Hockey History
Who’s the Highest Draft Pick the Sharks Never Signed?

On Saturday, San Jose Hockey Now learned that the San Jose Sharks had declined to offer 2015 fifth-round draft pick Karlis Cukste an entry-level contract.
It got the wheels in my head turning — how often does a drafted prospect who has been passed up by his original NHL team eventually make the NHL?
I dug through 29 San Jose drafts and 232 Sharks picks to answer that question and others — like who was the highest draft pick that the San Jose Sharks never signed? Which was San Jose’s best and worst drafts, in terms of prospects signed?
If a team drafts you, then spends years evaluating you in college or juniors or in Europe, they should have a good sense what your hockey-playing capabilities are. When it comes time to sign you, if they let you go to unrestricted free agency, they likely don’t have high hopes that you’ll ever make the NHL.
And they’re probably right.
By my estimation, the Sharks — or the team that San Jose traded their prospect to — have signed 60 percent of their draft picks. That’s 138 out of 232 draft picks.
That leaves 94 draft picks unsigned.
Just four have made the NHL: Colin Blackwell (2011 Draft Pick #194), Philip Varone (2009 #147), Frazer McLaren (2007 #203), and Kris Newbury (2002 #139). Blackwell and McLaren, instead of signing with the Sharks, agreed to contracts with San Jose’s AHL team. Meanwhile, the Sharks let Varone walk and couldn’t come to terms with Newbury.
Four of 94: Yeah, it’s going to be tough for Cukste to make the NHL.
Angel Nikolov
There’s been just one “Angel” ever drafted by an NHL team.
Angel Nikolov was a Czech defenseman selected 37th by San Jose in the 1994 Draft.
“He impressed us the first time we saw him,” San Jose director of player personnel Chuck Grillo said. (Condon, Mike. “Sharks draft scoring whiz.” Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 29, 1994.)
How about after the first time?
Nikolov is the highest San Jose draft pick never signed by the Sharks, enjoying a long career in Europe before retiring in 2013.
Gabryel Boudreau (2013 #49), William Wrenn (2009 #43), Tero Maatta (2000 #41), and Alexander Cherbayev (1992 #51) were other high picks not signed by San Jose.
Best & Worst Drafts
For a prospect, getting drafted is one stepping stone. Getting signed is another stepping stone.
From an organization’s perspective, that stepping stone is critical. Offering an ELC is a sign that from the time of being drafted, the prospect has significantly advanced his game.
So looking at it that way, the 2001 Draft was a complete win for the San Jose Sharks — every draft pick was signed. That’s Marcel Goc (#20), Christian Ehrhoff (#106), Dmitri Patzold (#107), Tomas Plihal (#140), Ryane Clowe (#175), and Tom Cavanagh (#182). Goc, Ehrhoff, and Clowe also became impactful NHL players.
The 2013 Draft is on the opposite end of the spectrum: The Sharks signed just two of their seven draft picks. Mirco Mueller (#18) and Michael Brodzinski (#141) inked ELCs, while Gabryel Boudreau (#49), Fredrik Bergvik (#117), Gage Ausmus (#151), Jake Jackson (#201), and Emil Galimov (#207) were left in the cold.
The History
Anyway, those are just some of the interesting things I learned — there’s more coming from my research soon.
