Chicago Blackhawks Fifth Round Pick
The final conditional pick the Sharks have is the Chicago Blackhawks fifth-round draft pick. This pick has been passed around the league multiple times, but the Sharks now have it ahead of the draft this summer. No fewer than four NHL teams have held the rights to this draft pick. It's been sent around the NHL. It was initially traded to Vancouver for Anthony Beauvillier. Then, it moved to Calgary in the trade that sent Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver. It resides in San Jose after the Nikita Okhotiuk deal at the deadline.
This pick is still up in the air for what it will be because of the unique condition. It will be the better of the two draft choices that the Blackhawks own. That was a condition put on the initial pick that went to Vancouver, so it has transferred around the league with the draft choice and eventually fallen into the hands of the Sharks. It's another shot at a dart board on the draft floor, so we will see what happens here.
Fifth-round draft picks rarely turn into NHL superstars, but nothing is beyond the bounds of possibility in the NHL. A player may break the traditional mold of the later rounds and become a stud for the San Jose Sharks roster. They can help bring the team sustained success like Joe Pavelski did long ago when he was drafted in the seventh round. Fairytales in hockey are not as rare as other places, so there is always a chance.
So, those are the three picks you must watch between now and the end of the season. After the draft lottery during the first round of the playoffs, we will know the order of the draft, which will give us a better indication of how things are going when it comes to acquiring the picks. Time is the friend of all Sharks fans right now as we close in on the end of the season and the conclusion of our suffering through this nightmarish campaign.