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A look at the Sharks draft and the week before free agency |
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A look at the Sharks draft and the week before free agency
The San Jose Sharks welcome six new draftees to the organization. In the order that were taken Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, Christophe Lalancette, Daniel O’Regan, Clifford Watson, and Joakim Ryan were drafted by the Sharks this past week-end.
Aside from their first round pick the Sharks mostly drafted North American players with asterisks on Daniel O’Regan who was born in Germany but moved to the Boston area when he was four years young. Four forwards were taken first then two defensemen with their last two picks.
Much of the focus will fall on the team’s first round pick Tomas Hertl from Prague Czechoslovakia. The 6’2 – 193 pound center may have a decent opportunity to make the club this year.
With a lack of talent on the Sharks third and fourth line he may find a spot on the club as a role player. When people think of the Sharks names like Thornton, Marleau, and Couture stand out, and they should but beyond the top two lines there has been a lack of production in San Jose. Starting Hertl somewhere on the bottom two lines would be a good place to get his NHL feet wet. It would give the youngster an opportunity to adapt to the speed of the game without too much pressure to put numbers on the board. A talented kid like that could fly under the radar while working his way into a more prominent role.
As most teams are when they leave the draft, the Sharks are optimistic about the hard work that has gone into their picks. Teams hope that with the right coaching and development these kids can someday make a positive contribution in the organization.
The reality is that about one third of first round draft picks go on to have successful NHL careers. That doesn’t leave a ton of hope for first round supremacy; however that leaves two thirds of the players drafted through the remaining six rounds to make up the difference of NHL players.
The questions that scouts and teams face when drafting a player are many, but the important ones are how much upside does this player need to play in the NHL and has he already peaked or is there room left to improve. These questions become even more important in the latter rounds of the draft. Many kids don’t develop physically and or mentally until later in life which in many cases raises their confidence. Higher confidence means better production.
Although the season is over this week is still a big one in the league. July 1st marks the beginning of free agency. So the days leading up to the first are somewhat like the second trade deadline of the year. GM’s want to know what their needs are before they enter free agency, so they want to make deals to fill holes on the roster prior to that day. I doubt we will see the big names like Nash or Luongo go before the 1st because a smart GM would hold on to those players until the other big fish go, in turn raising their demand.
The Sharks needs aren’t for the star players which puts them in a pretty good position going into free agency. They need pluggers and character with some scoring touch. The free agent list isn’t considered to be top end loaded but it isn’t bad if teams are looking for grinders.
Names that might help out the Sharks are guys like Andrew Burnette; he is older but continues to produce and has great experience and leadership.
Jordin Tootoo has been clean and sober the past year and half and as a result his penalty minutes went down and his scoring went up. The Sharks lack sand paper and this is a player who still believes he has plenty to prove in the NHL.
Zenon Konopka played in Ottawa and at one point led the league in fights, but he also is a decent penalty killer. He has a fiery side to him and he hates to lose.
Ryan Carter showed a great deal of character in the playoffs for New Jersey last season scoring some clutch goals. He won a Cup with Anaheim in 2007 so the Sharks should know him well.
Either way this week leading up to free agency should be an interesting one with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers getting things started by trading Luke Schenn for James van Reimsdyk. Both players were high first round picks and both are still young.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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