A new year and another huge swing in the San Jose Sharks’ prospect pool. When we last ran our top 25 Sharks under the age of 25 rankings in late August of 2023, there were new names and a new number one at the top of the list. We expect that this year will be something similar.
For those of you that missed last season’s poll, here’s where things stood:
- Will Smith (A special talent)
- William Eklund (Nothing holding him back)
- Mario Ferraro (Defenseman at his peak?)
- Quentin Musty (Exactly as advertised)
- Shakir Mukhamadullin (An intriguing defensive prospect)
- Filip Bystedt (A speedy giant)
- Henry Thrun (Using defense to drive the offense)
- Thomas Bordeleau (Ready for the NHL?)
- Fabian Zetterlund (Adapting to change)
- Jacob Peterson (Turning a corner) – Peterson was a restricted free agent this summer but did not receive a qualifying offer. He signed a contract with Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League.
- Filip Zadina (A point to prove) – Zadina was not issued a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent and is now a free agent able to sign with any team.
- Tristen Robins (Ready for another taste of the NHL)
- Mattias Havelid (A smaller defenseman with elite passing skill)
- Daniil Gushchin (Young winger continues to rise to the challenge)
- Kasper Halttunen (Future NHL power forward?)
- Valtteri Pulli (Sharks land highly touted European defenseman)
- Eetu Makiniemi (Can he stay healthy?) – Makiniemi again had trouble staying healthy, and the Sharks decided not to extend a qualifying offer to the goalie this summer. He’s now a free agent.
- Magnus Chrona (The “right size” for a goaltender)
- Luca Cagnoni (A possible dynamo)
- Cameron Lund (Looking to build on a strong freshman season)
- Nikita Okhotiuk (The defensive specialist the Sharks need) – Okhotiuk played 43 games for the Sharks last season and never really stood out. In March, he was traded to the Calgary Flames for a 2024 fifth-round pick.
- Leon Gawanke (A fresh start for an offensive defenseman) – Gawanke was part of the competition for a spot on defense during training camp, but never cracked the lineup and spent the year with the San Jose Barracuda. In February, Gawanke was placed on waivers and the Sharks terminated his contract. He now plays in Germany.
- Ozzy Wiesblatt (A crossroads for the former first-rounder) – Wiesblatt was traded to the Nashville Predators earlier this offseason in exchange for the rights to Egor Afanasyev. Afanasyev became a restricted free agent this summer, and while the Sharks gave the forward a qualifying offer, he opted to sign with CSKA Moscow in the KHL instead.
- Gannon Laroque (Looking to bounce back from injury)
- Brandon Coe (A step back for the 2022 Prospect of the Year)
There will be a lot of changes to this year’s list compared to last. For one thing, two of our top ten players, Mario Ferraro and Fabian Zetterlund, will be 25 by September 1, our cut-off date for being considered “under 25.”
Six others are no longer with the organization. They were either traded or did not receive qualifying offers.
That said, there have also been adds to the prospect pool since the last time we did this poll. For example, Ty Emberson who was picked up off waivers, is still under 25. The Sharks also added several impact players at the most recent draft, including Macklin Celebrini, Sam Dickinson and Igor Chernyshov.
In other words, there are a lot of exciting options for this season’s top 25 under 25 rankings.
Below is a list of San Jose’s prospects in no particular order. Your job is to rank them 1 through 25 with 1 being the top prospect.
(If the form below doesn’t work, you can link to the Google Form here.)
We’ll run this poll until Aug. 16 and then roll out the results starting at the end of the month.