Sharks add seven players on day two, shine in late rounds

Although the Sharks entered the day with just five picks, they would go on to add seven players on day two of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. After a third, three fifths, one sixth, and two seventh round selections, the Sharks closed business on the draft happy with the work that they had done.

We caught up with Sharks Director of Scouting Tim Burke after the draft, and got his take on a few of the players selected. Overall, the stoic gentleman seemed pleased with the team's selections.

It's tough to disagree with him, as we don't know a heck of a lot about the players who were chosen after round two (with the exception of Kabonov, who was finally nabbed in round three). However, we did our best to compile information on them, and will also provide all the quotes and anecdotes on the players that we heard during the day, including those we got from Tim Burke after all was said and done.

Max Gaede, 3rd Round (88th overall)

"He was one of the best players in Minnesota last year. He may not have been a high profile kid, but he's a big strong guy. We liked him, we saw him, and we had a guy living right there who got to watch [Max] all the time. He loved him."

 - Tim Burke

Gaede, a 6'2" 187 high school senior from Maryland, MN, was ranked 104th amongst North American skaters by NHL Central scouting.

The right winger scored 80 points in his 52 games for Woodbury High School in Minnesota. According to Minnesota Hockey Prospects, Gaede is an extremely physical player who also has a scoring touch. They predicted that Gaede would go in the fourth round of this year's draft, so perhaps the Sharks reached a bit here. However, he did shoot up the Central Scouting board by 40 spots from the midterm, so maybe that's saying something.

Gaede is a raw prospect, but should hone his skills in the USHL before attending Minnesota State, Mankato in the fall.

Cody Ferriero, 5th Round (127th overall)

"Alot like his brother, similar players."

- Tim Burke

Just a few picks after Philadelphia selected Tye McGinn, brother of current Sharks winger Jamie McGinn, the Sharks selected the sibling of one of their other players, Cody Ferriero. Cody, the brother of Benn Ferierro, is another high school prospect; Ferriero was ranked 114th by Central Scouting at the end of the year.

Cody, like his brother, is relatively small in stature coming in at only 5'11", 190. However, what he lacks in size he makes up for in grit; Ferriero earned 112 penalty minutes in just 27 games for the Governor's Academy in New England.

Ferriero also has a scoring touch, as he potted 21 goals and added 19 assists in those 27 games. However, he still has alot of work to be done to become an NHL ready player. He'll get the chance to do that when he enrolls at Boston College (his brothers alma mater) in the fall. Ferriero committed to the program back in 2008 when he was still a junior in high school.

Continue on for the Sharks other picks, and our analysis of the second day of the draft.

Freddie Hamilton, 5th Round (129th overall)

Just two picks after they selected Ferriero, the Sharks chose Freddie Hamilton of the OHL's Niagara Ice Dog. Hamilton, a tall 6'1" center who is known for his two way commitment to the game, jumped 40 spots on Central Scouting's final rankings and landed at 62.

Hamilton prides himself on face offs, and by some accounts has become one of the best OHL players in that discipline. He's a control the puck type player and will become better in this regard as he continues to bulk up.

His offense could use some work, as he scored just 55 points in 64 OHL games. He's primarily a defense first player, but his intelligence and work ethic leads me to believe that he could mature into a marginally offensive third line center.

Isaac MacLeod, 5th Round (136th overall)

He's a big, tall defenseman who really came on towards the end of the year. He's going off to college now, but he was kind of a late bloomer. He's just starting to fill out, but things are going to have to happen for him to meet our projection.

- Tim Burke

The Sharks selected Isaac MacLeod of the Penticton V's with the 136th overall pick in the draft, and we loved this pick out of San Jose. MacLeod is a 17 year old defenseman who comes in at a towering 6'5". And unlike other picks from San Jose, MacLeod is said to be a fantastic skater.

He's still a project, though, in the purest sense of the word. Friend of FTF and Penticton V's broadcaster tweeted us after MacLeod was picked, and had this to say:

Isaac is a very raw talent heading to a stellar program in Boston College. Moves very well for a big man. Project D-Man.

