Sheng Peng
Jack Thompson might be facing a crossroads in his San Jose Sharks’ career.
Thompson, 23, is not waiver-exempt anymore.
The 6-foot-1 right-hander enjoyed some offensive success in his rookie campaign last year, notching four goals and 10 points in 31 games with the San Jose Sharks. Thompson was also an AHL All-Star in 2023-24 with the Syracuse Crunch.
There are, arguably, eight defensemen ahead of Thompson in camp right now, veterans Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Desharnais, and youngsters Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson.
So could Thompson be the odd man out? The Sharks aren’t carrying nine blueliners on their opening night roster. Is a trade possible?
Or would Thompson pass through waivers?
San Jose Hockey Now took a straw poll of four different NHL scouts, none with the Sharks, to answer that question.
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky and Thompson also discussed what the young blueliner can do to establish himself as an everyday NHL’er.
Thompson’s situation, of course, isn’t this cut-and-dry.
It’s early in camp for the San Jose Sharks — Klingberg, for example, has a day-to-day upper-body injury, and is doubtful for Friday’s exhibition game — so the Sharks may still need Thompson.
Thompson can still overtake the top-eight too. How does he do that?
“Be assertive, be sound in the defensive zone. Not make many mistakes. Use my offensive abilities and my skating to create some offense,” Thompson said. “I can kind of play a 200-foot defensive game as a defenseman. That’s something that I’m trying to work on.”
Killing more plays and firmer net front coverage were areas that Jack Thompson needed to improve last year. Stathletes’ micro-stats also illustrated areas where the young San Jose Sharks rearguard could be better.
Thompson said that he gained eight pounds of muscle over the summer — up to 200 pounds — without losing any quickness.
But?
“You gotta do it consistently,” Warsofsky said on Tuesday. “We’ve seen it in spurts where he can do it, move pucks, defend, read rushes, we’re looking for the consistency part.”
Thompson hasn’t achieved that consistency yet in camp either.
“That’s not just game-to-game. It’s practice-to-practice,” Warsofsky said. “Jack’s had some good days, and some days where he struggled.”
So what does the rest of the NHL think of Thompson?
None of the four scouts that SJHN spoke with are convinced that Thompson would get claimed off waivers.
“Unless someone really likes him, I think he gets through,” Scout #1 said. “Good player but most teams have players and prospects like him. If he’s claimed, he’d have to push a guy out of your line-up and I don’t see that.”
“I don’t think he would get claimed,” Scout #2 said.
Scout #3 called Thompson “good organizational depth”.
That could make Thompson attractive on waivers — he can move pucks, he’s right-handed, and has size — but at this point in his career, he’s not an everyday, in most line-ups defenseman either.
Essentially, Thompson is a defenseman of some quality, you don’t mind him in a pinch, but not certain to be claimed in waivers or sought-after in trade.
Is this uncertainly weighing on Thompson?
“I don’t think it would do me any good to look at that sort of stuff,” he said. “If you work hard and do the right things, eventually you’ll be rewarded. Whatever happens, just continue to keep pushing.”