it. He’s on the San Jose Barracudas right now. Next up, and I’ve got this kid Sasha Chamelski and he played for the Barracuda. Uh he went to the NA he went rather to the KHL after playing for the Barracuda. He had 49 points in 68 games, 6 foot, 190 pounds. Pretty solid numbers, pretty good size. Overall, his game seemed to fit into the North American style, but he did go back to the KHL, and I am not sure if he is coming back. Next up, if you got a big left wing and Sharks fans, you’re going to hear this guy’s names for years to come. And they’re going to pronounce it on the broadcast better than I’m about to. And that is Igor Cherna, leftwing 63 205. Very strong skater, high-end stick handler. Listen, these are guys are going to get on the power play. when you get them the puck and they’ve got a little bit of time and space and you’ve got Celibbrini and Smith and these guys like you know Musty in the future, it’s going to be a very powerful power play for the San Jose Sharks. Next up, another kid just got to see him. Uh he was playing for the London Knights in the CHL playoffs and he looks like a man among boys out there. And I’m talking about Casper Holton. He’s a right wing, can play leftwing, 64205. He’s got a heavy game. Uh they’re comparing him to Montreal Canadians, Josh Anderson, who was just in, you know, the bench fighting Tom Wilson in the playoffs. So, that is a good guy. You’d want to have a guy you’ve got in your future compared to. He’s a heavy player overall. He’s got a heavy shot. He hits. He’s got a really good one-time. So, you’ve got to be careful. He’s not just all about physicality. He had 41 points in just 38 games this year playing for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. And one name you need to hear and this is going to tell you all you need to know about Casper Holton and another guy we’re going to talk about in a little bit and that is Sam Dickinson and that is that they play for Dale Hunter. If you don’t know who Dale Hunter is, Dale Hunter was one of the meanest, nastiest, and dirtiest players in NHL history. His penalty minutes are up there amongst the best. This guy would fight everybody. He would crossch checkck Gretzky in the face if he thought it would help his team win. So, when you see these are the types of guys that these kids are playing under, you know, when they get to the NHL level, nothing’s going to scare them. They’re gonna have seen and heard it all. Another guy, and this Sharks fans get excited for this guy, too. Phillip Bistad, center left wing, 6290. Lots of size coming in their future. He’s on the Barracuda right now. 31 points in just 50 games. Heavy shooter, playmaker, twoway center. Again, with all of the offensive prowess Sharks are coming up with, their power play is going to be lethal for years. Thomas Bordal, he’s played 36 NHL games with the Sharks, center left wing. He’s got 13 points. He’s 5’10”, 175 pounds speedster. He’s only 23 years old. So, let’s see what his future holds. And then another name yet again to get excited about a center 6 foot 170 pounds. Reese Lavos played for Penn State the last two years and they showed everybody in the hockey world what they’re made out of. They came up out of the NCAA and they really took names and they showed everyone this is the type of game they were a team they imposed their will on other teams. So, when I see a guy like him coming from Penn State, you see he’s got some pedigree and that is some snarl. And the Sharks are going to be uh they’re going to be a grinded out team with some firepower in the next couple of years. Um then the big prize on D in the pipeline is Sam Dickinson. 63 210 lefty London Knights again. Dale Hunter. Dale Hunter if you don’t hit you sit. He don’t care who you are. You don’t hit, you sit. You score 100 goals a game, good. Go out there and hit somebody. You’re the goalie. He wants you to give somebody a shoulder, you know, when you’re clearing the puck off the glass. Seriously, that is Dale Hunter. So Sam Dickinson, he’s going to have some nastiness to him for sure. Another heavy guy, heavy shooter, speedster, two-way. He’s going to stop you in the defensive zone. He can hit. He can smother you along the boards. He can stifle you if you think you’re going to go around him and he’s going to join the rush. He’s going to contribute. He was drafted number 11 overall in 2024. Another guy, little small guy, but he’s got great edgework and he hits hits. He is a teammates’s first guy and that is Luca Canyone 59 180. He’s on the Barracuda right now. He will hit a teammate in full stride, tape to tape. Excellent passer and he can score. So again, a smaller guy, but highly skilled. And then you look at this next kid is they say the biggest hitter in the Shark system, either on their NHL team or in the pipeline. And they say in a couple years he’s going to be the biggest hitter in the NHL. Nate MSY 64 210. He’s going to go to LOL UMass next season. Uh they have got a very very solid team at LOL. They are very well structured. So I’m excited to see what this guy’s going to play like when he’s done there in a few years. Uh then finally I’ve got on their D Colton Roberts 64 200 mobile and physical excellent on puck retrievalss. You need that. You need a guy who’s not going to lolly gag. He’s going to bust his butt, get back there as fast as he can, and he’s going to get out of the zone, either skate it out on his own or one quick pass, and he’s out. And he played for the Vancouver