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What are the San Jose Sharks Getting in Goaltender Zachary Emond?

By Lucas Burrell |
BOISBRIAND, QC - SEPTEMBER 29: Zachary Emond #31 of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies skates in the warmup against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on September 29, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
BOISBRIAND, QC - SEPTEMBER 29: Zachary Emond #31 of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies skates in the warmup against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on September 29, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The San Jose Sharks have inked netminder Zachary Emond out of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies immediately following his stellar 2018 – 2019 season.

The the San Jose Sharks  announced that they’ve offered a contract to their 2018 6th round pick netminder Zachary Emond.  He’s spent a little over 2 seasons with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies starting in 54 total games. He amassed a 35 – 15 – 4 record in the QMJHL while compiling a .914 save percentage during that time.

The 18-year-old had a breakout season last year, ending the 2018 – 2019 campaign with a 24 – 0 – 1 record and a dazzling .932 save percentage in the regular season. He also put together 7 shutout performances over that stretch of time. This stellar season resulted in Zachary Emond being awarded the Jacques Plante Trophy for the netminder with the best GAA in the QMJHL during the regular season.

The San Jose Sharks signed the Quebec native to a 3 year 810,000 dollar deal, that carries a 796,667 cap hit, per CapFriendly. This was a smart signing for Team Teal considering their lack of youth within their goalie prospect ranks. The three-year deal will allow them to keep tabs on the young goaltender and hopefully build off a stellar year playing for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. At 6-4 he is the prototypical goalie that teams are looking for today to guard the crease in NHL.

While his numbers this season were extremely impressive and were likely a key factor into why Team Teal signed their 2018 6th round pick.  However his sensational statistics from this season could potentially just be the product of the Huskies stout team defense.

Rouyn-Noranda led the entire QMJHL in GF%, xGA% and placed second in SF% during the 68 game regular season, per prospect-stats. These underlying numbers suggest that the Huskies did an excellent job limiting possession, total shots, and overall shot quality. These statistics really highlight why the Huskies were you’re 2019 Memorial Cup champions.

Looking into Zachary Emond’s own underlying numbers they suggest that he wasn’t actually as effective as he could have been (I know right?). The most glaring weakness was definitely his 0.754 HDSV% . This poor percentage resulted in him outpacing his expected goals against totals this season.  He ended up having a xGA of 38.82 in 25 starts, but ultimately ended up allowing 46 actual goals, courtesy of prospect-stats. He’ll have to get better with players in close and seeing pucks through screens. Skills that are extremely important in today’s NHL with the ice seemingly constantly shrinking.

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Nevertheless despite these faults the newly crowned Memorial Cup champion had a great season with some impressive statistical milestones under his belt. The San Jose Sharks were wise to lock down this young budding goalie prospect which bolsters their farm system.

The guy is only 18 years old after all so he’ll have plenty of time to develop into his full potential in Teal. It’ll be fun to see the new Shark on the ice during development camp which is just around the corner in the month of June.

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