The San Jose Sharks will select between 10th and 12th for this year’s NHL Draft and the difference in the quality of the pick is minimal. San Jose will get a top notch prospect to insert into the system with whoever they call – providing they don’t go completely off the board.
Selecting a goaltender with such a high pick is ridiculous unless it’s a can’t-miss prospect. There’s no such thing in this year’s draft so to reach for a netminder at 10-12 would be on a Mike Milbury level of madness.
The top young defender for the Sharks split time between the press box, the World Junior Championships, the injured reserve and actually playing for San Jose this year. After Mirco Mueller there really isn’t much in the way of potential top-four defenders in the Sharks system. Could Taylor Fedun be a competent number four at the NHL level? It’s possible, he has the ability to move the puck pretty well and his defensive play would tighten up over time. Outside of Fedun as a possible number four there isn’t much in the pipe.
Up front the Sharks have a potential top-six player in Nikolay Goldobin but, like on defence, there isn’t much in the way of top talent. There were promising campaigns by Sharks prospects in the system this year but the jury should still be out on their translation to the NHL. Players like Nikita Jevpalovs and Rourke Chartier need to be seen at the AHL level to get a better gauge on what their true ceiling may be.
The Sharks are stocked with bottom-six candidates – which is a good thing considering their bottom six struggles – so the 10-12 pick this year should be used on a player that projects to be a top six forward, or top four defender. The truth is, if the Sharks select either a forward or a defender they aren’t wrong.
Here are the players ranked near where the Sharks will be drafting according to ISS Hockey. We'll play more 2015 draft games between now and the actual draft but for now we'll just use ISS rankings.
9. Ivan Provorov – D 10. Pavel Zacha – C 11. Zach Werenski – D 12. Travis Konecny – C 13. Kyle Connor – C 14. Paul Bittner – LW 15. Timo Meier – RW
I’d cross Zacha, Konecny and Connor off of the list immediately for the simple fact that the Sharks, down the middle, look like this for the foreseeable future: Thornton/Pavelski – Couture – Tierney. Why on earth would you waste a pick on drafting a position center at this point – unless of course they win the lottery and can take McDavid – if you’re San Jose?
That leaves Provorov, Werenski, Bittner and Meier.
If Ivan Provorov is available I think the Sharks have to take him but I’d be pretty shocked if he fell to San Jose. I would avoid Zach Werenski and pick Timo Meier – or maybe go a little further down and pick Evgeni Svechnikov. Perhaps things get real crazy and Mikko Rantanen falls back and the Sharks can grab him if Provorov is gone.
I’d wager that who the Sharks select hinges a lot on what the teams in front of them do. If Provorov is there at pick nine, do they make a trade to move up? They should definitely consider it. If what’s left over when the Sharks pick is a group of centers then they should look deeper in the rankings and find a defender or winger that will be a complimentary asset to the future of the team. No goalies and no centers in the first round this year.
Of the six players from above who aren’t named Ivan Provorov, who would you choose if you’re San Jose? If you pick other, make your selection known in the comment section so everyone can argue with you. It’s only fair.
Thanks for reading.