Here’s the complete list of San Jose Sharks draft picks and whether or not they were signed — obviously, some of the more recent selections are still in the wait-in-see category. Information before 1994 was spottier, so please feel free to correct me if I’ve made any mistakes:
San Jose Sharks Draft Picks, 1991-2019
Year | Player | Pick | SIGNED | NOT SIGNED |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 Entry | Artemi Kniazev | 48 | x | |
2019 Entry | Dillon Hamaliuk | 55 | x | |
2019 Entry | Yegor Spiridonov | 108 | x | |
2019 Entry | Timur Ibragimov | 164 | x | |
2019 Entry | Santeri Hatakka | 184 | x | |
2018 Entry | Ryan Merkley | 21 | x | |
2018 Entry | Linus Karlsson | 87 | x | |
2018 Entry | Jasper Weatherby | 102 | x | |
2018 Entry | Zachary Emond | 176 | x | |
2018 Entry | John Leonard | 182 | x | |
2017 Entry | Josh Norris | 19 | x | |
2017 Entry | Mario Ferraro | 49 | x | |
2017 Entry | Scott Reedy | 102 | x | |
2017 Entry | Jake McGrew | 159 | x | |
2017 Entry | Sasha Chmelevski | 185 | x | |
2017 Entry | Ivan Chekhovich | 212 | x | |
2016 Entry | Dylan Gambrell | 60 | x | |
2016 Entry | Noah Gregor | 111 | x | |
2016 Entry | Manuel Wiederer | 150 | x | |
2016 Entry | Mark Shoemaker | 180 | x | |
2016 Entry | Joachim Blichfeld | 210 | x | |
2015 Entry | Timo Meier | 9 | x | |
2015 Entry | Jeremy Roy | 31 | x | |
2015 Entry | Mike Robinson | 86 | x | |
2015 Entry | Adam Helewka | 106 | x | |
2015 Entry | Karlis Cukste | 130 | x | |
2015 Entry | Rudolfs Balcers | 142 | x | |
2015 Entry | Adam Parsells | 160 | x | |
2015 Entry | Marcus Vela | 190 | x | |
2015 Entry | Jake Kupsky | 193 | x | |
2014 Entry | Nikolay Goldobin | 27 | x | |
2014 Entry | Julius Bergman | 46 | x | |
2014 Entry | Noah Rod | 53 | x | |
2014 Entry | Alex Schoenborn | 72 | x | |
2014 Entry | Dylan Sadowy | 81 | x | |
2014 Entry | Alexis Vanier | 102 | x | |
2014 Entry | Rourke Chartier | 149 | x | |
2014 Entry | Kevin Labanc | 171 | x | |
2013 Entry | Mirco Mueller | 18 | x | |
2013 Entry | Gabryel Boudreau | 49 | x | |
2013 Entry | Fredrik Bergvik | 117 | x | |
2013 Entry | Michael Brodzinski | 141 | x | |
2013 Entry | Gage Ausmus | 151 | x | |
2013 Entry | Jake Jackson | 201 | x | |
2013 Entry | Emil Galimov | 207 | x | |
2012 Entry | Tomas Hertl | 17 | x | |
2012 Entry | Chris Tierney | 55 | x | |
2012 Entry | Christophe Lalancette | 109 | x | |
2012 Entry | Danny O'Regan | 138 | x | |
2012 Entry | Cliff Watson | 168 | x | |
2012 Entry | Joakim Ryan | 198 | x | |
2011 Entry | Matthew Nieto | 47 | x | |
2011 Entry | Justin Sefton | 89 | x | |
2011 Entry | Sean Kuraly | 133 | x | |
2011 Entry | Daniil Sobchenko | 166 | x | |
2011 Entry | Dylan DeMelo | 179 | x | |
2011 Entry | Colin Blackwell | 194 | x | |
2010 Entry | Charlie Coyle | 28 | x | |
2010 Entry | Max Gaede | 88 | x | |
2010 Entry | Cody Ferriero | 127 | x | |
2010 Entry | Freddie Hamilton | 129 | x | |
2010 Entry | Isaac Macleod | 136 | x | |
2010 Entry | Konrad Abeltshauser | 163 | x | |
2010 Entry | Lee Moffie | 188 | x | |
2010 Entry | Chris Crane | 200 | x | |
2009 Entry | William Wrenn | 43 | x | |
2009 Entry | Taylor Doherty | 57 | x | |
2009 Entry | Philip Varone | 147 | x | |
2009 Entry | Marek Viedensky | 189 | x | |
2009 Entry | Dominik Bielke | 207 | x | |
