Sharks Wheeling & Dealing Ahead of Draft

The previous Sharks GM had left the prospect cupboards pretty bare and moved out lots of picks for a run to the playoffs. This left the team chasing free agents and moving out future high draft picks for immediate help. "The big thing for us here is keeping a healthy stock of prospects and picks so we can take advantage of players on entry level contracts coming through to complement the rest of the roster. We haven't had that since arriving in San Jose." Said the GM yesterday. There was only one prospect tagged by the GM who has NHL potential, Aaron Huglen. Huglen hadn't played a game of hockey for 20 months since April 16th 2019 when he suffered a severe back injury, but looks to be back on track now.

That brings us to the off-season, it was rumoured the Sharks were shopping two of their star players looking for picks, prospects and young players. There were about 4 teams in the hunt for RW Vladimir Tarasenko, 2 of those teams appeared serious about acquiring the star winger and only 1 of those offers included a 1st round pick this year. Nashville was the team that stepped up to the plate sending their 1st round pick, 29th overall to the Sharks for Tarasenko. "We had a few options on the table but ultimately decided getting into round 1 was a big plus this year." Quipped GM Mitchell. "There's been a lot of debate about the top talent in this draft but one thing is certain, there will be a good player available to us at 29." The Sharks will be getting a top 6 forward injected into the line-up next year in Carter Verhaeghe, so the loss of Tarasenko should be a minor one. 

With one domino down, the next to move was young star defender Josh Morrissey. As expected, there were lots of GM's contacting the team for his services. "Tire kickers is the best way to describe the offers I was receiving." Groaned the GM. "Morrissey has 6 years of team control left, it's not like he's some rental which is what you might think with some of the offers. Boston ended up stepping up to the plate and showed commitment to making a trade that worked well for both parties." Going to Boston with Josh Morrissey was a SJ 5th round pick this year 133rd overall. Coming to San Jose is 22 year old defender Juuso Valimaki and BOS 1st round pick in 2022.

Rumours are also swirling around the Sharks goaltender Sergei Bobrovski, the team is apparently asking for a 1st round pick in 2022 as a conversation starter which many other GM's seem to be scoffing at. There has also been interest in stand out performer Carter Verhaeghe but with the best offer so far being a 4th round pick he'll remain a Shark unless someone with serious interest comes along.

Draft day is quickly approaching and the Sharks now hold 6 draft picks, 29th, 41st, 85th, 165th, 197th, and 224th. The scouting department has been working around the clock preparing for these picks.

See you all on the draft floor!