Sheng Peng
The San Jose Sharks are tied for the third-most prospects at the World Junior Championships.
They’re behind only the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres for the most players named to WJC rosters. The Sharks have six prospects – center Will Smith and defenseman Eric Pohlkamp for USA, center Filip Bystedt and defenseman Mattias Havelid for Sweden, defenseman Jake Furlong for Canada, and winger Kasper Halttunen for Finland – headed to Gothenburg for the start of tournament on Dec. 26.
San Jose Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse discussed the organization’s prospects, those going to the WJCs, and those not today.
Besides Smith and company, Morehouse also talked up Quentin Musty, Luca Cagnoni, Cam Lund, David Klee, Brandon Svoboda, Theo Jacobsson, and Axel Landen’s solid campaigns.
Morehouse, on Furlong and Pohlkamp making their national teams:
For the organization, it’s a great learning experience for both those kids. For both, this is their last chance to have the opportunity to do it, being 19 years old.
They’re both not necessarily the sexy, high pick that comes with all this hype and all these certain types of things. To see the two guys that really take pride in their work and really go about their business the right way — one in Halifax and one at Bemidji, it’s a credit to our development staff and the amount of time and work they put in with these kids.
You’ve seen over the years — with Jake, it’s been two years, with Eric it’s been just this year, but that nice, steady climb of development. That’s what you want to see on our end.
Morehouse, on Will Smith’s season so far for BC:
Any time you look at the numbers, he’s doing his thing. There’s been lots of really great positives to come of it.
I’m sure if you ask Will, he would put more pressure on himself, but in terms of where we are, we’re really excited about Will. He’s just a really driven, focused kid.
This World Juniors [exhibition game versus Sweden], he had a couple of goals and it’s nice to see him score early in preseason, play with confidence and things like that.
We’re really excited about Will, and again, it’s easy to have these expectations from the outside in terms of what they should do based on what they did the year prior.
College hockey is a big jump, and he’s got that line there together that played together last year, which has been really great for familiarity, but it’s still a big jump. The one positive for Will is that he’s been able to produce and get better every game, and that’s a really big part of the development.
Morehouse, on Smith competing against Macklin Celebrini, and thoughts on Celebrini:
Any time when you have an opportunity to see talent versus talent is an exciting thing. For us and me personally, this is just another chance to get eyes on Macklin. We have, as a group, a really good handle on what we think he is and what we think his future could be.
Again, there’s a lot of time in between, there’s a lot of things that go on from now until the end of the Combine, to the Draft, and this is just another step to get information, watch him play.
In terms of the head-to-head, I’m looking forward to seeing Will go head to head against Bystedt, against Owen Beck on Canada, and some of these other kids that are really good players from all different countries. Any time you get an opportunity to see these players go head-to-head, it’s awesome.
[But] it also is just another event, it’s just another process in the body of work that goes into these players’ developments. World Juniors, everybody loves it, and it’s a fantastic event, because it’s a bunch of teenagers that make a ton of mistakes, but play for their country and work and give everything they can because they representing a country.
It’s also just a two-week event in the middle of the season. I kind of put everything into perspective. Obviously, I want all the guys that we drafted as the Sharks to have amazing events there, but I think it all comes with just a little bit of staying focused on what the end goal is — developing National Hockey League players.
Morehouse, on what makes Celebrini so special, how he would compare the 2023 Draft to the upcoming 2024 Draft:
I’m not going to get into specifics on why we like Celebrini, just because he’s a Draft-eligible player and I like to keep things kind of close to the vest. In terms of just looking at his numbers in college hockey and what he’s been able to do at such a young age, I believe he’s not even 18 until next summer, it’s been really impressive.
In terms of the Draft, I think it’s still a little bit of we’re still feeling things through. We’re at a point now as a group — our staff, we feel like there’s talent there. Hopefully, when we’re picking, we’re going to have some chances to get some good hockey players that are going to help us in the future.
Morehouse, on what Furlong and Pohlkamp skills made them fits for their WJC teams.
I think Jake, not only did he start and have a really consistent year with defending and moving pucks and being hard to play against, he had a really good [WJCs] camp.
