VANCOUVER — The San Jose Sharks started the second day of the 2019 NHL Draft with five draft picks, and after five trades, ended up with…five draft picks. Their first-round draft pick was traded for Evander Kane last year.
Here’s a summary of Doug Wilson’s maze of moves:
Sharks love bouncing around the board
Back three times
Up twice (3 if you count Pyatt)41 –> 48, 82
48: Knyazev
91, 82 –> 55: Hamaliuk
215 + Perron –> 164 + Pyatt
2020, 4th –> 108: Spiridonov
153 –> 211, 2020, 7th
164: Ibragimov
184: Hatakka
211 –> 2020, 7th
— playoff (timo) time (@FowleBall15) June 22, 2019
After the draft, Doug Wilson Jr. and Tim Burke talked about San Jose’s newest prospects. None are ruled out for next week’s development camp:
Artemi Kniazev
From @scoutingservice draft preview: Blueliner Artemi Kniazev is “very active on the back end…likes to use his feet to skate the puck out of his zone & create some offense…Often looks like a 4th forward on the ice.”
Sound familiar, Sharks fans?
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
Kniazev says that Sharks contacted him before draft, so he wasn’t surprised to be selected by San Jose. It also happens that Erik Karlsson is his favorite player.
Kniazev, on what he admires about Karlsson:
Karlsson is my favorite player. I watch a lot of his games with [Sharks prospect and Chicoutimi Saguenéens teammate, Vladislav] Kotkov.
I think we play the same style. He likes to play with the puck, create scoring chances. I like it too.
Burke, on Kniasev:
He’s an elite skater. He’s thick, he’s not tall, but he’s stocky.
A leader too. A kid who came over to a team who thought he’d never come. His English is good.
Dillon Hamaliuk
From @scoutingservice draft preview: Winger Dillon Hamaliuk “is one of most physical players [in WHL], delivering huge hits each game…very soft hands….Skating is the area in Hamaliuk’s game that stands out as a weakness.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
Wilson Jr. said the organization had both Kniazev and Hamaliuk as first-round grade talents on their board.
Wilson Jr., on Hamaliuk’s knee injury and potential:
We were fortunate. He was cleared in June. He played in Seattle last year. Roy Sommer’s son, Caston, was an assistant coach there.
He was kind of the guy in this year’s draft that nobody wanted to talk about because everybody kind of wanted him. We were trying to figure out where to take him.
He’s a 6-foot-4 power forward who can skate, enters the zone with possession. He just got traded to Kelowna, who’s hosting the Memorial Cup this year. He’ll play under Adam Foote.
Yegor Spiridonov
From @FCHockey draft preview, Yegor Spiridonov: “An elite two-way center, Spiridonov is very strong on his skates and hard to knock off the puck. One concern is his skating stride…great hockey IQ”
Thought by some to be a second-round caliber prospect
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
KHL source says of Spiridonov: “Good two-way guy, uses his skills for 200-foot game. Good on faceoffs. Plays PK, big body, good in puck battles & corners. Need to gain some explosiveness. Reminds me a lot of Artem Anisimov”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
Spiridonov (via translator), on his excitement to join Sharks:
He’s so excited to join a juggernaut like San Jose.
Spiridonov (via translator), on how he’d describe his game:
He’s a two-way hockey player. He’s good on the power play and penalty kill. He can fit into any situation that the coach would want.
Spiridonov (via translator), on who he models his game after:
On the Sharks, he’s always been a big fan of Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. Not on the Sharks, he’s a huge fan of Ryan O’Reilly. Models his game after O’Reilly.
Spiridonov (via translator), on his KHL contract:
His contract runs through 2021. At which point, he’ll be joining the San Jose Sharks in any capacity that they would have him.
Timur Ibragimov
Wilson, on under-the-radar pick Ibragimov (pronounced E-breg-gim-ov):
This is a guy that we’re excited about. Elite speed & hands. Was 5-foot-10, huge growth spurt this year, he’s 6-foot-2 now.
You talk about the kids with the speed and the hands to have some deception, and he grew four inches.
Got some power forward qualities.
Santeri Hatakka
From @FCHockey draft preview, Santeri Hatakka is “an emerging two-way defenseman…has good vision & makes smart decisions with the puck. Smooth on his skates…has an excellent all-around defensive game…has all the tools to become a solid blue-liner at the next level.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
Burke, on Hatakka:
Fast guy. A lot of speed.
A guy who played a lot of minutes. Really solid player.
Wilson Jr., on Hattaka and Kniazev:
Kniazev and Hattaka were two of the top-three or four skating defensemen in this draft.
Wilson Jr., on trading Francis Perron to move up to select Hattaka:
We signed a lot of European FA forwards. You want to give a chance to Gambrell & them. Francis needs waivers. He’s going to get a chance with Vancouver. We saw a chance to move up and get a D with elite feet.
Special Thanks
I wanted to close my draft coverage by thanking SMWW for hosting me at their annual NHL Draft Career Conference. With speakers like Ken Holland, Mike Johnston, E.J. Hradek, Rick Curran, Patrick Burke and George Parros, it was a fascinating conference, well worth the visit! Check them out next year in Montreal!
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