Finally using their own original selection, the San Jose Sharks selected defender Michael Fisher in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, 76th overall from St. Mark’s School in the US High School Prep system.
The high-scoring defender is a bit of a gamble — as are many players in this draft class, who missed crucial development time due to the coronavirus pandemic — coming out of the high school system, but he’s committed to Northeastern University for next year, where he’ll be teammates with center Cameron Lund, who the Sharks selected earlier today in the second round.
There’s a lot to like about Fisher, however. Standing at 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, Fisher has the size, paired with the scoring touch of a modern defenseman. Scoring remains one of the best factors to predict defensive prospect success and Fisher put up 50 points (13 goals, 37 assists) in just 28 games last season — top among defenders and second overall on the team. He lead the entire USHS-Prep league in points by a defender.
Fisher may well develop in a sneaky good prospect for the Sharks in the future.
Elite Prospects has massive praise for his game, stating in their 2022 Draft Guide that Fisher “may very well be the most dominant high school player we’ve scouted in three years of draft work at Elite Prospects.” Despite playing in the high school system, several rankings had Fisher falling somewhere late in the second round or early in the third, making him a great value selection for the Sharks.
As EP points out, there isn’t much of an established roadmap for players like Fisher, so he’s going to be a risk, and almost certainly a player who needs more hands-on development to keep him on track. Something to watch as his game transitions to the collegiate level is how his volume-shooting works out in a much tighter system and against better competition.
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