Top 25 San Jose Sharks Under 25: Recap and Reactions

Yesterday wrapped up the 2017 edition of Top 25 San Jose Sharks Under 25. You can catch up on the rankings and read the pieces here.

To recap, here’s the full list with last year’s rankings:

Top 25 San Jose Sharks Under 25

What were the big surprises? Who didn’t made the cut? What does this say about the future of the Sharks?

Here are a few reactions from contributors to Fear the Fin:

Sie Nicole: This year’s ranking felt a lot like “Who among these prospects hasn’t been given the opportunity to disappoint us yet?” Jeremy Roy is a big example for me – he remained in the top 10 despite sitting out most of last season due to injury. Personally, I was very excited about this year’s draft class and I think they have well deserved spots at the table in this year’s ranking.

What’s most interesting to me are some of the bigger jumps from last year to this year. Danny O’Regan, Joakim Ryan, and Kevin Labanc more than exceeded expectations from last year and that’s exciting. Less is exciting is seeing Barclay Goodrow drop five spots despite having a career year.

East Bay Ry: Looking at this Top 25 under 25 makes me sad. Beyond Hertl and (maybe)  Meier, there isn’t anybody to get excited about in the system. Maybe Labanc becomes a 25 goal scorer. For our 3rd best under-25 player, that is a low bar. Maybe Norris grows up to be Tierney. This. Is. Bleak.

The reason that so many recent picks are on the list is that they are still solid “maybes.” 3 or 4 years from now are going to be really painful as a Sharks fan.

heydevo: It feels like the Sharks finally have something they have been missing for quite some time – depth in goaltending. Yet, Antoine Bibeau didn’t crack the Top 25 under 25.

Bibeau is a big boy, coming in at 6’3” 205lbs, he’s bigger than Groesnick. And big is the new beautiful in the NHL – making Bibeau, who carries himself very well for his stature, a perfect addition to any team’s goaltending corps. He’s very strong on his angles and has some great reflexes for his size. Reminding me of Jean-Sebasiten Giguere, Bibeau effectively utilizes this size to limit any holes, but he’s able to quickly recover for those second and third chances.

It’s almost written in the stars that Troy Groesnick will be the starter for the Barracuda, however, he’ll finally have some competition now that the Barracuda have some quality depth in net.

orionredgrave: I feel good about these young guys. If I had to make just one change to the list, just going by potential, I might have switched Noah Rod and Scott Reedy, which isn’t a big move, but one that makes sense. Reedy has more time to develop, and Rod’s future is so up-in-the-air. Reedy’s list of things we like and things to work on looks a lot like Rod’s did last year, even, with regard to work ethic and necessary skating improvements, so they’re comparable in that aspect. Going mostly by gut feeling, I’d say Reedy feels more like a sure thing than Rod, so I’d put Scott Reedy at 18 and Noah Rod at 20.

The big question for me is which defensemen perform, which defensemen need more development, and ultimately, who the Sharks decide to keep around. Given the crowding at every level of the blueline, I’m on the edge of my seat, ready to see where every defenseman on this list ends up next year.

How do you feel about our Top 25 Under 25? Who should’ve made the list? Who shouldn’t have? What will the rankings look like next year? Can Hertl three-peat in his final year of eligibility?