Sam Dickinson on Making the Jump to the NHL & Playing with Macklin Celebrini | DFO Draft Special

i’m here with Sam Dickinson of the London Knights and of course the San Jose Sharks sam how you doing i’m doing good memorial Cup how cool was that it was unbelievable the the whole experience going to going to two straights pretty cool but I mean to obviously get get the job done this year was uh you know the thing we were looking forward to all season you look at that team like you guys had a pretty special group and like London’s had a lot of very successful lineups you look at all the stars but like this one was one that kept going to the finals wins the Memorial Cup so what can you say about the team you had this year yeah it’s it was a special group really special um you know when uh you think like the core of our team uh you know being there for 3 years for myself four years for some of the other guys uh you know having a group like that kind of grow up together uh you know go to a finals in my first year and then win the finals lose in the in the Memorial Cup final and then you know my third year kind of just run the table with these group of guys that you know at this point I’ve grown up with from 16 to 19 now uh you know it’s a team that’s basically turned into my family from a personal level would you say this was an easier season not having to worry about the draft um I think it’s a it’s a yes and no obviously you know there’s it feels like there’s added stress uh going through your draft season and worrying about all that stuff but at the same time for me every time I go out go out on the ice I you know want to do my best i think everybody does so you know every time I step out um you know sometimes you got to block out the outside stuff you know my draft season it was blocking out you know whatever whatever stuff was going on there and focus on playing hockey even though you were the top defenseman some guys had to get past you at some points this year who would you say is the toughest player you had to defend against i hate that I have to say this guy but it’s it’s Becket Sani um everybody saw the the one goal he scored on me um but yeah I grew up uh playing with Beckett so um I’ve stopped him a lot in practice when nobody’s seen it but he got me that one time and when we played in the finals it’s uh it’s not fun matching up against him what are your thoughts of his reaction at the draft when he got taken he seemed surprised when Yeah that was that was funny knowing him as well it’s just like such a such a reaction you get out of him um but I mean you look you look back now people were really surprised but you look back now you can obviously see uh you know why he went that high and uh you know really deserving of it you see kind of all the success you’ve had on the ice and all the awards and al obviously everything that’s gone of London are you thinking about the fact that you might not be too far away from being a full-time NHL player uh yeah I think I think that stuff’s always in the back of your mind i think you know everybody after they get drafted is looking forward to the the potential chance of being able to suit up for you know the NHL team that’s picked you and uh for me in San Jose it’s always been you know uh wanting to be there as soon as possible uh you know it’s been a dream of mine to play in the NHL everybody who gets drafted it’s their it’s their dream so uh it’s it’s exciting to to think that you know like you said it could be pretty close but at the same time uh you know I know there’s a lot of work to come well in the same vein we have a question from Jeff Merrick who wanted to ask you kind of something similar checking in here so right now I’m at the Florida Panthers practice facility in advance of game four of the Stanley Cup final now in the not tooistant future Sam you’ll be practicing at places like this you’ll be skating in NHL arenas what do you think that will be like how do you envision that future reality for yourself and to kind of add to that you look at the the Sharks they’re building quite a good foundation right now so what do you think yeah it’s it’s unbelievably exciting um I think you know being there last year and being lucky enough to get into a preseason game and just see the atmosphere of you know an NHL arena in preseason and uh you know the future that San Jose has it’s it’s really exciting and uh you know like I said before you know dream that I’ve been working towards my entire life so you know to to understand that it it is pretty close hopefully for me uh is a really exciting prospect and you know like you said with with what San Jose is building in um in San Jose right now with the young talent that they have and you know another high pick this year it’s uh it’s a really exciting thing to be a part of knowing that you’re a part of you know probably the best uh you know young core in the NHL right now and uh an organization that’s going to have a lot of success in the future if you’re not in the NHL next year you could go back to the World Juniors now I know it didn’t end the way you guys wanted it but does that maybe give you motivation to going to the United States and trying to win a gold there yeah definitely um right when that tournament ended uh we had a lot of guys uh you know my age with you know another year of eligibility to come back and play so you know kind of going through the dressing room you know as we’re all leaving we’re like you know we’ll be back next year and obviously I’ve been lucky enough to to play with a lot of guys who were there uh through the rest of the the Hockey Canada tournaments I’ve been lucky enough to play in um so I mean if if that’s uh that’s a route that I’m going to be playing next year it’s absolutely something that I’ll be really looking forward to and the opportunity to win another gold medal thanks so much Sam thank you

As part of the Daily Faceoff NHL Draft Special, Steven Ellis sits down with top prospect Sam Dickinson for an in-depth conversation about his standout season with the London Knights, his development on and off the ice, and how he’s preparing to make the leap to the NHL. Dickinson reflects on the OHL playoffs, the leadership he’s grown into, and shares what it would mean to potentially join the San Jose Sharks and play alongside fellow elite talent Macklin Celebrini.

#NHLDraft #SamDickinson #LondonKnights #SanJoseSharks #MacklinCelebrini #OHL #DailyFaceoff #NHLProspects #2025NHLDraft

Reach out to sales@thenationnetwork.com to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!

If you liked this, check out:
🚨 OTT – Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow
🚨 TOR – LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401
🚨 EDM – OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom
🚨 VAN – CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army
🚨 CGY – FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation
🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Connect with us on ⬇️

Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff

💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com
🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff
💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoff

Daily Faceoff Merch:
Daily Faceoff

7 comments
Leave a Reply