Giants this year. Busy boy besides being on the scoreboard. He had 84 penalty minutes in just 36 game, I’m sorry, 66 games to go along with 36 points. Vancouver Giants. So, when I look at, you know, what they’ve got in their pipeline right there on D and then couple of more guys and again, University of Denver pedigree. We all know David Carl could have gotten any of the open coaching jobs in the NHL this year, but he chose to go back to Denver. And that is Eric Pole Camp. He’s 5’11, 205. So, he’s a little fireplug. High impact shots and high impact hitter. likes to separate the player from the puck is his scouting report. Again, coming from University of Denver, I’m going to bet on this kid to make the big club. Uh then two more guys, three more we’re going to talk about on the back end. And all three of these are going to be big, big parts of the Sharks future. Leo Selene Wenius, 6 foot, 185. Good skater. Gets the puck out of the Dzone very cleanly. Very important. He’s a fast skater. He’s a two-way Dman and he was taken in the second round in 2024. So, Sharks are obviously excited about him. Noah Beck, a guy I got to see a lot up close and personal this year down the road at Tempe at the University of I’m sorry, at Arizona State University. Uh Noah Beck 63 205. You know, when you see this guy, he’s not a lot of glitz and glamour. you kind of almost don’t notice him all that much, but he can score. He’s definitely involved in the offense and defensively he knows how to take care of business. He was the captain. I would see him being an excellent second, maybe third pair guy in the NHL. He hits, he joins the play. He’s definitely a leader and I think he’s going to have a rock solid NHL career. And the last guy in the pipeline on the back end, and he is a big name to get excited for, Matias Havalid, 5’10”, 175. You watch this kid, he looks NHL ready right now. He is poised and polished, strong skater, and his dad Nicholas played in the NHL for quite a while with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the time. Now, when I look at what uh the San Jose Sharks have got, you know, going as, you know, moving forward, you could see what what they’re going to do in the draft. You know, they are picking number two. They’ve got lots of options. Free agency is also coming up right around the time of the draft. So within like four or five days, the Sharks are going to have a chance to really, you know, change and shape their future in, you know, the way Mike Greer wants it. So when I look at them, you know, they’ve got big-time options, and I’m just going to go through them all. First of all, I think Matthew Schaefer’s probably going to go number one overall to the Islanders. Maybe they’re going to take James Hagen’s, the local guy, but let’s say Michael Misa is available at two. They’re saying this guy could be the next, excuse me, John Tvaris. He’s going to be a captain. He’s a leader, 61, 185 pounds, does it all. He’s going to be your first line uh center wing, and he’s going to be your top power play guy for years to come. High IQ for the most part. You can’t miss. You put this guy out there with, you know, Celibbrini Smith and these other kids that we just talked about and he would be an excellent fit. Next up, and this is a big guy that I really like, and I think this is going to be the guy that the Sharks take, and that is Porter Martone. Big, skillful, 63, 208. He’s physical, he’s powerful, he’s a game breaker. Uh, he can handle all that pressure in the offensive zone. He’s, you know, when he gets into the offensive zone, he’s a handful. So, guys are really more concentrating on him than him worried about what he’s doing with the puck. And Marton is definitely a guy. He knows how to go to the net. You’re not getting one of the Kachuk brothers. Make that clear now. But this kid is big and physical. He is not afraid to get involved. But I think for sure he’s going to be on the Sharks radar. Possibly at number two. Another name, Caleb Doy. Uh or possibly James Hagens. Either one of these two guys I think you could take at number two. And you know, maybe some eye, you know, lids are going to, oh my goodness, you know, it’s it’s a reach, but it’s not. When you see these kids play, it’s not a reach, you know. And again, these kids are all 17 years old. You don’t know who’s going to be good and who’s going to, you know, suck. You don’t know. Sometimes guys get to the NHL, something happens, and it just doesn’t work out. You’re like for me a Ranger fan, Alexi Lafrrennier, you know, you look at what he did coming out his draft year, there was no way the Rangers couldn’t take him. People like, oh, they should have took Stutzla. You didn’t know at the time that Stuts was going to be possibly better than Lafrenier. But that’s what happens. You know, you take a guy first overall and ask any Ranger fan. Hasn’t worked out for Lafrenier there. Uh the next up, and this could be a big trade option, I’m sorry, an option at the draft is to trade down. You know, they’re at number two, there’s going to be guys at six, seven, eight, nine, 10 that are still possibly franchise changing players. I this would be something I would love to see the Sharks take a swing on and that would be to trade down a little bit and then draft a guy like Victor Ecklund to play with his brother. They’re saying Victor Ecklan, not that he’s better than William Ecklan, but he plays a different game and he’s a little bit more physical than his brother. So