The 2025 draft has finally concluded. The Sharks made a total of 9 picks on the day and added a ton of talent and potential upside at every position throughout the draft. Their Final class of 2025 looks like this.
Round 1, Pick 2 - Michael Misa, C, OHL
Round 1, Pick 30 - Joshua Ravensbergen, G, WHL
Round 2, Pick 33 - Haoxi (Simon) Wang, D, OHL
Round 2, Pick 53 - Cole McKinney, C, NTDP
Round 3, Pick 95 - Teddy Mutryn, C, USHL
Round 4, pick 115 - Iylas Magomedsultanov, D, MHL
Round 4, pick 124 - Zack Sharp, D, NCAA
Round 5, Pick 150 - Max Heise, C, BCHL
Round 7, Pick 210 - Richard Gallant, W, NTDP
Headlining the class is the 2nd overall pick, Michael Misa. Many considered Misa the best forward in the Draft and will be a major piece for the Sharks' rebuild, alongside Celebrini, Smith, and Eklund. The Sharks walk away from the draft with one of the most dynamic groups of young forwards in the NHL.
Looking down the list, the Sharks got good upside at 30 and 33, Ravensbergen and Wang are both tremendous value in that range, and sure up depth both in the Net and on the Backend respectively. While both Ravenbergen and Wang are along ways off from being NHL ready, their upside could be what puts this class over the top for the Sharks in the future.
When it comes to the rest of the picks, the Sharks had a specific target at forward and defense. McKinney, Mutryn, Heise, and Gallant are all hardworking forwards with a ton of motor and compete in their game. On the Backend, Magomedsultanov and Sharp bring raw tools, size, and skating to the Backend, which has been a big priority for the Sharks over the last couple of drafts.
The Sharks didn't move around at all during the draft, sticking and picking the entire weekend, but did only make two of their original picks this draft, with seven picks coming from trades prior to this weekend.
Overall, I'd give the Sharks a grade of B+ for the draft this weekend. It's an overall solid class, and there weren’t any outrageous reaches over the weekend. My biggest complaint with this class is that it lacks certainty on the backend. All of the Sharks' D picks are rather raw in their development, and for a D core that needs help, adding a projectable D-man who could step in a couple of years from now would have been a nice addition. Given the size of the prospect pool, I also feel the Sharks could have been more aggressive with trade-up opportunities throughout the weekend. Overall, though it's solid work from Mike Grier and Co., adding Michael Misa is a massive win for the organization as they continue to add talent to their stacked farm system.
With the Draft now behind us, we move to free agency, which opens up on July 1st. It will be exciting to see what the Sharks have in store in the coming days.