Sheng Peng
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Some of the prospects who weren’t interviewed at the Combine had the most insight about the San Jose Sharks.
Forward Kieren Dervin didn’t talk with the Sharks during the Combine, but he did chat with them over Zoom in season.
Dervin took an in-person IQ test on an iPad with the Sharks this year too.
“There was one test where an object appeared and there’s a number underneath it, and you had to remember it,” Dervin revealed. “There’s probably like 15 of them, and you had to remember. That was a tough one.”
Forward Ethan Czata, who spoke with about 12 teams here, noted that the Sharks also kept up with him in season.
“I don’t really take it that way,” Czata said about not talking to San Jose in Buffalo. “They could maybe know already a lot about me. Some guys get taken, they don’t even interview them here.”
“I don’t really look too much into it,” forward Mason Moe, who spoke with about a dozen teams, said. “I don’t think it matters too much.”
No doubt, Fairfield, California native Ben Kevan hopes that’s the case.
Kevan interviewed with 10 teams at the Combine, but not his childhood team, the Sharks.
The speedy winger credited the Sharks for getting him into hockey, saying he was at SAP Center on May 25, 2016, when San Jose beat the St. Louis Blues to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.
His favorite Shark?
“I was really starting to get into playing hockey when [Tomas Hertl] had that four-goal game against New York. I always wore No. 48 because of him. He’s always been my favorite player.”
Kevan’s family still lives in Fairfield, and he’s skated with Macklin Celebrini in Dublin and at Shattuck-St. Mary’s.
His dad was also a big Sharks fan, favorite player Ryane Clowe.
San Jose Hockey Now did manage to identify two prospects that the San Jose Sharks took out to dinner and 40 interviews.
Forward Tyler Hopkins chatted with about 20 teams, though not San Jose, the toughest question from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“They said, if everybody on a team is super-focused on their own personal development, will that team win? Stumped me a little bit,” Hopkins said, “but I ended up saying, I think that team would be successful, but not in the end, because I think the team needs to come together to win.”
Speaking of tough interview questions, forward Cole McKinney, who was interviewed by the Sharks, revealed this Montreal Canadiens’ question.
“If I was the [navy] captain during World War II…and our goal was to sink the enemy submarines? And 20 my soldiers have fallen in the water, and there’s an [enemy] submarine right under it, so I either sink the submarine and killed my soldiers or save the soldiers,” McKinney said. “I went with save the soldiers.”
Reunion Spirit?
Top San Jose Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov terrorized the OHL with center Michael Misa and winger Kristian Epperson at the end of the season, highlighted by Chernyshov’s 55 points in just 23 games.
Could the Saginaw Spirit trio be coming to San Jose?
Misa is the betting favorite to go to the Sharks at No. 2. And why not bring along Epperson, who provided a little sandpaper to Misa and Chernyshov’s dominant skill?
“The thought of getting drafted to San Jose would be pretty incredible, especially if Mike is there as well, right?” Epperson mused. “I use my skating and speed to create offensive opportunity, to play a hard defense, and I also bring a gritty edge.”
For what it’s worth, Epperson said his interview with the Sharks, one of about 15, went great.
“It’s probably one of my best,” he said.
Familiar Faces
Defenseman Cameron Reid has trained with San Jose Sharks legend Joe Thornton at their native St. Thomas, Ontario over the last couple summers.
What’s one thing that Reid, who interviewed with the Sharks, learned from the affable Jumbo?
“Hockey can be serious, [but] you don’t want to take it too seriously upon yourself,” Reid said. “You have to have fun with it. If you have fun with it, you’re probably gonna be playing or doing everything at your best.”
Meanwhile, defenseman Jacob Rombach has spent the last two seasons at the Lincoln Stars with fan favorite Curtis Brown.
“He’s one of our skills coaches, and mostly focuses on our skating and edgework,” Rombach shared. “Not doing as many crossovers when doing a transition.”
Brown retired more than a decade ago, but Rombach says that the 49-year-old can still move.
“He still has it,” Rombach laughed. “He shows off a little bit too.”
Combine Quick Bites
“Great things” is what Barracuda defenseman Braden Hache — who captained Misa on Saginaw’s Memorial Cup winner two years ago — has told Misa about the city of San Jose and the Sharks organization. Misa smiled: “He wants me to go there pretty badly. [We’ve] been talking a bit about it. He’s one of my good friends off the ice.”
Malcolm Spence made his case for the San Jose Sharks to select best friend Misa: “You can judge the guys on their play, but I think the biggest thing is how they are as humans. He’s an ultra-competitive human being, and he’s really driven and really motivated. Clubs should definitely take a look at that aspect, because he’s just a such a great guy. I know personally, I’m a little biased, because he’s one of my best friends, but I can kind of assure that he’ll be a guy that’s gonna lead a franchise soon.”
Presumptive No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer has endured incredible loss over the last two years, losing his billet mom Emily Matson to suicide in late 2023, mother Jennifer to breast cancer in Feb. 2024, and Erie Otters owner Jim Waters last December. So the now-fully healthy Schaefer is able to put missing more than half of his Draft year because of injury in perspective: “I’ve been through a lot of in my life and I’d rather an injury than losing someone I love. There’s a lot worse things that can happen than injuries. I’m pretty positive with my mindset and I’m driven to want to come back. Injuries, they’re not fun, but I’m driven to get better and come back even stronger.”
James Hagens followed Will Smith at Boston College, and played with Smith at the USNTDP — he’d love to join Smith and Celebrini’s high-flying act in San Jose: “The hockey they play is so fun. It’s fast. Being a part of that would be really special.”
Because of the pandemic, 2021 No. 7 pick William Eklund never experienced the Combine — how would younger brother Victor Eklund, who had a solid 11 pull-ups, fare against him in the fitness tests? “He’s pretty good in the gym, to be honest…Maybe I’ll do more pull-ups than him. But he’s just a beast on the bike. You should see him, his legs are huge. We’ll have a good battle.”
Cue Will Ferrell in “Blades of Glory”. Burly winger Shane Vansaghi sounds like a man after Mike Grier’s heart: “I play one way and one way only. It’s big and physical. It’s a hard-nosed game. It’s in-your-face.”
Skill winger Nathan Behm talked to 26 teams at the Combine, including the Sharks: “I’ve talked to them quite a bit throughout the year, and I think it went really well.”