Connect with us

San Jose Sharks

AGENT: Ben Gaudreau Re-Entering Draft

Published

on

Credit: Hockey Shots/Dean Tait

Ben Gaudreau is re-entering the Draft.

“Because of what is developing with their goaltending prospects, we have decided to go back in the Draft,” Gaudreau’s agent Eddie Mio of Octagon Sports Management told San Jose Hockey Now via text today.

The San Jose Sharks, who selected Gaudreau in the third round of the 2021 Draft, had until Jun. 1 to sign the 20-year-old Sarnia Sting netminder.

On Monday, Sharks GM Mike Grier said the organization’s decision on Gaudreau was still up in the air: “With [director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov] and [goaltending coach Thomas Speer], we’re still going through that, and we do have meetings here in the next couple of weeks where we’ll sort that out and figure out if we’re gonna sign Ben or not.”

Grier Happy With No. 4 Pick, Talks Michkov, Carlsson, Smith (+)

It looks like that decision has been made.

Mio declined to go into further detail about what he and Gaudreau are seeing with the San Jose Sharks’ goaltending pipeline. The Sharks have already signed young netminders Magnus Chrona and Georgy Romanov this off-season, and there are still decisions to be made on incumbent RFA prospects Eetu Makiniemi and Strauss Mann.

That’s not a lot of playing time available between the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder.

Mio, however, pushed back on the notion that the organization’s goaltending logjam influenced Gaudreau’s decision.

“I’m confident in Ben, that he would have prevailed,” Mio said. “We’re not afraid of competition. Just didn’t feel like a good fit.”

The 6-foot-2 goalie enjoyed a strong post-season for Sarnia, posting three shutouts and a .905 Save %, leading the Sting to the Conference Finals. This followed an up-and-down regular season and a 2023 World Junior Championships gold medal backing up Thomas Milic for Team Canada.

Overall, Gaudreau’s junior career has featured some inconsistency — he has an middling-for-the-OHL career .890 Save % — and noteworthy international success. Besides being named to Team Canada in the most recent World Juniors, Gaudreau also backstopped Canada to the 2021 U18 World Junior Championships.

UPDATE: The San Jose Sharks declined comment at this time, but did confirm that they will not be signing Gaudreau. It is still possible for the Sharks to trade Gaudreau’s rights, until Jun. 1.

In March, San Jose Hockey Now rated Gaudreau as the Sharks’ top goaltending prospect.

Scouts Evaluate Sharks Goaltending Prospects (+)

Welcome to your new home for San Jose Sharks breaking news, analysis and opinion. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and don't forget to subscribe to SJHN+ for all of our members-only content from Sheng Peng and the National Hockey Now network plus an ad-free browsing experience.

Sheng’s Travel Fund

Help fund Sheng's travel! Every dollar goes to the cost of getting to and from Sharks road games.


Click here to contribute to Sheng's travel pool!

Get SJHN in your inbox!

Enter your email address to get all of our articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Hockey Shots

Extra Hour Hockey Training

Cathy’s Power Skating

Sharks Team & Cap Info

SJHN on Facebook

All the San Jose Sharks news that's fit to print

Enter your email to get the best Sharks coverage delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.