Tank Talk: Todd Marchant

appreciate the time and as we’re here with development camp it’s kind of a nice taste for these players to get an idea of what being around the Sharks is like i mean it’s kind of more like here’s how professionals do it and they’ve been exposed to that a little bit but this is really an observation for them
yeah it’s a lot it’s a big learning process for them um learning how to train off the ice how to train on the ice how to proper nutrition um sports psychology all the things that we flood them with information and I I want every player to walk away with something tangible that they can take with them we don’t teach systems we teach concepts and what I mean by that is you know for a forward how to take a puck around the uh the boards or how to you know improve your one-time defenseman going back and shoulder checking for break the puck out those are things that they can implement into their game wherever they play whether it’s here in San Jose or it’s in the CHL in Europe or in college so um it’s a it’s a big learning experience for all these players they’re obviously young but they’ve played high levels of hockey up to this point are they still very coachable
they better be
what What does coachable mean also by the way
well I mean I think it’s it’s listening to what what we have to say i mean I I I look at our staff and I think Joel will add it up one time and the amount of NHL games played that are going to be on the ice or around this camp is ridiculous it’s it’s unbelievable so it’s well over 13,000 games and so why wouldn’t you listen to those players why wouldn’t you listen to Joe Thor why wouldn’t you listen to Pat Marlo why wouldn’t you listen to Lucas Piece or Tommy Wingles or John McCarthy like these are people that are in that played a long time and if I had had that opportunity to to listen to somebody that had played a long time in the NHL I would have loved it because you can always you’re always learning i mean we’re I’m constantly learning how to to deal with players and to you know teach things so yeah once you stop learning it’s it’s the end of the road their desires here are obvious they want to make it to the NHL as fast as possible or to get to the next step as fast as possible how do you as a staff and as coaches understand that but also help them do it the right way
and and there’s no two development paths that are same you know um there’s only so many Conor McDavid Sydney Crosby’s of the world
um it it takes there’s bumps in the road and how do we deal with those bumps are we going to say that uh I can’t get past it or how can I get around it and and I think that that’s the going back to what being coachable is all about you know hockey is a game of mistakes you know what that the team that makes less mistakes usually wins the game and same goes for players so we’re here to just you know encourage them to help them both mentally and physically become the player they can be you know this is a little bit for habits like we said in learning the organization and learning how to be a pro but are you also watching them just a little bit to see where the skill sets are at we are we are also in the middle of summer too so it’ be hard to to compare them to like they haven’t played a game in weeks or months they haven’t had a practice in weeks or months how do you look at them as players also right now
I think for for our staff there there’s very little if no evaluation it’s more about familiarity like we have a draft class now of players that you know some of the players we’ve seen
um I’ll take Michael Misa we saw him play a lot this year because Igor Turnishoff was on the same team so we have a familiarity with the player but there’s other players that maybe we haven’t seen our amateur guys have but maybe we haven’t so now it’s about okay this is what the player type is this is what he does well this is what he needs to work on and then we implement that into you know our knowledge of the player so I think that uh I I look at this as just all learning experience for them but also for us as to what they’re who they are
landon Marlo is here uh that’s a pretty cool thing but it’s also like a legit opportunity and chance for him he’s no different than anybody anybody else here at development camp
we don’t treat anybody any whether you’re a first round pick an invite it doesn’t matter you’re all treat everyone’s treated the same and again for someone like him it’s it’s about learning what he needs to you know rubbing shoulders with a Michael Misa or a Sam Dickensson and saying “Oh this is what I have to this is what I have to to get better at.” And and I think those experiences are are vital in a young player’s development because if they never get to see it they’ll never know and it’s no different than a player that gets called up from the American League to the NHL until they get into that that that environment they’ll they never know they never know what it takes and then all of a sudden maybe they go back to the American League it’s like okay I have to work i have to do this faster i have do get stronger i got to do this better in order to play into the next level last thing when I was running through the roster and the list of players that are going to be here but then I also think about the the other group of players like Canon um just on and on down the list who aren’t here but are also part of the organization i’m starting to look at this this pipeline this this organization and think how stacked it is this is not a question for me to you i guess that’s my comment there’s a pretty stacked group here how do you feel about that
uh we’re we’re really excited i mean coming in here three years ago and and again no disrespect to the the people before but you know it was like that that team kept going for it every year they were they wanted to they wanted to win the stat not that we don’t want to win the Stanley Cup but we had to change things in order to get there and now you see the the the depth and the amount of talent that we have in the prospect pool and that that puts a little bit I I like it it’s a little bit pressure on us to to help these players develop and get better and and it’s exciting it really is because you know the the best thing for us as development guys is to see a player drafted watch them play in college or junior in Europe
sign a contract play in the American League and then get you know get to the NHL that is it’s like one of your own kids making it in something they really wanted from they were kids and
we we play a very small part in that but it’s very rewarding and that’s why you know I’ I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I I love that part i got to see Kaggs uh play an NHL game this year like I was just so happy for him i gave him a hug after the game i was like so happy that that he was able to do that and it’s really a rewarding experience
i could have gone on and on with that list or graph or uh uh Cam Lund or Asky i mean there’s so many players not to mention Mack and Will but they’re already established it’s just uh such a talented group and obviously appreciate your time and best of luck this week take it easy on them
i’ll try thank you

Brodie Brazil talks with Sharks Director of Player Development and Senior Advisor, Todd Marchant at the start of the Sharks 2025 Development Camp.

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