Welcome to the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!

We welcome San Jose Sharks' Director of Player Development Todd Marchant back to the show for our 50th episode! Todd was our very first guest on the new San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and we celebrate our 50th episode by getting his thoughts on tons of Sharks prospects, from Quentin Musty to Alex Young. (57:13)

But first! It was the NHL Scouting Combine this week and Sheng was on the ground in Buffalo. He shares loads of buzz, rumors and some confirmed prospect interviews. He added a new name to his list from yesterday. (3:25)

We cover whether we think Macklin Celebrini is actually going to return to the NCAA or sign with the Sharks, after multiple interviews have come out that Macklin is undecided at this point. (16:00)

We have some coaching search updates, including some rumored finalists to share. Also, did the San Jose Sharks ever reach out to David Carle or Joel Ward? (25:05)

Are the Sharks going to be active in free agency this summer? Jeff Marek floated the possibility of Jake Guentzel as a FA target, and we give our thoughts on that possibility. Also, will Eetu Makinemi be back? (33:25)

Our last topic is the retirement of Joe Pavelski. We share some of our thoughts about his tremendous career, and whether he has enough of a resume for the Hall of Fame. (42:50)

And now it's time for Todd Marchant! (57:13)

We decided to go through the San Jose Sharks system, from the 2023 Draft to the 2020 with Todd, discussing some well-known and lots of lesser-known prospects as well, focusing on mostly non-Barracuda prospects.

First, the 2023 Draft!

Quentin Musty (59:10)
Kasper Halttunen (1:03:47)
Brandon Svoboda (1:05:15)
Luca Cagnoni (1:08:03)
Axel Landén (1:10:28)
Eric Pohlkamp (1:12:10)
David Klee (1:14:30)
Yegor Rimashevsky (1:16:15)

2022:

Filip Bystedt (1:19:45)
Cam Lund (1:21:45)
Mattias Hävelid (1:23:10)
Michael Fisher (1:26:35)
Mason Beaupit (1:28:45)
Jake Furlong (1:30:20)
Joey Muldowney, Eli Barnett and Reese Laubach (1:34:02)

Who's left from the 2021 Draft, not playing with the Barracuda or the San Jose Sharks?

Theo Jacobsson (1:37:19)
Yevgeni Kashnikov (1:38:25)

2020:

Alex Young (1:39:25)
Timofei Spitserov (1:40:25)
Brandon Coe (1:41:30)

We also discuss with Todd some prospects not drafted by the San Jose Sharks, starting with David Edstrom, acquired in the Tomas Hertl trade. (1:43:35)

Finally, what does Todd think of Collin Graf? (1:45:10)

Todd shares some final thoughts about the direction of the Sharks going forward and who has taken some big steps from last year. (1:47:50)

Thanks for watching!

Will Smith’s agent, Sean Coffey, joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!

Coffey takes us behind the scenes of Smith signing with the San Jose Sharks this past week.

But before we get to Coffey (44:15), we talk about what Smith’s arrival means for the Sharks.

We’ll talk more to Coffey about this -- he wasn’t one of Sheng’s sources!! -- but Sheng got wind of Smith signing last Friday. (1:50)

What was our initial reaction to the news? (4:20)

Would it make sense for the San Jose Sharks to send Smith to the AHL? Would the Sharks try to “slide” his contract? How does Smith compare to William Eklund at about the same age? (15:05)

Comparing Macklin Celebrini-Smith to Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin and Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane? Why start the clock on Celebrini and Smith’s contracts at the same time? (24:00)

Where does Smith slot positionally, center or wing, in his rookie year? It is more common than Sheng thought to go through a season with two rookie centers in the line-up. (27:20)

Sheng shares a conversation that he had with a league source about the lumps that Smith will likely face in his rookie year, his struggles at the World Championships, and what Smith has to learn about winning NHL hockey. (36:35)

Sheng and Keegan predict how many points that Smith will put up next year. (40:23)

And now, Sean Coffey! (44:15)

How did Coffey become a player agent?

