In a series of previous posts, we looked at what the San Jose Sharks could do with the second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft on June 27. However, the Sharks also have a second pick in the first round, 30th overall. The team also has the 33rd overall, the first pick on day two of the draft, which is close enough to the first round that we figured we’d include it here. The two picks mean there are two opportunities for the Sharks to draft prospects with high NHL potential.
With young goaltender Yaroslav Askarov in the fold and a strong group of forwards including Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty, the Sharks are looking good at two of the three key positions. What the team needs is a high-end defensive talent. Sam Dickinson may end up being that, but a little more depth at the position would go a long way to strengthening the prospect pool, especially on the right-hand side. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the defensive talent that the Sharks could draft with the 30th (formerly the first overall pick of the Dallas Stars) and the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft.
Right-side defensemen
It should be noted that this is not a deep draft class, so all of the players at 30th and 33rd overall are going to have some flaws. We’re looking for players that fit what the Sharks need, and so we’re going to have to take the good with the bad and hope that some of the “issues” can be worked out in development. With that in mind, here are some of the players that the Sharks should consider with the team’s upcoming picks.
Blake Fiddler
There’s some discussion on whether Fiddler will be around at 30th overall, but if he is, the Sharks may seriously think about drafting him. Fiddler is the son of Vernon Fiddler, and Sharks fans who remember the playoff matchups with the Nashville Predators in the 2000s will remember the name. The younger Fiddler is a big boy. 6-foot-4.5 and 220 pounds, he’s only 17 years old and won’t be 18 until a few days after the draft. FloHockey’s Chris Peters calls Fiddler’s offensive game “unrefined” but says the foundation is there. Peters calls Fiddler’s defensive skills “notable” and says that Fiddler can make a good first pass.
Rachel Doerrie of ESPN projects that Fiddler will be a second-pair defenseman and that his floor is that of a bottom-pairing, physical defenseman. Fiddler has size and mobility, two things that the Sharks would love to pair with a smaller, mobile defenseman like Luca Cagnoni.
Henry Brzustewicz
The interesting thing about Brzustewicz is that he’s all over the draft board. Some pundits have him as high as in the early 20s, while others have him as low as in the 50s. The Sharks have done their homework on Brzustewicz, after all, he was Sam Dickinson’s defensive partner with the London Knights, so the team has watched a lot of tape on the 6-foot-1.75, 203-pound defenseman. If Brzustewicz is available at 30 or 33 and the Sharks don’t draft him, trust that it’s because the Sharks don’t think that he’s the best available at the position.
Draft scouts believe that Brzustewicz can jump into the play and is strong in front of his net. He’s not ready to jump into the NHL yet, so he’ll need at least another year in juniors. Doerrie says Brzustewicz is a creative defenseman who is good at gap control.
Carter Amico
What the defensemen in this grouping seem lack elsewhere, they definitely make up for it in size. Amico is a 6-foot-5.5 defenseman who weighs 232 pounds. He’s mobile and good in transition. He knows how to use his size and can be physical to influence play. Doerrie projects his floor as a seventh defenseman in the NHL, which could be worse. His ceiling is a 4/5 transitional defenseman.
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler says that Amico has been inconsistent sometimes struggling with reading plays and sometimes he fails to get the stops he needs. A recent injury has set back Amico’s development and the teen will play another year of junior hockey before heading to Boston University, which, should put him on General Manager Mike Grier’s radar since we know Grier likes his Boston players.
Max Psenicka
One final option on the right-side might be Psenicka, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound defenseman who played for the Portland Winterhawks last season. Psenicka played in Czechia before making the jump to North America so he was not teammates with Sharks’ prospect Cagnoni. FloHockey’s Peters calls Psenicka “difficult” to play against and says that the defenseman appears to have “the mobility and “anticipation skills” to be a shutdown defender.
He played more than 20 minutes as a rookie in the WHL last season and is expected to be relied upon even more with the Winterhawks next season at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. While 30 or 33 might be a stretch for Psenicka, the team does have the 53rd overall pick this draft and that’s right about where the defenseman is expected to be drafted according FloHockey and The Athletic’s Wheeler.
Left-side defensemen
While right-side defensemen are ideal, Grier has indicated that taking the best player available in the draft is what he and his team is looking to do. That means that if a left-side defenseman is what’s available with a higher upside, then that’s what he’s going to take. With that in mind, here are some of the left-side defensemen that the Sharks might consider in the latter part of the first round and the early part of the second round.
Sascha Boumedienne
As we’ve talked about previously, Grier likes his Boston boys and so Boumedienne would fit that role nicely. It’s hard to say if the 6-foot-1.75, 184 pound defenseman will be available at 30th overall (some drafts have him going in the 20s), but if he is, you have to think that Grier will consider taking him. Boumedienne has already played a year at the college level, playing alongside top Vancouver Canucks defensive prospect Tom Willander at Boston University this past season. Boumedienne has offensive upside. He set a record for defensemen with 14 points in seven games for Sweden at the 2025 World U18s.
FloHockey’s Peters says Boumedienne is one of the best skating defensemen in the class with “excellent mobility, edgework and some explosiveness.” If there’s a downside to his game, it’s his hockey sense and his ability to process the game and that’s likely what had The Athletic’s Wheeler dropping Boumedienne down to the second round on his draft board.
Haoxi “Simon” Wang
Speaking of Boston University, Wang is also expected to be headed there soon. The 6-foot-6, 222-pound product from the Oshawa Generals is commited to BU as well. Wheeler calls him “raw,” but his size certainly is intriguing. Wang was born in Beijing, but moved to Canada several years ago to improve his hockey game. He would be an intriguing add from a simple fan standpoint, though you’d be betting on his raw skill and his size more than any established talent at this point.
Kurban Limatov
A 6-foot-4, 193-pound defenseman from Russia, Limatov can play in all situations, something that might be intriguing to the Sharks. FloHockey’s Peters says Limatov logged “ludicrous” minutes in the MHL this past season, which shows that even as a 17-year-old, he earned an immense amount of trust from his coaching staff. The Athletic’s Wheeler says Limatov has “good instincts” and makes good reads and decisions. While ESPN’s Doerrie projects him as a second-pair defenseman, but also calls him a “boom or bust” player, presumably meaning that if he hits, it’s going to be big or he’s never making the NHL.
Given the depth that the Sharks have on defense right now, particularly on the left-side, this might be one of those times that taking a gamble on a player like Limatov with a second round pick would be worth it.
Jacob Rombach
Finally, there’s Rombach, a 6-foot-6.25, 209-pound (do you notice a theme here) player. The defenseman is committed to Minnesota and is able to eat up tough minutes on 5-on-5 and the penalty kill. Peters calls him a “work in progress” that’s still learning how to play to his size. While Wheeler says, “He’s a decent backwards skater who has a good stick, manages and closes gaps effectively, and makes good, smart decisions with the puck, which is all you can really ask of a player his size.”
When it comes to Rombach, it sounds like this is a kid where he’s going to need some time to percolate in the NCAA before he’s ready to move up, but that might be okay. The Sharks have a lot of players on the left side who have been developing and so giving a player like Rombach time to develop isn’t as big a deal.
Conclusion
While Grier has said the Sharks will be taking the best players available during the draft, you can bet at least one of the players taken with the 30th and 33rd overall picks will be defensemen. Looking at the board, it’s possible that the team will take two defensemen witht he hopes that one will hit it big, especially considering that the forward group looks to be shaping out very nicely.
The NHL Entry Draft is Friday, June 27 at 4 p.m. Be sure to check in here for all the details on who the Sharks draft.
