Sheng Peng
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse was coy about the San Jose Sharks’ 2025 Draft plans, but he still offered plenty of insight about other Draft-related topics.
Morehouse spoke to San Jose Hockey Now on the second-to-last day of the Draft Combine last week, discussing what’s different atop the 2025 Draft, the importance of Combine dinners, the Sharks’ approach to Combine interviews, if he’s ever picked anybody based mostly on Combine results, and how scouts need to do more than watch hockey.
Who’s No. 1?
Defenseman Matthew Schaefer should be the first-overall pick of the 2025 Draft on Jun. 27, but it’s not as foregone a conclusion as the San Jose Sharks in 2024 with Macklin Celebrini, and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023 with Connor Bedard. Does that also speak to a weaker overall Draft?
“This year has been fun. Depending on who you ask and depending on what time of year you ask it, everyone has a different opinion. That usually tells me that there’s a little bit of guesswork at the top. It’s easy to say that it’s not a powerhouse [of a Draft] because there is that non-consensus No. 1, but even in years where [that’s been the case], it was Nolan [Patrick] versus Nico [Hischier in 2017], and look at the D that went behind those two,” Morehouse said. “You just don’t know. We all feel really good where we’re at and that we’re going to get good players. That’s all I can really worry about.”
The Importance of Dinner?
Figuring out who’s taking who to dinner at the Combine is fun.
And there is some importance to it, but let’s not get carried away.
On one hand, the San Jose Sharks took Will Smith (and Leo Carlsson) to dinner in 2023. Last year, they, duh, treated Macklin Celebrini.
On the other hand, famously, the Montreal Canadiens didn’t break bread with Juraj Slafkovsky in 2022 and David Reinbacher in 2023, their eventual picks, taking other prospects out instead.
“We’re meeting them a little bit longer, doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Morehouse said. “We feel really good with our group in terms of the information we get all year—our guys’ interviews [throughout the season], our scouts are out there, meeting the kids, meeting families, talking to old coaches. This part [now] really is just a bow on it.”
This year, the Sharks took four prospects out to dinner. Notably, Morehouse was evasive about the entire group, take that how you will. SJHN did learn that San Jose did take out betting favorite top-two picks Schaefer and Michael Misa.
“We do a little bit of everything here in terms of getting to know kids, but if you’re relying on this event to get to know them,” Morehouse said, “you’re in trouble.”
Let’s Have Fun?
To that point, the Sharks’ philosophy to Combine interviews isn’t necessarily the same as in the past.
Morehouse said the San Jose Sharks interviewed under 70 players at the Combine; SJHN has figured out over half that list.
Morehouse wants players as comfortable as possible during these 15-minute interviews.
“We usually have the answers to the questions,” Morehouse said. “If we’re trying to get to know them as hockey players from Jun. 2-7, I didn’t do my job. It’s more of just, ‘Come on, let’s talk, let’s have fun. Let’s talk about your favorite movies. Let’s laugh.’”
There’s a thought process to it, of course.
“I say relax, and it is very, very relaxing. There is no grilling,” Morehouse said. “Again, in my experience of dealing with 17, 18-year-old kids, they’re already uncomfortable enough. Why do you think you need to make them more uncomfortable? For me, I want to see these kids in the best light we can.”
He added: “I don’t think it’s my job to put the kid in a situation to fail. My job is to try and make these kids be in positions where they’re true and they can be themselves and talk with Mike [Grier] and Tom [Holy] and Joe [Will] and Ryane [Clowe].”
Ultimately?
“You’re not going to get to know kids if they’re uptight and they feel uncomfortable,” Morehouse said. “Last time I checked, players make it to the NHL because of all the things they do well, and I think we need to highlight that.”
It doesn’t mean that the Sharks won’t ask tough questions, but they don’t appear to go out of the way to do that.
“If we need to dig in, if we hear different things about commitment at the gym, we’ll ask that in the interview, but we usually just want to spend time with them,” Morehouse said.
It sounds like the Sharks’ approach is winning over kids.
“We had a kid walk in yesterday and go, ‘Wow, I really like the vibe in here,’” Morehouse said. “That’s what we want, we want these kids to just come in and feel like they can talk to us.”
Michael Misa confirmed that even dinner with the Sharks was more casual: “It didn’t feel like an interview at all. I think we talked about everything, movies, sports, school. It was great.”
Heart of the Matter
Morehouse is aware that teenage players are more media-savvy than ever, hence trying to disarm them in interviews, get their guard down.
“You kind of know what kids are going to say,” Morehouse said. “I think what we try to let them know is to be themselves, be authentic. We’re not looking for anything specific.”
As Morehouse has stressed, the groundwork for knowing a player should’ve already been laid well before the Combine.
“It goes back to what our area guys do,” Morehouse said. “For me to commit or inform an opinion if I’ve never met a kid from 15 [Combine interview] minutes is probably not the smartest decision, but the fact that our area scout in the US met him for two hours and did this and that and has known him for three years—yes, I’m going to form an opinion because that’s my job, but it’s layered with a lot of really good work that’s done by other people.”
A scout’s job isn’t just to watch hockey.
“I’ve been doing this now a long time, and there’s still a large group of people that ask me, ‘What do you do? Oh, you just watch hockey.’” Morehouse mused. “[But that’s] the smallest portion of it. That’s the easiest part, it’s actually watching the games, and it’s all the other piecing together [that’s hard].”
He added: “That’s why we ask our guys to do whatever you can to get to know the kids. If you see a kid play, I’d rather you see a kid play 12 times and then get to know him and meet him [than] see him 25 times [and] not know him and meet him. There definitely is a big balancing act.”
Morehouse praised director of CHL scouting Steph LeBlanc, director of player personnel Scott Fitzgerald, Charlie Townsend, and Grier for their ability to get to know people.
“If you can get them to just disarm themselves and just be themselves,” he said, “you’ll like the information you get.”
Can Combine Performance Change Minds?
Can an excellent interview or physical performance at the Combine be the main driver of a change in a player’s ranking on the San Jose Sharks’ Draft list?
“That is not something that I would let happen,” Morehouse said. “Typically, if we make a change at the Combine, we’ve already had thoughts and doubts in our head.”
That could be physical or mental.
“Let’s wait to see what the body makeup is, let’s wait to see what the interview is in terms of does the personality match what we see on the ice?” he said. “It’s like putting together puzzle pieces. Maybe there will be a situation at some point where we’ll come to that, but again, if we’re doing that, at that point, I’ve done something wrong along the way.”
Morehouse is clearly taking pains to not overemphasize flagship events like the World Junior Championships or Combine.
“I’ve just never been a firm believer of making knee-jerk reactions based on emotional things,” he said. “I think if you make big-time decisions based on these types of things, big events, big hockey things, big tournaments…it’s [more about the] body of work.”
That’s a phrase that Morehouse uses a lot, “body of work”, from the beginning of the season to the end.
Empowering Scouts
Morehouse wants to be dependent on his area scouts.
“I’ve learned three things in this business since I’ve started: Scouts want to be heard, they want to be valued, and they want to be trusted,” he said. “If you can allow these guys the opportunity to do their work—and sometimes, it’s as simple as just being more hands off and not making them feel like you’re over them. [Not say,] ‘Well, I don’t like that player, so you can’t like them,’ it’s more, ‘Let’s go.’”
He added: “That’s the best part about this business: We all have different opinions. You see something different than I see, let’s just try and get it right in the end. I like that.”
Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for help transcribing