2008 Entry | Justin Daniels | 62 | x | |
2008 Entry | Samuel Groulx | 92 | x | |
2008 Entry | Harri Sateri | 106 | x | |
2008 Entry | Julien Demers | 146 | x | |
2008 Entry | Tommy Wingels | 177 | x | |
2008 Entry | Jason Demers | 186 | x | |
2008 Entry | Drew Daniels | 194 | x | |
2007 Entry | Logan Couture | 9 | x | |
2007 Entry | Nick Petrecki | 28 | x | |
2007 Entry | Timo Pielmeier | 83 | x | |
2007 Entry | Tyson Sexsmith | 91 | x | |
2007 Entry | Patrik Zackrisson | 165 | x | |
2007 Entry | Nick Bonino | 173 | x | |
2007 Entry | Justin Braun | 201 | x | |
2007 Entry | Frazer McLaren | 203 | x | |
2006 Entry | Ty Wishart | 16 | x | |
2006 Entry | Jamie McGinn | 36 | x | |
2006 Entry | James DeLory | 98 | x | |
2006 Entry | Ashton Rome | 143 | x | |
2006 Entry | John McCarthy | 202 | x | |
2006 Entry | Jay Barriball | 203 | x | |
2005 Entry | Devin Setoguchi | 8 | x | |
2005 Entry | Marc-Edouard Vlasic | 35 | x | |
2005 Entry | Alex Stalock | 112 | x | |
2005 Entry | Taylor Dakers | 140 | x | |
2005 Entry | Derek Joslin | 149 | x | |
2005 Entry | P.J. Fenton | 162 | x | |
2005 Entry | Will Colbert | 183 | x | |
2005 Entry | Tony Lucia | 193 | x | |
2004 Entry | Lukas Kaspar | 22 | x | |
2004 Entry | Thomas Greiss | 94 | x | |
2004 Entry | Torrey Mitchell | 126 | x | |
2004 Entry | Jason Churchill | 129 | x | |
2004 Entry | Steven Zalewski | 153 | x | |
2004 Entry | Mike Vernace | 201 | x | |
2004 Entry | Dave MacDonald | 225 | x | |
2004 Entry | Derek MacIntyre | 234 | x | |
2004 Entry | Brian Mahoney-Wilson | 288 | x | |
2004 Entry | Christian Jensen | 289 | x | |
2003 Entry | Milan Michalek | 6 | x | |
2003 Entry | Steve Bernier | 16 | x | |
2003 Entry | Josh Hennessy | 43 | x | |
2003 Entry | Matt Carle | 47 | x | |
2003 Entry | Patrick Ehelechner | 139 | x | |
2003 Entry | Jonathan Tremblay | 201 | x | |
2003 Entry | Joe Pavelski | 205 | x | |
2003 Entry | Kai Hospelt | 216 | x | |
2003 Entry | Alexander Hult | 236 | x | |
2003 Entry | Brian O'Hanley | 267 | x | |
2003 Entry | Carter Lee | 276 | x | |
2002 Entry | Mike Morris | 27 | x | |
2002 Entry | Dan Spang | 52 | x | |
2002 Entry | Jonas Fiedler | 86 | x | |
2002 Entry | Kris Newbury | 139 | x | |
2002 Entry | Tom Walsh | 163 | x | |
2002 Entry | Tim Conboy | 217 | x | |
2002 Entry | Michael Hutchins | 288 | x | |
2001 Entry | Marcel Goc | 20 | x | |
2001 Entry | Christian Ehrhoff | 106 | x | |
2001 Entry | Dmitri Patzold | 107 | x | |
2001 Entry | Tomas Plihal | 140 | x | |
2001 Entry | Ryane Clowe | 175 | x | |
2001 Entry | Tom Cavanagh | 182 | x | |
2000 Entry | Tero Maatta | 41 | x | |
2000 Entry | Jon DiSalvatore | 104 | x | |
2000 Entry | Michal Pinc | 142 | x | |
2000 Entry | Nolan Schaefer | 166 | x | |
2000 Entry | Michal Macho | 183 | x | |
2000 Entry | Chad Wiseman | 246 | x | |
2000 Entry | Pasi Saarinen | 256 | x | |
1999 Entry | Jeff Jillson | 14 | x | |
1999 Entry | Mark Concannon | 82 | x | |
1999 Entry | Willie Levesque | 111 | x | |
1999 Entry | Niko Dimitrakos | 155 | x | |
1999 Entry | Eric Betournay | 229 | x | |
1999 Entry | Douglas Murray | 241 | x | |
1999 Entry | Hannes Hyvonen | 257 | x | |
1998 Entry | Brad Stuart | 3 | x | |
1998 Entry | Jonathan Cheechoo | 29 | x | |
1998 Entry | Eric Laplante | 65 | x | |
1998 Entry | Rob Davison | 98 | x | |
