San Jose Sharks NHL Draft Analysis

No, Doug Wilson did not trade up to get Steven Stamkos. Everyone they picked was so late in the draft there are no pictures on file for them.

They had traded away their top pick to Buffalo for Brian Campbell, their second round pick to Washington, and their third round pick to St. Louis.

As many of you know, I have advocated for the trading of no-defense, too-little-offense of late Patrick Marleau to not only move up into the first round, but to free up salary cap space for upgrading the blue line.

This projects as one of the deepest drafts in years, so it seemed a good time to make a move. However, no such deal was made.

Since I have beaten that drum until the membrane has ruptured, I will focus on what they did, not what they did not do. Wilson did trade up from late in the fourth round to the first pick of the third round.

The players gotten at this late stage are hard to project: even the professionals' analyses at this level are only slightly more likely to be right than wrong. This being said, the Sharks have a better track record than most teams on late round picks.

This team believes in a draft and develop approach, and it had been pretty effective. There are several players the team relied heavily on in the playoffs this past spring drafted in late rounds.

Evgeni Nabokov was a ninth round pick, Douglas Murray eighth, Joe Pavelski seventh, Ryan Clowe sixth, and Christian Ehrhoff and Torrey Mitchell fourth.

Thus, this draft actually has promise. Below I list each pick, their vitals, and some analysis.

• Justin Daniels (19 years old, C, 6'1", 156#, 62nd pick in the draft): Being so slight of build and an age when the average player has already begun to bulk up, I am skeptical. He must be quite a bit stronger to play that position at the NHL level because of its defensive responsibilities, and will get a chance to acquire those skills in Sioux City next year and at Northeastern University the next. However, he is already a scorer: 17 goals and 37 assists in 25 games at his Connecticut prep school.
• Samuel Groulx (17, D, 6'2", 165#, 92nd pick): He has been playing for Patrick Roy in the Quebec Junior Leagues, just like Marc-Edouard Vlassic, his favourite NHL player. He plays on the Remparts power play and penalty kill, but generated only 5 goals and 20 assists in 70 games. He also will need to fill out, but as one of the youngest players drafted, will have plenty of time to do so. However, might have been a reach at this spot: he was ranked 76th among North American skaters by Central Scouting, and there were certainly more than 16 goalies and European skaters taken in the first 91 picks.
• Harri Sateri (18, G, 6'1", 190#, 106th pick): Already an ideal size for his position, he follows successful Finnish goalie Miikka Kiprusoff (a former fifth round Sharks draft pick) out of Taparra, a Finnish junior team. The Sharks also have had a lot of success drafting goalies, with Nabokov and Vesa Toskala (a fourth-round pick like Sateri) also coming in late rounds. Director of Scouting Tim Burke had eyes on him at the World Junior Tournament where he played his way into a co-starting role. He was also ranked the second best European goalie by Central Scouting, so I have a lot of confidence in this pick.
• Julien Demers (18, D, 6'0", 218#, 146th pick): I believe in big men on the blue line, and he is known as a physical player. According to the San Jose Sharks website, he needs to work on his mobility and playmaking to make it to the next level, but he is the team's third Ottawa 67's (Doug Wilson's former junior team) player in as many years. I think he's a steal for the fifth round.
• Tommy Wingels (20, C, 6'0", 193#, 177th pick): This was the team's only original pick used, and they had reportedly considered drafting him for a couple years. His offensive skill is picking up with 14 goals and 15 assists in 42 games, and he is already big enough to handle the physical demands of his position. This late in the draft, this is a pretty solid pick.
• Jason Demers (20, D, 6'1", 185#, 186th pick): No relation to Julien Demers, he does play the same position, and one can never have too many solid players on the blue line. According to the San Jose Mercury News, he was nearly signed as an undrafted free agent because the team "liked his work ethic" but they did not want to make the required three year contract commitment. He has shown good playmaking skills, with 9 goals and 55 assists for one of the Quebec League's weakest teams. A body close to ready for the show, a work ethic, and skill is something you do not expect in the seventh round.
• Drew Daniels (19, RW, 6'1", 158#, 194th pick): Drew is Justin's twin brother, and it is hard to figure why a guy who scored only five fewer goals and two fewer assists is 132 picks worse. The fact he will follow his more highly valued brother's path has to make him an even better prospect than he otherwise would be.