A look at the top prospects of the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League
When it comes to promotion and development of the young and upcoming players, San Jose Sharks is one of the most patient teams of the National Hockey League (NHL). They are in no hurry to push their players into the professional hockey and waiting for the
right time to do it.
They have not been restless when it comes to picking players in the NHL drafts and have been able to find depth on their roster even when they picked the players late in the draft.
Sharks’ general manager, Doug Wilson believes that their players should earn the opportunities themselves, rather than being given opportunities, as he said,
"We don't over-promote our young players. We want them to earn their opportunities."
Following is the list of the top prospects of San Jose Sharks.
Matthew Irwin
Among all the prospects, Irwin is probably the oldest. The 24-year-old defenseman plays for San Jose’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates Worcester Sharks. He has played there for three seasons now and his performance in last two seasons has been appreciable.
Brentwood Bay, British Columbia born player scored 31 points from 72 games in the 2010-2011 season and came up with an even better performance last season by scoring 42 points from 71 games. He was even called to San Jose’s team last season but could not
make his NHL debut, something he would be looking to do this year.
Nick Petrecki
Nick Petrecki is another defenseman who is very promising for San Jose Sharks. Like Irwin, he also plays for Worcester Sharks in the AHL and playing there since he turned professional in 2009, before being drafted 28th overall in the first round
of the 2007 NHL draft.
Sharks’ director of scouting, Tim Burke is hopeful that he will take his time and will be playing in the NHL soon, as he said,
"He's about on schedule. He left school [Boston College] early and the physical guys sometimes take a while. It's a pretty good time for him right now."
Chris Tierney
18-year-old Chris Tierney is one of the very few Centre-players that Sharks have got in their prospects. The Canadian forward was picked 55th overall in the 2012 NHL draft in the second. He plays for London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League
and showed good performance in last season by scoring 34 points in the 65 games.
Burke thinks that Keswick, Ontario resident would have done better if he had got more chances, as he said,
"He wasn't playing a lot of minutes but he was a productive player. He's bigger than people think. We like a lot of things about him."
Tomas Hertl
The 19-year-old Czech player was Sharks’ top pick in the 2012 NHL draft. Selected at the 17th, Hertl plays for Slavia Praha HC in the Czech League and he is one of the most promising players at the time.
Burke thinks that Hertl has a lot of potential as he said,
“Based on the hockey part of it, there was no question with our people that he has the potential to be a top center."
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