1998 Entry | Miroslav Zalesak | 104 | x | |
1998 Entry | Brandon Coalter | 127 | x | |
1998 Entry | Mikael Samuelsson | 145 | x | |
1998 Entry | Robert Mulick | 185 | x | |
1998 Entry | Jim Fahey | 212 | x | |
1997 Entry | Patrick Marleau | 2 | x | |
1997 Entry | Scott Hannan | 23 | x | |
1997 Entry | Adam Colagiacomo | 82 | x | |
1997 Entry | Adam Spylo | 107 | x | |
1997 Entry | Joe Dusbabek | 163 | x | |
1997 Entry | Cam Severson | 192 | x | |
1997 Entry | Mark Smith | 219 | x | |
1996 Entry | Andrei Zyuzin | 2 | x | |
1996 Entry | Marco Sturm | 21 | x | |
1996 Entry | Terry Friesen | 55 | x | |
1996 Entry | Matt Bradley | 102 | x | |
1996 Entry | Michel Larocque | 137 | x | |
1996 Entry | Jake Deadmarsh | 164 | x | |
1996 Entry | Cory Cyrenne | 191 | x | |
1996 Entry | David Thibeault | 217 | x | |
1995 Entry | Teemu Riihijarvi | 12 | x | |
1995 Entry | Peter Roed | 38 | x | |
1995 Entry | Marko Makinen | 64 | x | |
1995 Entry | Vesa Toskala | 90 | x | |
1995 Entry | Miikka Kiprusoff | 116 | x | |
1995 Entry | Michal Bros | 130 | x | |
1995 Entry | Timo Hakanen | 140 | x | |
1995 Entry | Jaroslav Kudrna | 142 | x | |
1995 Entry | Brad Mehalko | 167 | x | |
1995 Entry | Robert Jindrich | 168 | x | |
1995 Entry | Ryan Kraft | 194 | x | |
1995 Entry | Mikko Markkanen | 220 | x | |
1994 Entry | Jeff Friesen | 11 | x | |
1994 Entry | Angel Nikolov | 37 | x | |
1994 Entry | Alexei Yegorov | 66 | x | |
1994 Entry | Vaclav Varada | 89 | x | |
1994 Entry | Brian Swanson | 115 | x | |
1994 Entry | Alexander Korolyuk | 141 | x | |
1994 Entry | Sergei Gorbachev | 167 | x | |
1994 Entry | Eric Landry | 193 | x | |
1994 Entry | Evgeni Nabokov | 219 | x | |
1994 Entry | Tomas Pisa | 240 | x | |
1994 Entry | Aniket Dhadphale | 245 | x | |
1994 Entry | David Beauregard | 271 | x | |
1993 Entry | Viktor Kozlov | 6 | x | |
1993 Entry | Shean Donovan | 28 | x | |
1993 Entry | Vlastimil Kroupa | 45 | x | |
1993 Entry | Ville Peltonen | 58 | x | |
1993 Entry | Alexander Osadchy | 80 | x | |
1993 Entry | Andrei Buschan | 106 | x | |
1993 Entry | Petri Varis | 132 | x | |
1993 Entry | Fredrik Oduya | 154 | x | |
1993 Entry | Anatoly Filatov | 158 | x | |
1993 Entry | Todd Holt | 184 | x | |
1993 Entry | Jonas Forsberg | 210 | x | |
1993 Entry | Jeff Salajko | 236 | x | |
1993 Entry | Jamie Matthews | 262 | x | |
1992 Entry | Mike Rathje | 3 | x | |
1992 Entry | Andrei Nazarov | 10 | x | |
1992 Entry | Alexander Cherbayev | 51 | x | |
1992 Entry | Jan Caloun | 75 | x | |
1992 Entry | Marcus Ragnarsson | 99 | x | |
1992 Entry | Michal Sykora | 123 | x | |
1992 Entry | Eric Bellerose | 147 | x | |
1992 Entry | Ryan Smith | 171 | x | |
1992 Entry | Chris Burns | 195 | x | |
1992 Entry | Alex Kholomeyev | 219 | x | |
1992 Entry | Victor Ignatjev | 243 | x | |
1991 Entry | Pat Falloon | 2 | x | |
1991 Entry | Ray Whitney | 23 | x | |
1991 Entry | Sandis Ozolinsh | 30 | x | |
1991 Entry | Dody Wood | 45 | x | |
1991 Entry | Kerry Toporowski | 67 | x | |
1991 Entry | Dan Ryder | 89 | x | |
1991 Entry | Fredrik Nilsson | 111 | x | |
1991 Entry | Jaroslav Otevrel | 133 | x | |
1991 Entry | Dean Grillo | 155 | x | |
1991 Entry | Corwin Saurdiff | 177 | x | |
1991 Entry | Dale Craigwell | 199 | x | |
1991 Entry | Aaron Kriss | 221 | x | |
1991 Entry | Mikhail Kravets | 243 | x |