Right away, I think the first game of the exhibition against a group of university All-Stars which are older kids, they’re 23, 24, they played four years in major junior and they play against the kids that are trying out for Canada’s national team, [he] scores two goals in the first game. I wasn’t there personally, but we had guys there, and they said he played his game.
Both kids — both him and Eric — know who they are, and I think they’ve worked [hard]. I give our development staff with Todd [Marchant] and Luca [Sbisa] and Tommy [Wingels], just a ton of credit, Charlie [Townsend] in the office getting video.
These kids — these two, especially — they’re hungry to get better, they want to be good NHL players, they want to be the best versions of themselves.
They’ve excelled because they know who they are. As a young kid, when you’re trying to figure out where you fit — especially on those teams where Hockey Canada has some offensive guys that are going to create offense, Jake knows how to check, knows how to defend, he plays a firm game, you can pair him, so it’s a good fit with one of those more offensive guys. Or he could be with a shutdown type of D.
Eric, he can hammer a puck, so there’s some power play options there because of the way he can shoot the puck, but more importantly, he makes everybody earn ice. He defends and he plays hard.
Yesterday in the exhibition, they had him playing with Zeev Buium, who’s a really talented puck-moving D. [Eric] gives him a little bit of right shot, he fits there.
We’ll see where they both end up as the tournament goes on, but I think they’re two kids that know what they are, and they’ve worked to show exactly what they’re capable of, given the role they’ll get.
Morehouse, on Bystedt’s up-and-down season with Linkoping:
It’s a 19-year-old playing against men in the top division in Sweden. There are going to be some ups and downs.
I met with him and Havelid during the November U-20 event when I was in Czechia. Both kids were really excited about the World Juniors — there was a lot of pressure being in their home country and not only that, but their roster is very good. That was their primary focus, and in terms of the season, I think again, it’s the ebbs and flows.
Luca went over and watched them, and I think like anything, there’s heightened expectations, you think you should see these types of inclines [of development]. I think every kid goes through a different route to get there, and I think both kids are hungry and are excited to be at the World Juniors, and I’m looking forward to seeing them and seeing what that team could do because this is their year. This is their group. This was a U-18 team that won in Germany.
Morehouse, on Havelid and Halttunen’s progression this season:
I’ll start with Havelid again. I kind of mentioned it, I was really talking about him and Bystedt, about the excitement for World Juniors. Again, he’s gonna have a big role on that team and both those kids, it’s going to be great to watch how they embrace the pressure of playing at home. There is a lot of outside things that go on during a World Juniors that’s media-based, so it’s going to be fun to watch those kids and how they handle it.
In terms of Kasper, scoring a lot of goals, and that’s one thing we knew he could do, and the fact that he’s doing it is great. Like anything, there has been an adjustment. I think he’s handled it really well.
He’s taken steps. The way they want to play in London is fast-paced. You got to be competitive, you got to move your feet, you got to defend. In terms of where he is, we’re really happy, and I know there’s another step that he’ll take as he continues to develop.
Morehouse, on Musty, Cagnoni, and Lund’s progressions this season and not making World Juniors:
I’ll start off with Lund. Obviously, a tough start for Northeastern. Finally, started getting things rolling. He was playing really well, then he got nicked up.
Going into the second half, there’s gonna be expectations from himself to take another step and help that team win some more hockey games.
There’s a ton of tools there — there’s a ton of NHL skill, there’s a ton of NHL speed, size, and strength. Like all young kids, it’s figuring out how to put it all together consistently, and when he does do that, we’re all gonna like what we see in the end.
In terms of Cagnoni, he’s having a great year offensively, they have a really impressive team in Portland. They play up-tempo, fast-paced, puck possession game. There’s a ton of talent with him, and yes, he’s small, he’ll have his challenges, but in terms of hockey IQ and being able to take the game in at a really high level offensively, there’s lots of to like there. It’s an important year for him in terms of being around a really good team. We’re very excited with his development, how he’s played.
In terms of Musty, I think up until the last game before the break, he was two points per game. Hard to argue with those numbers in terms of his offensive season.
There’s a lot of talent there, there’s a lot to like. A big guy, has soft hands that can think the game. It’s like anything, he needs to be more consistent like all young kids do. Our development staff do a great job with all of them, but with Musty as well in terms of communication and Luca out West, so both kids are in great hands.