you put the two of these two guys together and like down the line, you know, you could be looking at the Sadine type, you know, production. These kids are going to produce. These kids are polished. They’ve been playing against men in Sweden for years already. So, it’s not like when they get to the NHL, they go, “Oh, a guy with a beard. I’m scared.” Khan Ages would be another guy I could see them possibly trading down for. Or Rodim Murka on the back end. You know, uh, these guys are going to be available anywhere, I would say, between, you know, 5 10 maybe even 12. So, you could take a swing on one of them and possibly either get a player or some more draft capital. You may get a team like, you know, Nashville’s got three first round picks. The Flyers have a couple of picks. One of them’s late. Maybe they, you know, want to trade one of their late picks and you can work out a deal with them. Uh, but I think that would definitely be a scenario. They could be looking at Anton Fondell just drafting him at number two, possibly moving down a few picks, but all the scouts are saying, despite the fact that maybe he hasn’t had the greatest showing recently, he is not a kid to bet against. They say he works out with um Yesper Brat on the Devils and Brat is supposedly a workout warrior and this kid is in the gym with him and he wants to be a winner. So, you can’t bet against guys who’ve got it and they want that drive and apparently that’s Anton Frondell. You know, maybe they make a trade with the Flyers or, you know, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s got two number ones. You know, maybe the Rangers want to give up 12 and move up and they see somebody they like. There are some scenarios. Uh they could also, you know, move down a little bit. They could take a D like Logan Hensler out of Wisconsin, rightand shot D. and everybody’s coveting those. You could move down a few picks maybe to five and you could take a guy like Jake O’Brien, everybody’s saying he’s going to be the top playmaker in this year’s draft. Again, the Preds, you know, teams like the Penguins, the Flyers, they’ve got multiple first round picks, so maybe you call them up and you see uh if they’re interested. So, that’s what it’s, you know, all about as far as for the Sharks. You know what they’ve got already at the NHL. uh their pipeline, what they could possibly do uh in, you know, the draft and in free agency. I think a guy like Mitch Mner, you know, San Jose’s not got any pressure on it to win in the playoffs. So, I could see Mitch Mner going to a team like Utah. Yeah, they’re going to make the playoffs probably this year, but they’re not going to have any local pressure like he had in Toronto. Same thing here. uh if he would go to a team like San Jose and just put up big numbers even if they just made the playoffs in the next couple of years that would be a big celebration in San Jose and the fans would be very happy about that. So again at the upcoming draft and in free agency the Sharks I think are going to be busy and I think they have got a lot of moving parts that they are going to have to make decisions on. When you look at what they’ve got behind the bench, Ryan Worovski just won gold with team USA at the Worlds. It was the first time in 92 years. So, the guy can get the guy, you know, he can get the guys off the schneide, get the monkey off your back. He is an excellent, excellent young coach. I think Mike Greer, the general manager, I think he’s an excellent general manager and I think he picked a winner in Worovski. It’s just what this team needs. He’s a younger guy. He can identify with these younger players. You know, he’s more living in their world than he’s living in my world. So, he can definitely, you know, identify by them. He can joke around with them. He understands their, you know, sense of humor and, you know, the way they think nowadays. So, when I look at what they’ve got, you know, both up in the press box and my career, I like it. He’s definitely building a team, you know, like like a type of player that he was. He was definitely big, physical, and could score. And I see that’s what’s happening in San Jose. Uh Warsovski, excellent coach. You know, I don’t know what else you can say about him. And I hope he’s there in a few years in San Jose when they do make the playoffs and they see a little bit of success. So, that’s going to do it. That is our deep dive on the San Jose Sharks. Let me know what you think of the Sharks down in the comments section. Let me know, you know, when you think they’re going to start to sniff the playoffs, when they’re going to start playing meaningful games in March and April. If you could please hit your like button, don’t forget to subscribe, and as we always do here at Clearing the Benches, let them know you’re out there.
 After being The NHL‘s bottom feeders for the past few years, the San Jose Sharks have been accumulating draft picks, and using them wisely on franchise changing players such as Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith with the second pick in this upcoming NHL entry draft. It is expected that the sharks will either take a player like Michael Mesa Porter, Martone, James Hagans, or Anton Frondell, no matter who the shark select, they are sure to be getting a rocksolid player in the NHL for years to come. #hockey #celebrini #nhl #hockeycards #nhldraft #sanjose #sharks #ducks #rangers #crypto #arena #losangeles #nhlhockeyislife #martone #schafer #islanders