@RyanPinder

He was a member of a V's team who had some real talent on defense, and therefore saw little playing time at the beginning of the season. As he began to earn more even strength minutes (due to injury to the V's top defensemen), he was forced into a big minutes role. There was a steady improvement in his play from there, as he began to show the physicality most said he lacked.

A smooth skating, puck moving giant who's still getting bigger? We'll take that in a heart beat. There's no way that he was going to be ready for the NHL in two years anyways, and the fact that he's headed to Boston College (where he will play with fifth round pick Cody Ferriero) means that he'll grow as part of an excellent program.

This pick has the potential to pay off with huge dividends for San Jose. Doug Wilson loves his puck movers. (For more on MacLeod, visit Ryan Pinder's profile on the player)

Konrad Abeltshauser, 6th Round (163rd overall)

He's a monster. Played in the Quebec Hockey League, and he's just huge. He's a good hockey player. Moves very well for a huge guy.

- Tim Burke

With Abeltshauser, the Sharks selected their token German player for 2010. San Jose used the 163rd overall pick (A sixth round selection acquired when they traded the rights to RFA netminder Henrik Karlsson to Calgary), to select Abeltshauser, a German born defenseman from the QJMHL.

Abeltshauser, like MacLeod, is also 6'5". Also like MacLeod, he's a puck moving defenseman who skates well. However, he's a very shoddy defensive-defenseman, and turned in a dreadful -26 rating in just 48 games with the Halifax Mooseheads. In his defense, Halifax was the worst team in the QJMHL by a longshot, but he has some work to do.

Lee Moffie, 7th Round (188th overall)

He's a kid that was undrafted before, a strong kid. He's a kid we've looked at for a couple of years but we didn't draft him and we thought it now might be time. If we didn't draft him, then he becomes a free agent and 30 teams go after him.

-Tim Burke

Moffie, another defenseman, played 25 games for Michigan State this year, contributing 12 points and a +2 rating.

Moffie is, you guessed it, an offensive defenseman. He's smaller than Abeltshauser and MacLeod, but at 6'1" 200 is no pipsqueak.

Moffie was not one of Central Scouting's top 200 North American Skaters, but he still has some time left at Michigan. It's likely he stays for the full four years, as that would be best for his development.

Chris Crane, 7th Round (200th overall)

Out of picks in the seventh round, the Sharks actually made a trade with Pittsburgh (sending the Penguins their 2011 7th rounder) so that they could grab Chris Crane of the USHL with the 200th overall pick.

Crane is a 6'0", 196lb defenseman out of Green Bay. He was ranked 181st by Central Scouting at the end of the year, having averaged almost .5 PPG in his two USHL seasons.

Crane will attend Ohio State in the fall.

Analysis

Look, we know less about these guys than we did about Charlie Coyle... and we didn't know much about him in the first place. However, there were some things that jumped out to us, and we think they're significant.

Doug Wilson loves puck moving defensemen, and he showed it today. With three consecutive picks he took a offensive blueliner, and we think that speaks to his philosophy of where the league is headed. We love that the Sharks grabbed two 6'5" defenseman, as the pipeline lacks size, and can't wait to see them develop.

Second, Wilson and his staff chose three guys (Coyle, Ferriero and MacLeod) who will attend Boston College or Boston University in the fall. That may be a coincidence, but we're inclined to believe it's because the organization has alot of faith in the coaching staffs of the Boston schools and the quality of hockey in the area. It should help build camaraderie between Ferierro and MacLeod, and maybe a little friendly competition between the three of them.

We're disappointed that we didn't see any 67's fall to the Sharks, mostly because it was a fun joke while it lasted. However, San Jose did grab a German, so there's that.

All in all, we're pretty happy with the way day two panned out. There's enough talent in there to make us excited for the future, even if it may be four years from now.

Go Sharks.