In Musty’s case, not making the World Juniors team, he’s still an under-age kid, still has next year. That’s a really talented US team, and they make the roster decisions on that.
Morehouse, on of Musty has applied his development camp lessons to his season in Sudbury:
Honestly, I’d like to think we saw it all along, even in his Draft year.
I think the biggest thing as to why he fell, where it was — the consistency part of it, which is really hard. It’s a hard thing to do, to be honest, and a lot of kids struggle with consistency. That’s why there’s ebbs and flows, that’s why they’re kids. They make poor decisions and make good decisions.
For him, I think he’s had a great year.
Back to your point, I think being around NHL guys, it’s another step. I’m sure it was a confidence booster to get that. I watched the exhibition game on TV, I thought he looked like he belonged, and I think that’s really good for a kid’s confidence. Coming back, especially being drafted right away and then getting put into a [Rookie Faceoff] game after being nicked up. There’s a lot to like there with him.
You guys have obviously had conversations with him. He’s got the right demeanor, he’s got the right mindset. He’s a young kid that’s going to continue to grow.
Learning from this, if he’s upset, which is good — you don’t want kids to be “Oh, whatever,” you want them to take this as a learning experience and figure out a way to be on the team next year.
Morehouse, on Will Smith and his potential for a future leadership role on the San Jose Sharks:
That’s a really hard question to answer, because a lot has left to be answered on that.
What I can say in terms of, I agree with you, 100 percent. Spending some time with Will — meaning in terms of his demeanor on the ice and how he gives off this leadership.
I think he’s a really calm and confident kid who has a plan in his head and he wants to execute it. Leadership is something that I think is done by committee in a lot of ways. In terms of how he processes and how he manages the game and how he stays even-keeled — yeah, he celebrates when he scores, but in general, he’s a very calm, cool, collected kid in all situations.
That speaks to what we really liked about him last year in the interview process — when you talk to him and you look him in the eye, there’s a lot there to like and there’s a lot to gravitate towards.
We’re obviously thrilled with Will, [but] there’s a lot of development left to do. There’s a lot of growing, but he’s a special talent and we’re excited to have him.
Morehouse, on what the San Jose Sharks want to see from Halttunen this season:
One of the really great things about getting over here is he’s getting adjusted to North American ice, North American style. The European game is different, and so he continues to adjust, there’s things like spacing or board work or all these different things that when the ice is smaller and things shrink for a big man. He’s got a skill-set — the hands are big time and his shot, it’s scary how easy he makes some of those goals look.
His shot is very, very dangerous. If he can shore up on some of the other parts of his game — getting faster, working on his pace in terms of the way it’s played with over here.
But I think Kasper has had a really, really positive year. He made the choice to come over, feeling that it was the best thing for him. Think about it, this was an 18-year-old kid that’s lived at home, playing men’s league, and all of a sudden decided “I’m going to move across the world to go to London and play in Major Junior” because he wants to be a hockey player and he thinks it’s the best thing for his development. There’s obviously tons of things that still at 18 years old that he’ll get as he matures and grows, but he’s taken all the right steps to get to this point, and we’re really excited about him.
Morehouse, on other San Jose Sharks prospects who have had strong seasons:
In terms of Svoboda, just won a bronze at World Junior A Challenge representing Team USA. I think he has six points — four goals, and it was a short event.
Both him and [David] Klee have been having a great year in the USHL. If you look at Klee, his numbers compared to what it was last year. Both kids, we’re happy about.
Theo [Jacobsson] is producing in Sweden — he’s another guy that’s had a really good year. There are certainly some guys that have — again, we’re looking at it from our perspective of where they can be in the future, and we’ve certainly had some guys that have taken some really positive steps.
There’s a lot left — I mean, both those kids, Klee and (Svoboda) are going US college route, they’re not even there yet. They’re in the USHL and they still have lots of time to develop. Same with Theo, he’s still developing, he’s playing against men.
[Axel] Landen, another one, he’s a young kid that’s now playing SHL, getting some minutes as an 18-year-old. He didn’t make Sweden’s team obviously, but I know that he was in the conversation.
He was at the U-20 event in November and played well there, so [they’ll] at least have an eye on him for next year.
There’s lots to be excited about.
Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for her help transcribing.