2023 FTF 25 Under 25 honorable mentions

Fear the Fin will roll out its 25 Under 25 list over the next three to four weeks. It is possibly the best indicator to date of just how much General Manager Mike Grier has changed with the Sharks’ in the past year plus. Our own Lakshya Jain evaluated the Sharks’ prospect pool under Grier a few weeks ago. This is a look at the stark differences between 2022 and 2023.

For example, only 9 of the players on last year’s 25 Under 25 are still with the Sharks. One, Nikolai Knyzhov, has aged out. Of the remaining eight, most of them have slipped down the rankings. For Sharks fans, that’s good news. It does not indicate that these players are less capable than they were in 2022 but rather that the players who have usurped them on the list have higher ceilings.

Since I initially posted the question to the group in April/May, there have been some major developments. Will Smith, Quentin Musty and Kasper Halttunen were added at the 2023 NHL Draft. Artemi Knaizev, who would have been in the running for this year’s list, was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for prospect Leon Gawanke. Additionally, Benjamin Gaudreau, who occupied a spot last season, decided to re-enter the NHL draft instead of re-signing with the Sharks.

Method to the madness

Pulling a list like this together is difficult. After all, you’re comparing apples to oranges to pears. Sure, they’re all fruit, but they serve different purposes and have different makeups. The same can be said for hockey players. In a list like this, we’re not comparing defensemen against each other; we’re comparing the value of a defenseman to a goaltender to a forward. That makes things complex.

Another wrinkle was weighing potential against reality. For example, Mario Ferraro has played 252 NHL games and he’s not yet 25. Is he better than Shakhir Mukhamadullin, who has potential but has yet to play in the NHL? What about a player like Luca Cagnoni who looks like his offensive skill is elite but is a long way from joining a professional team?

So, we tried to balance things out. In many cases, potential has outweighed reality. However, the games played in the NHL cannot be discounted. So, a player like Ferraro is likely to appear higher on this list than his skills demand simply because he has consistently lived the dream.

Note the word consistently. A handful of games at the highest level does not prove a player is ready to take on a full time role with a team or that they will ever be capable of filling that role.

We were also realistic. While a player like Martin Kaut or Sasha Chmelevski might have made the list, the reality is that they will likely never play another game in teal. For various reasons, they’ve chosen to separate themselves from the team. As a result, you’ll find their names in the honorable mentions category below.

Fear the Fin’s 25 Under 25 honorable mentions

With that, let’s kick off this 25 Under 25 with some honorable mentions. These players just missed out on this year’s rankings but are still worth mentioning.

Alex Young

Position: Center
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 170 lbs.
Age: 22
Date of Birth: March 22, 2001
Draft Year: 2020, 196th overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: Arizona State University

Alex Young is ready to enter his fourth season playing college hockey, but this year he’ll be playing for a new team. Young played the past three seasons at Colgate University and did well. He was nearly a point-per-game player last season, scoring 39 points (29 G, 18 A) in 40 games.

But, he switched to Arizona State University this offseason after finding out that his coach for the past three years, Don Vaughan, was retiring.

“[Don Vaughan] was just somebody that really knew how to talk to the team and talk to the players. Losing him and feeling uncertainty moving forward. Losing many key players, my older brother leaving the team as well. I just felt like maybe a bit of a change was needed and a little bit of certainty going forward,” Young told San Jose Hockey Now earlier this summer.

Luckily, Young will not have to start from scratch with the ASU coaching staff. His former assistant coach at Colgate, Dana Borges, was also added to the ASU coaching staff this summer.

As for what Young needs to work on, he told SJHN that he’s had talks with the Sharks coaching staff.

“Tons of things to work on, really. I mean, who doesn’t have a lot of stuff to work on,” said Young. “But a few things as in foot speed: quickness, acceleration off of a dead stop. Then just defensive awareness overall and being more of a responsible player in our own zone. Two big things.”

Michael Fisher

Position: Defense
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 193 lbs.
Age: 19
Date of Birth: May 2, 2004
Draft Year: 2022, 76th overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: Northeastern University

Michael Fisher was not mentioned in last year’s 25 Under 25 roundup because the 2022 draft pick was still too new to the program. Fisher suffered a knee injury this past season, so he did not put up great numbers in the USHL playing for the Youngstown Phantoms. In 14 games, he had zero points and was a minus-4.

