2017 NHL Draft: How well did the Sharks grade?

You’ve read what we thought about the Sharks’ draft. Now, it’s time to take a look at what others have said about their efforts this past weekend.

SB Nation

We begin on a lighthearted note with SB Nation colleague Pat Iversen’s evaluation of the Sharks’ first round selection.

19. San Jose Sharks – Joshua Norris, C, Michigan (NCAA)

Don’t know much about him. But you’ve never even heard of him. So you have to agree with my analysis.

Grade: A++++

Once again, an SB Nation writer is right in their analysis.

Last Word on Sports

Ben Kerr thinks the Sharks found significant value with the Chmelevski selection, and gave the team one of the highest grades that I had seen for their draft class.

San Jose Sharks: B+

Picks: Josh Norris, Mario Ferraro, Scott Reedy, Jacob McGrew, Sasha Chmelevski, Ivan Chekhovich

Best Value: Chmelevski

In Josh Norris the Sharks got a hard working two-way centre who was one of the top players on the US NTDP. He also absolutely dominated at the NHL Draft Combine. Ferraro is a smooth skater who covers a ton of ice. He transitions quickly from offense to defense and vice-versa. Reedy was the number two centre behind Norris on the NTDP. He scored nearly as many points, and is a talented play maker.

We had Sasha Chmelevski rated as a late second rounder. The Sharks traded up in round six to get him. Thats [sic] a real steal. He is a smart centre with a lot of skill but needs to work on his defensive game. McGrew is an undersized offensive defencemen. Chekovich has an excellent shot. He finds soft spots in the defense and can fire home a shot when his teammates find him and get him the puck.

There’s no word yet on if Randy Hahn will mention once a game that Chmelevski is from Huntington Beach if he eventually makes the Sharks.

Puck Daddy

Ryan Lambert was more in line with some of our writers, and succinctly summarized the disappointing nature of San Jose’s draft.

San Jose Sharks: Josh Norris at No. 19 is decent. Mario Ferraro at No. 49 is a big reach. They got back on track later but you gotta start hitting on those higher picks given the age of this team’s core. C

Bleacher Report

Steve Silverman gave the lowest grade of anyone I saw, and was particularly unimpressed with the Sharks’ first two selections.

San Jose Sharks, Grade: C-

The San Jose Sharks are in a transition period, with older players Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau each nearing the end of his career.

They need an infusion of young blood, and the selection of Joshua Norris with their first-round pick was quite ordinary. He looked much more like a second-round selection than a first-round star. Perhaps the Sharks were overwhelmed by his showing in the fitness testing.

However, the skill level of this center is OK, not sensational.

Second-round pick Mario Ferraro has excellent skating ability, but the defenseman is ordinary with the puck and does not look like he will help out much on the offensive end unless he develops significantly on the skilled aspects of the game.

Fourth-round selection Scott Reedy, at 6’1″ and 201 pounds, has the size to be a factor down low, and he can get the puck out of the corners and make plays.

Mike Chiari, Silverman’s colleague at Bleacher Report, thought much better of the Sharks’ draft class, and graded it a B+.

The Score

Cory Wilkins was pretty bullish on San Jose’s first two selections.

It was a relatively quiet draft weekend for the Sharks, who had just two picks before the draft boards hit triple digits.

In the opening rounds, the Sharks called the name of Joshua Norris, an American-born center who impressed at the scouting combine, where he took the top spot in five of the 14 fitness tests among the 104 participants. With the U.S. National Development Program Juniors this season, Norris tallied above a point-per-game pace. He then chipped in seven points in as many games with Team USA at the Under-18s. He is committed to the University of Michigan for 2017-18.

In the second round, the Sharks selected Mario Ferraro, a mobile, puck-moving defenseman. At 5-foot-11, Ferraro is a tad undersized to man the blue line, but his skill set is that of a modern rearguard. He tallied 41 points in 60 games this season with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers.

Grade: B

What grade would you give the Sharks’ draft? Vote in our poll and give your thoughts in the comments.

Grade San Jose’s draft.