There’s a 99.1% chance that last night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators was the final nail in the Sharks coffin for the 2014-2015 season. With that said, let’s take a look at the regular season performances for the San Jose Sharks 2014 NHL Draft class.
Round 1 – 27th overall – Nikolay Goldobin
Goldobin was shipped out to HIFK in the Finnish Elite League (Liiga) for the 2014-2015 season to speed up the development process for the talented youngster. Goldobin could be the steal of the first round for 2014 in my opinion. He’s an extremely talented player who now has a full season playing with men before he attempts to make the Sharks roster next season – which should be the expectation.
Goldobin finished 94th in league scoring with 21 points (11 g, 10a) in 38 games for HIFK. On the team itself, he finished 8th. In addition to playing for HIFK, Goldobin also suited up for the Silver Medal winning Russian team at the WJHC where he tallied two goals and three assists in seven games. HIFK is now in the Liiga playoffs.
Round 2 – 46th overall – Julius Bergman
Bergman came to North America this year to play with the London Knights in the OHL. He finished 16th in scoring for defensemen with 42 points (13g, 29a) in 60 games. He was sixth on the Knights in scoring (1st among defenders). Bergman suited up for Sweden at the WJHC and registered one assist.
The Knights finished third in the Western Conference of the OHL and are currently in the postseason.
Round 2 – 53rd overall – Noah Rod
Rod registered four points (1g, 3a) in 38 games for Geneve-Servette in the Swiss League NLA. He also played for Switzerland at the WJHC, scoring three goals and three assists in six games.
Rod’s NHL potential probably won’t be known until he can get to North America, or move leagues in Europe. The Swiss League isn’t known to be a good gauge on talent translation. Regardless, Rod’s totals aren’t very appealing in a third tier European league.
Round 3 – 72nd overall – Alex Schoenborn
S10 as he well hence forth be known, had 33 points in 48 games for the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL. He finished 10th on the team in scoring, buried down the depth chart behind the likes of Nic Petan and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Portland finished third in the Western Conference of the WHL and is in the postseason.
Round 3 – 81st overall – Dylan Sadowy
Sadowy finished first on the Saginaw Spirit with 74 points in 65 games. His 42 goals on the season was good enough to crack the top ten for goals in the OHL – which has an impressive collection of talent. Sadowy more than doubled his previous seasons’ point total in three less games this year.
The Spirit squeaked into the OHL playoffs after finishing in 8th place in the Western Conference.
Round 4 – 102nd overall – Alexis Vanier
Vanier finished the season with 22 points in 48 games split between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Sherbrooke Phoenix. He suffered a season ending injury that will keep him out of the playoffs as well.
Vanier is pretty far down the chart on the Sharks defensive prospect list so it will be a while – or perhaps never – before we see him in the NHL.
Round 5 – 149th overall – Rourke Chartier
Rourke Chartier finished 14th in scoring in the WHL with 84 points, including 48 goals, for Kelowna. Those 48 goals were good enough for 3rd in the league.
Earlier in the season I had an exchange with Lorne Frey, Kelowna Rockets Assistant GM, on Rourke Chartier that you can read here. Or here. Or even, here. Chartier took, perhaps, the biggest value jump out of anyone the Sharks chose in 2014, although a case could certainly be easily made for Kevin Labanc.
Kelowna finished first in the Western Conference and second in the league for 2014-2015.
Round 6 – 171st overall – Kevin Labanc
Labanc had 31 goals and 76 assists for 107 points in 68 games for Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League. Labanc played with Joseph Blandisi to form one of the best lines in the OHL.
Labanc finds himself behind only Blandisi, Christian Dvorak, Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome for points in the OHL. That’s a pretty great group of players to be lumped in with.
The Colts finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference .
That wraps up the 2014 Sharks draft class. The majority of the prospects had pretty great seasons for themselves, and their respective clubs. However, now that you’ve seen the statistics it’s caution time. More often than not, junior seasons don’t translate to the NHL – so temper expectations for these players, especially Chartier and Labanc who blew the doors off for their clubs.
It’s certainly better than seeing them put up less point totals, but leave teal glasses in the case so you can objectively view these players for what they are: prospects who had a great year.
It will be interesting to see what each of the 2014 class does at Sharks training camp next year and, potentially, who can beat out someone for a permanent roster spot. Barclay Goodrow shocked everyone when he made the roster this year so there may be more surprises.
Thanks for reading.
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