When did the San Jose Sharks start signaling to Coffey that they thought Smith was ready to come out? (49:28)

When did Smith actually decide to sign with the Sharks? How many meetings did Smith have with Mike Grier or Todd Marchant or the Sharks throughout the season? (51:55)

Did Ryan Leonard announcing early that he was going back to Boston College impact Smith in any way? (55:20)

Sean shares why he ghosted Sheng via text for a few weeks. (57:25)

Coffey reveals when exactly Smith made his decision to come out. (58:10)

Between Boston College and the San Jose Sharks, how close of a decision was it for Smith? (1:00:10)

For Coffey, from a development standpoint, why did it make sense for Smith to go pro?

Coffey confirms that the San Jose Sharks winning the Draft Lottery and getting presumptive No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini had nothing to do with Smith’s decision -- but regardless, it’s great for fellow teenagers Celebrini and Smith to start out together. (1:02:40)

Coffey talks about the potential (or lack thereof) of Smith going to the AHL or the Sharks trying to “slide” his contract. (1:05:15)

Did the Cutter Gauthier situation change the paradigm of how NHL teams treat their top NCAA prospects? (1:09:00)

Coffey explains, even though Smith decided in early May, why Smith held off on the announcement that he was coming out until this past week. (1:13:00)

Was it a challenge to keep Smith’s decision a secret? Sean also talks about keeping Sheng’s texts on “Read” when Sheng was looking for confirmation.

Sheng shares his process from getting wind of the Smith signing on Friday to publishing a story on it on Sunday, two days before it was officially announced. (1:17:40)

Why was Tuesday the day that the Sharks announced Smith’s signing? (1:19:45)

Coffey shares some of the details about the bonuses in Smith’s entry-level contract. (1:21:55)

https://twitter.com/PuckPedia/status/1795509414990090339

Who is Coffey representing in the 2024 Draft? (1:28:00)

Also, Coffey subscribes to San Jose Hockey Now! You should too if you’re not!

https://sanjosehockeynow.com/membership-account/membership-levels/

Craig Button joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast this week!

The TSN draft guru thinks Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith might make a Crosby-Malkin like impact on the San Jose Sharks, who he’d consider for San Jose at No. 14, and an underrated Sharks prospect that he really likes. (1:22:52)

But before we get to Craig, Keegan and I talk about the San Jose Sharks coaching search. (2:18)

Then, we chat about four positions that the Sharks should target this off-season if they want to be more competitive, and discuss J.G. Pageau, Dakota Joshua, Dylan DeMelo, and Sean Walker as realistic possibilities. Sheng also suggests a couple more intriguing names in this middle class of the free agency market. (15:49)

We discuss the San Jose Sharks signing Luca Cagnoni. Are Sharks fans perhaps overrating Cagnoni? And is he better suited to start next season in the AHL or go back to the WHL? (44:24)

Have Sheng or Keegan changed their minds about whether Will Smith will sign with the San Jose Sharks for next year? (1:10:18)

Finally, before we interview Craig Button, we discuss his recent, perhaps controversial top-64 list (1:12:22) on TSN. By the way, we talked with Craig before he released these rankings:

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/craig-s-list-konsta-helenius-tij-iginla-push-into-top-five-1.2124326

And now, Craig Button! (1:22:52)

What is Macklin Celebrini’s ceiling? Why is Craig so high on him? (1:23:30)

Button draws parallels between Smith getting drafted a year before Celebrini…to the Pittsburgh Penguins getting Evgeni Malkin in 2004 and Sidney Crosby in 2005. Whoa! Button calls Smith a difference-maker. (1:28:40)

Button compares Celebrini to Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli. (1:30:12)

He discusses the recently-concluded U-18’s. (1:32:00)

Who could the San Jose Sharks pick at No. 14?

Button gives his thoughts about Trevor Connelly (1:36:35), Tij Iginla, Terik Parascak (1:42:25), Adam Jiricek (1:51:19), EJ Emery (1:54:10), Stian Solberg (1:54:47), Charlie Elick (1:55:10), and Dominik Badinka.

Button doesn’t see a big difference between Anton Silayev and Emery!

Button discusses the goaltending in the 2024 Draft. There’s only one goalie that he’d considered in the second round.(1:56:10)

Button talks about how Will Smith has “wowed” him for a long time and if he’s ready for the NHL. (2:00:37)

Button shares his thoughts about Quentin Musty (2:06:55), Kasper Halttunen (2:08:55), and Luca Cagnoni. (2:11:45)

Button shouts out a now under-the-radar San Jose Sharks prospect. (2:12:25)