However, he’s spent the summer rehabbing, and he seems ready to perform much better in his first season at Northeastern University. Fisher will be playing on a team with fellow Sharks prospect Cameron Lund. San Jose is high on Fisher’s upside, as Sharks’ scouting director Chris Morehouse told The Athletic in April.

“When you’re watching prep school hockey, you look for boxes to check off, and he checked a lot of boxes (last season),” said Morehouse. “Good size, power, really smart kid. A really good projectable prospect. He’s going to have time at a good school to become a more well-round player and person, and hopefully the end product will be one that we’re really excited about.”

Ethan Cardwell

Position: Right Wing
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 180 lbs.
Age: 20
Date of Birth: August 30, 2002
Draft Year: 2021, 121st overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: San Jose Barracuda

Fresh off of a season that saw him named “Sharks Prospect of the Year,” Ethan Cardwell is headed to San Jose. The 20-year-old signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Sharks in April after an outstanding season in the OHL.

“Ethan had a significant improvement in his OHL career this past year being one of the go-to players for his team in nearly all situations,” said Grier following the contract announcement. “He has the ability to produce offensively and has helped be a driving force on a quality team as Barrie continues their postseason play.”

In the 2022-23 season, Cardwell had 90 points (43 G, 47 A) in 62 games for the Barrie Colts of the OHL. He had 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in 12 playoff games.

Cardwell will have the opportunity to show management what he has in Sharks training camp, but, barring an amazing breakout, he’s likely to start the season with the San Jose Barracuda.

Sasha Chmelevski

Position: Center
Height: 6-foot-0
Weight: 188 lbs.
Age: 24
Date of Birth: June 9, 1999
Draft Year: 2017, 185th overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)

Sasha Chmelevski still has offensive talent. In 67 games in the KHL last season, he had 48 points (26 G, 22 A) and 5 points (4 G, 1 A) in 6 playoff games. However, it looks like Chmelevski’s time with the Sharks is over. While most players move from the KHL to the AHL, Chmelevski did the reverse and moved from the AHL to the KHL.

The 24-year-old had played for the Barracuda in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 before deciding to sign in the KHL. While the Sharks still retain his rights, it’s unlikely that he’ll return to America to play professional hockey until his rights belong to another team.

When Grier was asked about Chmelevski in 2022, he told San Jose Hockey Now: “We talked to his agent and told him our stance on things with him. He and his agent thought it would be best for him to go play in Europe. I have to do what I feel is best for the organization; on the other side of it, the agent is trying to do what he thinks is best for his clients. At the end of the day, hopefully, it works out for Sasha, but this is the path he’s chosen to go down right now.”

Martin Kaut

Position: Right Wing
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 190 lbs.
Age: 23
Date of Birth: October 2, 1999
Draft Year: 2018, 16th overall by the Avalanche
Shoots: Right
2023-24 Team: HC Dynamo Pardubice of Czech Extraliga

When the Sharks traded prospect Ryan Merkley to the Colorado Avalanche for Martin Kaut earlier this season, it looked like the team had traded up. Kaut arrived in San Jose and slotted into an admittedly weak forward lineup in the NHL. It seemed like a good chance for Kaut to prove himself. By the end of the season, it looked like Kaut had a shot at competing for an opening on the Sharks’ roster for the 2023-24 season.

However, less than six months after the trade, Kaut left the team to play in Czechia and accused some San Jose Barracuda coaches of trying to coerce him into fighting. The Sharks have denied that such a thing ever happened.

“We have been made aware of comments attributed to Martin Kaut stating that he was pressured to deliberately instigate a physical engagement with opposing players on the ice. Let us be unequivocally clear that no such direction was ever given or insinuated by the members of the Sharks or Barracuda coaching or hockey staffs,” said the Sharks in a statement to Fear the Fin.

It’s clear that if Kaut returns to the U.S. to play hockey, it will not be for the Sharks.