Sam Dickinson might just be the guy Sharks fans have been waiting for on the back end. San Jose snagged him 11th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, and honestly, it already feels like the team got a steal. Dickinson spent last season absolutely lighting up the OHL with the London Knights … we’re talking 91 points in 55 games as a defenseman. That’s not just good, that’s franchise-record good. He even walked away with OHL Defenseman of the Year honors and had a monster playoff run. If he wasn’t on your radar before, he should be now.
Position: Defenseman
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 209 pounds
Age: 19
Date of Birth: June 7, 2006
Draft Year: 2024 (Drafted 11th overall by the San Jose Sharks)
Shoots: Left
2025-26 Team: San Jose Sharks/London Knights
What We Like
The first thing that jumps off the page is how much Dickinson impacts the game offensively. He’s not just quarterbacking the power play. He’s jumping into the rush, setting up goals, and putting up numbers most forwards would be jealous of. His shot from the point is a weapon, and he has the vision to find teammates through traffic. He was flat-out dominant in London this past year, and that’s the kind of swagger the Sharks could use.
Dickinson plays a really solid two-way game. His skating is so smooth for a guy his size that he can shut down plays in transition and still be the first one leading the rush the other way. His +64 rating this year wasn’t a fluke; the Knights were just better when he was on the ice.
And maybe the most underrated part of his game is how much coaches trust him. He’s playing big minutes in every situation, and he doesn’t look overwhelmed. Power play, penalty kill, final minutes of a game. He’s out there. That’s not something you see with every 19-year-old defenseman.
Areas of improvement
No prospect is perfect, and Dickinson’s is no exception. The biggest thing he’ll need to work on is his decision-making under pressure. Sometimes he forces plays that aren’t there, and at the NHL level, those turnovers are going to end up in the back of the net. Cleaning that up is going to be huge for him.
He’s also still learning how to use his frame to really dominate physically. He’s got the size, but you’d like to see him get a little meaner in front of the net and in the corners. The NHL is a grind, and he’ll need to bulk up a bit more to handle that night-in, night-out physicality.
And finally, consistency is the name of the game. There are nights when he’s unstoppable and nights when he disappears a little. If he can keep that top gear running more often, he’s going to be a nightmare for opposing forwards.
What’s next for Dickinson?
This really depends on who you ask. There are a lot of scouts who believe that Dickinson is simply too good to return to the OHL for another season and that he’s NHL-ready. If you watched his performance in last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, he certainly didn’t look out of place against some of those NHL regulars.
The real question is whether Dickinson will stick for the entirety of the season. The Sharks have nine NHL games to decide if the team wants to keep him and burn the first year of his ELC or send him back to his junior team in the OHL, the London Knights. While the competition in the OHL isn’t going to challenge Dickinson, the coaching staff is certainly up to the task which means Sharks fans can rest assured that Dickinson’s development won’t take a step back simply because he’s not old enough to move up a level.
Whether he’s with the Sharks or the London Knights, most people are pretty sure that he’ll take a break in the winter to join the Canadian World Junior team and play on the top defensive pairing at the World Junior Championship. Odds are he’ll be joined by fellow Sharks’ draftee Joshua Ravensbergen in the net and maybe even Michael Misa depending on how Misa’s game is going in the NHL at that point in the season.
Highlight
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7. Shakir Mukhamadullin
8. Igor Chernyshov
9. Quentin Musty
10. Luca Cagnoni
11. Collin Graf
12. Filip Bystedt
13. Joshua Ravensbergen
14. Kasper Halttunen
15. Eric Pohlkamp
16. Cam Lund
17. Ethan Cardwell
18. Haoxi Wang
19. Leo Sahlin Wallenius
20. Jack Thompson
21. Cole McKinney
22. Zack Ostapchuk
23. Mattias Havelid
24. Egor Afanasyev
25. Carson Wetsch
Honorable Mentions: Joey Muldowney, Jake Furlong, Brandon Svoboda, Nate Misskey, Gabriel Carriere
