Since we’re in the middle of rolling out the 25 Under 25 for 2023, this seemed like the perfect time to flashback to 2017 and take a look at Fear the Fin’s 25 Under 25 heading into the 2017-18 season. You can see reactions to the list on the original complete 25 Under 25 post.
Remember that in the summer of 2017, the Sharks were just a year removed from making the Stanley Cup Finals. While San Jose was outsted in six games by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 playoffs, the team still thought it had a shot at competing for a Cup.
However, San Jose was in a transition. Patrick Marleau had left to go play in Toronto. Guys like Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns were starting to fully take over the team.
Here’s what our 25 Under 25 list for 2017 says about the team’s depth.
No. 1 – Tomas Hertl
Hertl was 23 in 2017 and in the process of recovering from all of those knee surgeries. Even back then, his big butt helped him make a difference on the ice, according to then Sharks forward Joel Ward. Hertl was in the process of transitioning to center at the time, adding to his value to the Sharks.
In 2017, Hertl was already showing signs of becoming a star, so it’s no surprise that he topped our 25 Under 25 list.
No. 2 – Timo Meier
Looks like the Fear the Fin staff was spot on in its first two picks.
Timo Meier was 20 years old in 2017, and he was still trying to find his footing in the NHL. However, you could see the value Meier could offer despite a tough rookie season.
Meier suffered a bout of mononucleosis that kept him sidelined to start his rookie year. When he was finally able to join the team, his play was spotty. However, there were flashes of brilliance that gave us hope and landed him at number two.
Seeing what Meier has developed into today, second on the 25 Under 25 list was a perfect spot for him.
No. 3 – Kevin Labanc
Perhaps no one on the 2017 list of top Sharks players under the age of 25 has been more vexing than Kevin Labanc.
In 2017, a then 21-year-old Labanc was the rookie who surprised Sharks fans and management alike by earning himself a spot on the roster. Labanc was called up in November and played 55 games with the Sharks in his 2016-17 season. He did not play for the Sharks in the playoffs but was impactful during the Barracuda playoff run.
In 2017, it looked like Labanc was poised to be an impactful middle six forward in the NHL.
No. 4 – Chris Tierney
By 2017, 24-year-old Chris Tierney’s time with the Sharks was nearing an end. While Tierney performed admirably as a third/fourth liner, he and the Sharks could not agree on a long-term contract, so the two sides signed a one-year deal.
During the 2017-18 season, Tierney did well; he scored 40 points (17 G, 23 A) in 82 games while playing a role on the penalty kill. Tierney earned a new contract at the end of it all but was traded before he played another game in teal as part of the Sharks’ blockbuster deal to acquire Erik Karlsson.
Tierney signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils this summer.
No. 5 – Danny O’Regan
Danny O’Regan’s time with the Sharks was brief. He played just three games with San Jose in 2016-17.
O’Reagan was 23 when he started the 2017-18 season. He played 19 games with the NHL club when, on February 26, 2018, the Sharks traded O’Regan along with a bundle of picks in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft to the Buffalo Sabres for Evander Kane.
O’Regan has had a few more cups of coffee in the NHL since with the Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks but has spent most of his career playing down in the AHL.
No. 6 – Dylan DeMelo
Defenseman Dylan DeMelo had worked his way in and out of the Sharks lineup in 2015-16 and 2016-17 when he was placed at number six on our list. At the time, DeMelo looked like he was poised to be a serviceable middle to bottom pairing defenseman in the NHL.
He still is. Though DeMelo was dealt in 2018 to the Ottawa Senators as part of the Karlsson trade package, he has since been a regular in the lineups for the Senators and the Winnipeg Jets.
DeMelo is currently playing out a four-year contract with the Jets.
No. 7 – Jeremy Roy
For number seven on the list, Jeremy Roy, it was simply a matter of health. The then 20-year-old was recovering from a knee injury when he was placed on the 25 Under 25 list. While his play looked promising, it was a question of whether he would ever regain the mobility that caused the Sharks to draft him 31st overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Unfortunately, Roy never developed into an NHL player. He played just 20 games with the San Jose Barracuda in the 2017-18 season. While he had two more seasons with the Barracuda, his play never truly evolved enough for the Sharks to pull him up to the NHL.
In 2020, the Sharks decided not to tender Roy a qualifying offer. While he signed with the San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate, he never worked his way up to the NHL club. He currently plays for a team in the KHL.
No. 8 – Joakim Ryan
Drafted 198th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft, Joakim Ryan was serviceable for the Sharks in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. He was a stalwart on the blueline, though he didn’t contribute to the team’s offense much.
Sadly, Ryan was passed on the depth chart by the addition of Karlsson and the development of other young players like Radim Simek, Mario Ferraro, Jake Middleton and Brenden Dillon.
San Jose did not re-sign Ryan, and he moved on to play for the Los Angeles Kings in 2019-20. He played a handful of games for the Kings and made one more go of it with the Carolina Hurricanes before deciding to play in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
No. 9 – Rudolfs Balcers
When Rudolfs Balcers jumped onto our 25 Under 25 list in 2017, he was a 20-year-old forward who had just completed his first season in North America. He was learning how to play on North American ice and getting acclimated to a whole new environment. Still, he showed promise.
Balcers played for the Barracuda in 2017-18 and put up 48 points (23 G, 25 A) in 67 games. He was traded as part of the Karlsson deal that summer and so Sharks fans didn’t get a chance to see what he could do at the NHL level…yet.
Balcers played a few seasons for the Ottawa Senators and the team’s AHL club but was placed on waivers in 2021. That’s when San Jose grabbed Balcers from the waiver wire and slotted him into a thin lineup. Balcers played a few seasons with the Sharks before the remainder of his contract was bought out last summer.
