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San Jose Sharks prospect check-in: NCAA January

Posted on by Erika Towne
Checking in the Sharks' prospects in the NCAA including Will Smith, Alex Young, Cameron Lund, Michael Fisher, Eric Pohlkamp and Reese Laubach.

The San Jose Sharks prospects playing college hockey are starting to prepare for the college hockey tournament. The NCAA Division I tournament starts at the end of March, culminating in the Frozen Four and the ultimate crowning of a champion. A couple of prospects may be playing for teams in the mix, most notably top prospect Will Smith, whose Boston College Eagles just completed a weekend sweep in the Battle of Comm Ave., the annual home-and-home series with Boston University.

Smith continues to thrive at college, something the Sharks management was counting on when it worked with Smith’s agent on a development plan for the young center.

Here’s a look at how Smith and the other Sharks prospects are doing at the college level.

Eli Barnett (D) – University of Vermont

Barnett continues to find his way at the University of Vermont. The freshman defenseman has 4 assists in 16 games this season and is a plus-6. While he’s not garnering much attention at the college hockey level, his size is intriguing. He’s 6-foot-6 and 218 pounds. He has the size to develop into a formidable defenseman.

Michael Fisher (D) – Northeastern University

As a freshman defenseman at Northeastern, Fisher has not found his offensive game just yet. He’s had a relatively quiet season with two points (1 G, 1 A), but he had four shots on goal during the weekend home-and-home series with Merrimack. Fisher’s team won both of those games.

Reese Laubach (F) – Penn State

Laubach is having a good freshman season with Penn State. The forward has 13 points in 22 games and scored a goal against Notre Dame on Jan. 20.

Laubach has 6 goals this season for the Nittany Lions.

Cameron Lund (F) – Northeastern University

Lund’s sophomore season at Northeastern is going well. The forward had two goals and two assists in Northeastern’s two-game series with Merrimack over the weekend. Lund also had six shots on goal. He kept that offensive mindset going on Jan. 30, when he put up 5 shots on goal in Northeastern’s 4-3 overtime win over Boston University.

With 22 points in 23 games, one of the highlights of the season had to be the hat trick he scored in Northeastern’s 5-3 win over Boston College on Dec. 1.

There’s also this impossible angle goal against the University of Vermont on Jan. 12.

Lund continues to hold onto a spot in Fear the Fin’s prospect power rankings, and his solid play with Northeastern is a key reason why.

Joey Muldowney (F) – University of Connecticut

Freshman forward Muldowney has 10 points in 25 games this season and he’s heating up. Muldowney has a three-game point streak going. He has an assist in each of UConn’s past three games, including this one in the team’s most recent game against Quinnipiac.

Eric Pohlkamp (D) – Bemidji State University

Pohlkamp continues to show why the Sharks picked him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. The defenseman recently returned to Bemidji State after winning gold at the World Junior Championship (WJC) with Team USA. Pohlkamp was the first player ever to represent Bemidji at the WJC.

He has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) in 18 games with the Beavers. What’s more, he’s put 75 shots on net, averaging 4.167 shots per game. On Nov. 25, Pohlkamp put a season-high nine shots on goal.

Will Smith (F) – Boston College

Smith continues to show why he’s San Jose’s top prospect by a longshot. Smith was a top contributor to Team USA and its gold medal win at the WJC. When he returned to Boston College after his time in Sweden, Smith picked up right where he left off. Smith has 11 points in 6 games since his return, including 6 goals. Most recently, Boston College swept the home-and-home series with Boston University. Smith has 34 points in 23 games this season.

He and the rest of BC Eagles are currently listed as the number one team in the NCAA rankings.

Timofel Spitserov (F) – University of Vermont

Spitserov has not had an excellent season at the University of Vermont, especially as this is his junior year. However, he’s steadily increased his numbers season over season. Spitserov has 10 points (5 G, 5A) in 23 games this season. He had just six points in the same number of games last season. Spitserov has also more than doubled his shots on goal this season compared to last, showing he’s finding more ways to generate scoring opportunities.

Spitserov’s most recent goal happened on Jan. 13.

Alex Young – Arizona State University

Young has hit a bit of a slump recently at ASU. Young started well in the season with his new team, scoring 8 points in 16 games. However, he hasn’t registered a point since Dec. 2, 2023.

There will be questions for Young’s future in the coming months. The 22-year-old is in his fourth year of college hockey, meaning he and the Sharks must decide what’s next. Young was an honorable mention on Fear the Fin’s top 25 Sharks Under 25 this year, dangerously close to not making it at all.

With his points regression this season, it’s hard to determine what the Sharks have in Young. It will be a question of whether Young has improved his two-way game enough for San Jose to give him a two-way contract.

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