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San Jose Sharks prospect check-in: OHL, QMJHL, WHL, USHL, ECHL, BCHL October/November

Posted on by Erika Towne

It is not good news for several of the San Jose Sharks prospects playing in the Canadian leagues or the lower-level American leagues. At least two of them, Quentin Musty and Michael Fisher, are dealing with hand injuries that will keep them out of play for several weeks. 2024 draftee Igor Chernyshov is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. And there’s no indication of if or when Gannon Laroque will play for the Wichita Thunder.

There are a lot of young players that are banged up.

At the same time, there are some that are shining with their respective teams.

Nolan Burke – Wichita Thunder (ECHL)

Nolan Burke is down in the ECHL with the Wichita Thunder. The 21-year-old is in his second season in the ECHl and is building on his points total from last season when he scored 15 points in 47 games. Burke has 9 points in 19 games this season.

Burke had a goal in two straight games in late November. His marker on Nov. 22 was the game-winning goal that helped the Thunder to a three-game sweep of the Utah Grizzles.

Igor Chernyshov – Saginaw Spirit (OHL)

While Igor Chernyshov is signed with the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL, he has yet to play a game. The 2024 draftee had shoulder surgery before the start of the season and is now recovering. Chernyshov spent some time in San Jose after the surgery but was well enough in mid-October to join his new OHL team.

He was greeted at the airport by members of the Spirit organization on Oct. 12.

So far, there is no timeline for Chernyshov’s recovery.

Sam Dickinson – London Knights (OHL)

Sam Dickinson is in the overall OHL scoring race even though he’s a defenseman. The number 11 overall pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft has 45 points in 24 games. That’s almost two points per game for those of you too tired to do math. Dickinson is on an absolute tear for the London Knights, a team that leads its conference.

Dickinson already has two hat tricks this season, and it’s not even his most impressive performance. Just last night, Dickinson had a five-point night that included this goal.

But his best performance to date was his six-point night against the Saginaw Spirit on Nov. 23, when he had a goal and five assists.

Michael Fisher – Penticton Vees (BCHL)

2022 draftee Michael Fisher has had a setback in his development. The young defenseman was playing for the Penticton Vees in the BCHL this season and had seven points in nine games, along with 25 penalty minutes. However, Fisher left the team’s Oct. 19 game with a broken hand. He’s expected to miss several weeks while he recovers.

Artem Guryev – Wichita Thunder (ECHL)

Guryev is under contract with the Sharks through the 2025-26 season, but he’s clearly moving down the depth chart as the Sharks bring in more talented defensemen.

Guryev played 31 games with the San Jose Barracuda last season but started this season with the Thunder in the ECHL. In 13 games, Guryev has two points and is a minus-4 on a team that is 10-10-1 and has a plus-5 goal differential.

Kasper Halttunen – London Knights (OHL)

Kasper Halttunen is back with his OHL team and playing alongside fellow Sharks draftee Dickinson. Halts has played just four games with the London Knights since he was assigned back to the junior team from the Barracuda.

Halttunen has just three points in four games, but the true test of his progress this season won’t be what he does on the scoreboard but instead what he does away from the puck to help his team win.

Christian Kirsch – Janesville Jets (NAHL)

2024 draftee Christian Kirsch is working to show he has what it takes to play on North American ice. The Swiss goaltender joined the USHL this season and played one game with the Green Bay Gamblers. He didn’t do well, finishing with a .833 save percentage and 4.81 goals against average.

Kirsch has also played eight games with the Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). He leads the team with three wins, a .928 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against average.

David Klee – Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)

19-year-old David Klee is doing okay with his new team in the USHL. The forward was traded to the Muskegon Lumberjacks over the summer and is currently sixth on the team in scoring. Klee has 10 points in 18 games. Of those, seven of them are goals, and two of them are game-winning goals.

Gannon Laroque – Wichita Thunder (ECHL)

There’s little to no news on what’s happened to Gannon Laroque. While the defenseman is signed to a three-year contract with the San Jose Sharks, he has not played a game this season. Laroque was cut from the San Jose Sharks’ training camp and then sent from the San Jose Barracuda to the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder. While Laroque was listed as one of the defensemen on the Thunder roster, it looks like he hasn’t played a game for the team yet.

It’s a troubling sign for a player who has dealt with injuries for much of his young career. Laroque told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng he was “feeling good” after the rookie faceoff this summer. In fact, the 21-year-old seemed to be bouncing back after two separate hip injuries. But he hasn’t played a game with the Thunder to date, and that might be a sign that something more is going on.

Nate Misskey – Victoria Royals (WHL)

While the San Jose Sharks were beating up on the Seattle Kraken, Nate Misskey and his Victoria Royals were beating up on the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL. Misskey had the game-winning goal and an assist in his team’s 6-1 win over the Thunderbirds on Nov. 30.

The 2024 fifth-round pick by the Sharks has 18 points in 22 games, good enough for 0.82 points per game. That’s better than his 2023-24 total, where he averaged 0.77 points per game. As a right-side defenseman, Misskey is a good depth prospect for the Sharks organization.

Quentin Musty – Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

Another player dealing with injury is Quentin Musty of the Sudbury Wolves. Musty missed the first part of the Wolves season because he was holding out for a trade. He returned to the team several weeks into the start of the season but was finding his stride with 20 points in 11 games.

But then, Musty suffered an injury of his own. He broke his hand and is expected to be out for several weeks.

Colton Roberts – Vancouver Giants (WHL)

When prospects are selected in the later rounds of the draft, you want to see that they show improvement year over year. So far, defenseman Colton Roberts has shown signs of improvement. The 18-year-old defenseman has 13 points in 21 games this season for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL. While it’s not a barrage of scoring, the 0.62 points per game is better than his 0.44 mark in the 2023-24 season.

Roberts has a lone goal this season.

He also earned the Real Canadian Super Store Save of the Night in October.

Mitchell Russell – Wichita Thunder (ECHL)

23-year-old Mitchell Russell continues to fall down the Sharks’ depth chart. The forward signed as a free agent with the Sharks in the spring of 2022 but hasn’t managed to crack the Barracuda lineup. He’s currently with the team’s ECHL affiliate. Russell started off the season strong with two points in two games, but sadly, he hasn’t scored since. He has a goal and an assist in 13 games this season.

While points aren’t always an indicator of whether a player will be an impactful NHL player, you hope that at the ECHL level, the player is at least putting up more than two points in 13 games. Given that, it looks like Russell will not have his contract renewed when it expires this spring.

Carson Wetsch – Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

Wrapping up our check in on the San Jose Sharks’ prospects is Carson Wetsch. The forward is third on the Calgary Hitmen with 11 goals this season. Three of the goals are game-winning goals. Wetsch is sixth on the team in scoring with 18 points in 25 games. He’s already wracked up 103 shots on goal on pace to match the 252 shots he put up in 2023-24.

Yesterday, Wetsch had his best game of the season, putting together a Gordie Howe Hat Trick plus an extra goal for the icing on the cake. Wetsch had two goals and an assist in the Hitmen’s 9-0 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors. He scored the first goal of the game, earning himself the game-winning goal as well as the pride of being the one to make the teddy bears fly.

When you score the teddy bear goal, you get to bask in the glory of it all.

Wetsch’s second goal of the night was prettier. He stripped the Moose Jaw player of the puck and then took it to the net himself for the goal.

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