Balcers will play in Switzerland this upcoming season.
No. 10 – Rourke Chartier
Rourke Chartier was 21 when he landed the tenth spot on our list. At the time, he looked like he would be a solid bottom six forward with a strong two-way game. But injuries hindered Chartier’s development.
He had a pair of concussions in 2017 that limited his ability to play. When he was finally back on the ice, he took a few steps toward playing consistently in the NHL but then suffered another concussion in 2019. He was not re-signed by the Sharks in the offseason and spent the next season with no contract, recovering from that concussion.
Chartier is currently on a one-year, two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.
The Rest of the 25 Under 25 for 2017
11. Josh Norris – Six years later, and it’s hard to say who’s a bigger, more impactful player: Fear the Fin’s 2017 number one, Tomas Hertl or Norris. Norris has developed into a top-line center with the Senators. Amusingly, when San Jose drafted Norris in 2017, fans wondered why the team had passed on players like Kailer Yamamoto and Kristian Vesalainen to get him.
12. Sasha Chmelevski – It’s amazing that Chmelevski is on the 2023 list as well, albeit as an honorable mention in 2023. In 2017, he was just 18, and while he had great offensive upside, his defense needed work. He still has great skill, though he may never use it while playing for San Jose.
13. Barclay Goodrow – In 2017, then 24-year-old Goodrow was coming into his own as a solid third-liner. Goodrow was great for the Sharks in the playoffs, so much so that the Tampa Bay Lightning gave up a first-round pick to acquire him. It was worth it. The Lightning went on to win two Stanley Cups with Goodrow in the lineup.
Side Note: Goodrow will always have a place in our hearts because of this goal:
14. Dylan Gambrell – The then 21-year-old Dylan Gambrell still hadn’t played a lick of hockey for the Sharks or the Barracuda in 2017. It took him just a year to make the big club. Gambrell scored his first NHL goal in a loss to the St. Louis Blues during the Western Conference Finals.
Gambrell was traded to the Sens in 2021 and recently signed a one-year deal with the Lightning.
15. Mario Ferraro – In 2017, Ferraro was 18 and he looked like a promising young defenseman. At the time, he was headed off to play college hockey at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He spent two seasons there before joining the Sharks. Ferraro’s been here ever since and is still under 25 and eligible for this season’s 25 Under 25.
16. Noah Gregor – Fear the Fin saw a lot of promise in 19-year-old Noah Gregor when he landed the 16th spot on our 25 Under 25 list for 2017. It was well placed. Gregor played 178 games for the Sharks since then and while Gregor’s play has plateaued since then and the Sharks have moved on, he could still be an asset to a team looking for an NHL forward at a good price.
17. Julius Bergman – Julius Bergman was 21 in 2017 and had already showed himself to be a steadying presence on the blueline for the San Jose Barracuda. However, he never developed into an NHL player. Bergman played one more season for the Barracuda after making FTF’s list and was traded to the Senators for Mike Hoffman (the first time the team traded for Hoffman) in 2018. Bergman currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League.
18. Noah Rod – Swiss forward Noah Rod was one of those draft picks that didn’t pan out. Rod played just 11 games for the Barracuda between 2016 and 2018 choosing the Swiss National League over the AHL. The second time Rod determined that the AHL wasn’t for him, he and the Sharks agreed to a mutual contract termination. Rod still plays in the National League.
19. Adam Helewka – Adam Helewka had an okay rookie season with the San Jose Barracuda in 2016-17, which led to his placement at 19 on the 25 Under 25 list in 2017. He played one more season for the Barracuda in 2017-18 and was traded in 2018 for Kyle Wood. Helewka last played in the AHL in 2021-22.
20. Scott Reedy – Scott Reedy was 18 and newly drafted when he landed at 20 on our 25 Under 25 list in 2017. After four seasons with the University of Minnesota, he joined the San Jose Barracuda. In the 2021-22 season, Reedy played 35 games for the Sharks. Reedy never cracked the Sharks lineup in 2022-23 and was traded near the end of the season for Jacob Peterson.
21. Ivan Chekhovich – Though undersized, Ivan Chekhovich showed great hockey IQ and skill when he was drafted by the Sharks in 2017. He showed promise. But that promise never seemed to carryover to the AHL. In 70 games with the Barracuda, Chekhovich had 32 points. San Jose and Chekhovich mutually terminated the contract in 2021. Chekhovich now plays in the KHL.
22. Maxim Letunov – San Jose traded for then 21-year-old Maxim Letunov with the hopes that the forward would become an impactful player with the Sharks. While Letunov played well for the Barracuda, he only played three games for the Sharks in his four seasons with the franchise. Letunov played in the KHL last season.
23. Radim Simek – Radim Simek was 24 back when he dropped onto the 25 Under 25 list. At the time, it looked like Simek would compete for the sixth/seventh defenseman spot with the Sharks. Today, it’s not much different.
24. Nick DeSimone – Nick DeSimone was an impactful player for the Barracuda from 2016-2021, but never seemed to crack the Sharks lineup. After several seasons, San Jose and DeSimone parted ways. DeSimone bounced around the AHL for the past few seasons but finally made his NHL debut with the Calgary Flames on Nov. 7, 2022. DeSimone played four games for the Flames before being sent back down to the team’s AHL affiliate.
25. Filip Sandberg – Then 23-year-old Filip Sandberg was undrafted and unsigned when the Sharks took a shot in 2017. He played two seasons with the Barracuda but never really found his footing. Sandberg returned to the Swedish Hockey League and continues to play there.
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