Sheng Peng
Will the San Jose Sharks draft a forward at No. 27?
On Sunday, San Jose Hockey Now discussed six defensemen that the San Jose Sharks could consider with their late first-round pick.
Here are 15 forwards who could be available at No. 27.
Could the San Jose Sharks pick Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Jaxon Cover, Maddox Dagenais, Simas Ignatavicius, Jack Hextall, Nikita Klepov, Ilia Morozov, Marcus Nordmark, Adam Novotny, Mathis Preston, Gleb Pugachyov, Brooks Rogowski, Liam Ruck, Yegor Shilov, or Oliver Suvanto?
Here’s what an NHL scout and draft experts like Keegan McNally, Scott Wheeler, Chris Peters, Craig Button, and Dylan Griffing had to say about these forward prospects.
Niklas Aaram-Olsen
Aaram-Olsen is a 6-foot-1 SHL winger.
Scott Wheeler says, “He’s an impressive athlete who crushed testing at the Combine, though his stride does kick a little…his scoring package is legit and I don’t think he’s a one-way winger either.”
Jaxon Cover
Cover is a 6-foot-1 OHL winger.
Keegan McNally says, “Good skater, good puck skills and shot, but doesn’t seem to track the play well or move into space well without the puck. I think he is driven by his tools and not an actual feel for the game.”
Maddox Dagenais
Dagenais is a 6-foot-4 QMJHL center.
Scout #1 says, “Power forward mold. Really mobile for his size, soft hands and skill. You’re hoping he turns into like an Alex Tuch-kind of player.”
Simas Ignatavicius
Ignatavicius is a 6-foot-3 National League center-winger.
Scout #1 says, “Big, skating is just okay, it’s a little bit lesser than Dagenais. But skill and sense, played really well in the men’s league. Really well…I could see a team really liking the total package and saying that’s the guy that we want on wing and our second line [in the future].”
Jack Hextall
Hextall is a 6-foot-1 USHL center, committed to Michigan State next year.
Scout #1 says, “He’s not that different than [Alexander] Command in a sense, where you’re taking a complete forward. But he may be more of a 3C. There’s teams that probably think he’s like a Phillip Danault 3C, where you could win a championship with him. Good kid, too, really good kid.”
Nikita Klepov
Klepov is a 6-foot-0 winger, committed to Michigan State next year.
Scout #1 says, “High-end [skill] versus some warts. He’s not big, his skating is just okay. It’s like [J.P.] Hurlbert. They’re similar. Hurlbert’s a little worse of a skater. I won’t go as far as saying they’re one-dimensional, but they’re pretty close. Hurlbert has a little more FU to him…Klepov can be kind of off-putting sometimes, because he doesn’t look like he cares a little bit.”
Ilia Morozov
Morozov is a 6-foot-3 NCAA center.
Scout #1 says, “Going to be more like a 3C, but really outstanding kid. He was the anchor for Miami of Ohio, played way above his head, for what they asked him to do. He was outstanding. I just don’t know how much offense there is to him.”
Marcus Nordmark
Nordmark is a 6-foot-2 SHL winger.
Scout #1 says, “Nordmark would be the strange one. He’s starting to fall back quite a bit now, but there’s a home run swing on that one, if you think he can figure it out…I know his interviews did not go well at the Combine… just did not do a lot to assure teams that he’s committed to fixing his issues or is aware of his issues or cares about them (laughs)… it’s like, ‘Do you know you take a game off here and there?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘What do you do to fix it?’ ‘I don’t know, I got to think about it.’ It’s really like a loose kind of speech…but he is talented, big-time talented. So if you’re into fixing people, you might feel like you could capture lightning in a bottle with that one…Really high risk, really high reward…He’s Sam Colangelo, he’s Arthur Kaliyev…He’s a first-round talent guy that’s got second-round issues.”
Adam Novotny
Novotny is a 6-foot-1 OHL winger.
Scout #1 says, “Little individualistic, but he can certainly skate and shoot…He’s high-skill, he can certainly score a goal. The skating is high-end. There’s effort, he puts in the effort…I don’t think he’s very [hockey] smart.”
Mathis Preston
Preston is a 5-foot-11 WHL winger.
Wheeler says, “There are times when he can play to the perimeter, and he’s not the most competitive off-puck player, or I wonder about his play selection, but the talent and the ability to attack are real..I have questions about every player after him, and few of them have both talent and skating.”
Gleb Pugachyov
Pugachyov is a 6-foot-3 KHL winger.
Dylan Griffing of Elite Prospects says, “Pugachyov is a pretty cut-and-dry player. Barring groundbreaking developments to his offensive toolkit, his projection is a bottom-six, energy forward in the NHL. Looking at the first three letters of his last name alone, it’s clear he has that dog in him. His play on the ice only backs that up.”
Brooks Rogowski
Rogowski is a 6-foot-7 OHL center.
Chris Peters says, “A 6-foot-7 center with decent enough hands to score some, Rogowski has all the measurables NHL teams are more than willing to take a chance on…NHL Comparable: Michael McCarron.”
Liam Ruck
Ruck is a 6-foot-0 WHL winger.
Scout #1 says, “[Liam has] got more of the complete package [than Markus Ruck], he can shoot and distribute. The other one’s a little more emphasis on one [skill]. But they’re like, everything you’d be worried about with Hurlburt is like even more so with these guys, and they are like the step down from him.”
Yegor Shilov
Shilov is a 6-foot-1 QMJHL center.
Craig Button says, “Shilov is just a smart, two-way player…A centre’s job, to me, is to help his wingers be better, to drive the play, be the spine of a line…Shilov has that classic two-way game.”
Oliver Suvanto
Suvanto is a 6-foot-3 Liiga center.
Scout #1 says, “Suvanto is potentially going to be like a shutdown 3C.”