With the Season at a close, it is a good time to examine the state of the Sharks' prospect pool. Over the next 3 days, I will personally rank my top 15 Sharks prospects after the 2024-25 season.
Criteria
Regarding eligibility, my cut-off for what I consider a prospect will be 50 NHL games played for Skaters and 25 games played for Goalies, with an age cut-off of 24. I feel this is a good range for this exercise.
With this cut-off, key Sharks graduates from previous lists would be Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Zack Ostapchuck. With that, let’s get into the List, Starting with prospects 15-11.
15. Eric Pohlkamp D, 5th round pick 2023
Just Cracking the list, we have Eric Pohlkamp, the right-handed defender who was a 5th-round pick by the Sharks back in 2023. He just finished his sophomore season at Denver, where he put up 35 points in 44 games. It was a solid year for Pohlkamp, who is an interesting prospect. He has a canon of a shot that acts as his primary weapon offensively. He is also rather physical despite his size at 5’11. I do have concerns about the translatability of his game to the NHL, though if he hits, he could be a unique player on a bottom pair, and right-shot D always carries a premium.
14. Brandon Svoboda C, 3rd round 2023
Brandon Svoboda is a winning hockey player. He projects as a fourth-line center and a good one, in my opinion. He has played on some excellent teams over his career, including BU and Team USA’s U20 team this past season. He scored 9 points in 33 games at BU, which isn’t great, but he will never be known for his offense. Svoboda is 6’3, plays a hard game, is a good skater, and plays with tons of effort; these traits will get him to the NHL in a 4th line role someday. He is not the flashiest prospect, but a guy every team wants to have.
13. Daniil Gushchin, W, 3rd round 2020
Gushchin has been in the Sharks system for a while now and has somewhat stagnated. as a prospect, which is never good. Gushchin had 51 points in 56 games for the Cuda this season, a slightly worse pace from the prior year. Still, he finds himself on this list because he has more to offer the Sharks at the NHL level than he has shown. He is smart, slippery, has an excellent shot, and has a solid motor. I see the vision with him as an NHL middle sixer. It just has never clicked with him, and he is running out of time. Next season could very well be his last shot if the Sharks opt to keep him in the fold.
12. Cam Lund, W, 2nd round 2022
Lund recently signed with the Sharks and has had a solid cameo, scoring 3 points in 11 games. The big winger has a knack for scoring goals and has refined his game over his three years at Northeastern. Lund has become a more well-rounded player than he was when he was drafted and projects better as a bottom-six winger who can chip in some goals now and then. Expect Lund to play most of the year with the Barracuda next year as he continues to develop his game in the pros.
11. Jack Thompson, D, Acquired from Tampa Bay, 3rd round 2020
Thompson split last season between the Sharks and the Barracuda, primarily due to the number of injuries and turnovers on the Shark's blueline over the year. He did, however, show some promise over the course of the season. Thompson is a solid offensive defenseman who can move the puck, and although he sometimes looked out of his depth at the NHL level, there were some good moments and stretches as well. At 23, Thompson still has a lot of runaway for improvement, and if he can refine his defensive game, he could be a solid NHL-caliber defenseman.