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The San Jose Sharks selected seven more players in Rounds 2-7 of the NHL Draft yesterday, following two selections in the first round on Wednesday.
San Jose’s first pick came at fourth overall, selecting Will Smith, before the team used their later first-round pick from the Timo Meier trade to select Quentin Musty. Below, we recap the draft picks.
WILL SMITH (1st Round, 4th Overall) - Aside from possibly option to select Matvei Michkov, there was almost no chance the Sharks would select someone other than Smith at fourth overall. The center posted outstanding numbers with the U.S. National Team Development Program, scoring more than two points per game.
QUENTIN MUSTY (1st Round, 26th Overall) - Musty was the first-overall pick in the 2021 OHL Draft and posted excellent numbers in his sophomore season with the Sudbury Wolves. The winger managed 26 goals and 78 points in just 53 games, which had him ranked second on the team in both categories.
KASPER HALTTUNEN (2nd Round, 36th Overall) - Halttunen is a big winger, standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing over 200 pounds. The forward is already playing professional hockey in Finland, and managed one assist in 23 games in the country’s top professional league.
BRANDON SVOBODA (3rd Round, 71st Overall) - The Sharks traded picks No. 94 and 100 in order to move up to the 71st spot, where they selected another big forward in Brandon Svoboda. The center is coming off a USHL Championship win with the Youngstown Phantoms and is committed to Boston University next season. That said, his production was somewhat mediocre, managing just 16 goals and 26 points in 59 games.
LUCA CAGNONI (4th Round, 123rd Overall) - The Sharks waited until the fourth round to select their first defenseman of the draft, when they picked Luca Cagnoni out of the WHL. Cagnoni posted excellent numbers with the Portland Winterhawks, with 64 points in 67 games, but does stand at just 5-foot-9.
AXEL LANDEN (5th Round, 130th Overall) - Just seven spots later, the Sharks took another defenseman in Axel Landen. The right-handed defender spent the season playing junior hockey in Sweden, where he scored 16 points in 44 games.
ERIC POHLKAMP (5th Round, 132nd Overall) - Pohlkamp was passed over in his first year of eligibility for the draft, but his excellent season in the USHL was a difference-maker. The defenseman posted 51 points in 59 games with Cedar Rapids, winning USHL Defenseman of the Year honours.
DAVID KLEE (7th Round, 196th Overall) - Sticking with the trend of selecting big forwards, the Sharks took 6-foot-3 forward David Klee. The son of former NHLer Ken Klee, David scored 13 points in 57 USHL games.
YEGOR RIMASHEVSKY (7th Round, 203rd overall) - The Sharks ended up trading the 206th pick to the Washington Capitals for a seventh-round pick next year, so pick no. 203 was the team’s final selection. Rimashevsky is yet another large forward, standing at 6-foot-2, who had 26 points in 29 MHL games in Russia.
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In other news, the Sharks announced today that they’re re-signed forward Jacob Peterson and goaltender Eetu Makiniemi.
Peterson came to the Sharks in a trade this season from the Dallas Stars. The forward spent the majority of the season in the AHL, but did have eight points in 11 games with the Sharks following the trade. Makiniemi also spent much of the season in the AHL, posting a .900 save percentage in 22 games with the Barrauda. The netminder also got into two games with the Sharks.
Each player’s deal is worth $775,000 and is for a single year.
The team also announced their qualifying offers, with both Martin Kaut and Fabian Zetterlund being qualified. However, the more surprising news was who wasn’t qualified.
None of Mackenzie Blackwood, Evgeny Svechnikov, Noah Gregor, Jonah Gadjovich or Stauss Mann received a qualifying offer.
All three forwards between Svechnikov, Grgeor and Gadjovich were members of the Sharks' roster and all had a very low qualifying offer, so each is a bit surprising. However, the team’s plan with Blackwood makes little sense.
They just traded a sixth round pick for the netminder, only to let him walk right to unrestricted free agency. Understandably, if they couldn’t negotiate a deal, then it’s not always possible. But the trend of the Sharks’ poor asset management continues, as seemingly multiple times per year, they toss away assets for nothing. Yes, it’s just a sixth-round pick, but for a team trying to build for the future, it’s a worrying pattern.
Free agency will open tomorrow, so we’ll see what comes of it. For anyone interested, I’ve projected contracts for 2023 UFAs at HockeyComparables.com. Any remaining UFA projections will be out as of tomorrow morning, to track how each deal signed lines up against projections. All outstanding RFA projections will be out by the end of next week.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM JUNE
Sharks sign Filip Bystedt to entry-level contract
Sharks acquire Mackenzie Blackwood from Devils, Erik Karlsson wins Norris
Sharks select Will Smith fourth overall, take Quentin Musty at 26th 
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