SAN JOSE — There’s no question the San Jose Sharks will select Macklin Celebrini with the No. 1 overall pick at the NHL Draft later this month.
What’s more intriguing is what the Sharks will do with the No. 14 overall selection they received from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of last year’s trade involving Erik Karlsson — and the two second-round picks they also own.
Good luck determining who the Sharks will take or who might be available once the draft begins on June 28 at Sphere in Las Vegas. After the first selection, the first half of the first round appears to be a complete crapshoot.
But we can potentially deduce — considering the Sharks’ moves in the last two years – what positions the Sharks will be looking to shore up in what is yet another critical draft to the team’s long-term outlook.
“We think we can get four guys that hopefully, one day,” general manager Mike Grier recently said on ‘The Undercurrent with Tara Slone’ podcast, “will all be part of the next core of players coming up.”
Along with soon having Celebrini in the mix, the Sharks are happy with the young centers they’ve acquired in the past two years: Will Smith, David Edstrom, and Filip Bystedt.
Assuming that area of the pipeline has been sufficiently upgraded, the Sharks might look to address other areas, such as at goalie and their size on defense, with at least two of their remaining three picks.
San Jose also has the 33rd and 42nd overall selections, although those picks may be traded to move up or acquire more immediate help.
The Sharks will likely still be looking at taking the best player available at No. 14. Still, Grier also said that once the draft gets out of the top five or 10, “position will come into it, size might come into it too, depending what we have already here with the Sharks and what we have in the prospect pool.
“So, all those little things will come into it as we tweak our board leading up to the draft. But once we’re actually on the floor, the board will be set, and for the most part, it’ll be the best player.”
A recent set of published mock drafts demonstrates how opinions vary about what the Sharks will do at No. 14.
Per NHL.com, the Sharks will take either 6-foot-3 right winger Bennett Sennecke of the OHL or 6-foot left winger Cole Eiserman, Celebrini’s teammate for two seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary’s before joining the U.S. National Development team for the last two years.
Sportnet’s mock draft has both Sennecke and Eiserman going in the top 10, and the Sharks taking centerman Konsta Helenius, who had an impressive 36 points in 51 games in Finland’s top professional league this past season.
The Athletic had the Sharks taking Czech-born defenseman Adam Jiricek, and eliteprospects.com had San Jose going with WHL defenseman Carter Yakemchuk. Both Jiricek and Yakemchuk are listed at 6-foot-3.
The Sharks’ 20-and-under class includes big forwards Quentin Musty, Kasper Halttunen, and Cam Lund. Still, some of the top young defensemen in the pipeline, Luca Cagnoni, Eric Pohlkamp, and Mattias Hävelid, are a bit on the small side. Jake Furlong is 6-1 and 200 pounds.
Drafting a bigger defenseman could be an area the Sharks want to address. There’s also the fact that the Sharks do not have any goalies on their reserve list.
Asked on the “NHL’s Draft Class” podcast about weighing talent versus need with the No. 14 pick, Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse said, “I still think in that area of the draft you’re gravitating towards the talent aspect.
“I think there are some situations where you do start to (look at) the need versus want versus best talent available. You also want to draft a kid that’s going to be put in the best situation to succeed.”
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Because of a knee injury, Jiricek only played 19 of his team’s 52 games in the Czech Republic’s top league this year. Although he is expected to be healthy for the start of next season, his injury reduced his number of viewings.
Asked how he evaluates players like Jiricek and center Cayden Lindstrom, who also missed a sizeable chunk of the season with a back injury, Morehouse said both played enough before their injuries to know what they’re like on the ice.
Still, the Sharks will try to get all of the medical information they can and follow up to see where things stand.
“They’re both injuries that require you to make sure,” Morehouse said. “You just have to make sure that they’re going to be OK and they’re going to heal properly. It seems like they’re both well on their way.”
WHERE THE SAN JOSE SHARKS ARE SELECTING
First round: 1, 14
Second round: 33, 42
Third round: 85
Fourth round: 116
Fifth round: 131, 143
Seventh round: 194