San Jose Sharks
SJHN’s Top-10 Sharks Prospects: Post-Trade Deadline Edition

During the Trade Deadline, the San Jose Sharks re-imagined their defensive corps of the future.
They acquired three defensemen – Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk from the New Jersey Devils, and Henry Thrun from the Anaheim Ducks – all, arguably, immediate top-10 Sharks prospects.
Both Mukhamadullin and Thrun have a case for top-five.
At mid-season, San Jose Hockey Now, with the help of multiple NHL scouts and executives, ranked the San Jose Sharks’ top-10 prospects.
They were, counting down, defenseman Artemi Kniazev, defenseman Gannon Laroque, defenseman Jake Furlong, winger Danil Gushchin, center-winger Tristen Robins, winger Cam Lund, defenseman Mattias Havelid, center Filip Bystedt, center-winger Thomas Bordeleau, and No. 1, winger William Eklund.
So with the help from the same sources, where do Mukhamadullin, Okhotiuk, and Thrun slot in SJHN’s post-Deadline top-10?
Nikita Okhotiuk
“I don’t think Nikita got talked about too much about being part of the deal, but he was a huge part for us,” San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier said after the Trade Deadline, about the 6-foot-1 Russian’s inclusion in the Timo Meier trade. “Our scouts love him and he’s a throwback player. We think he’s going to be a big part of the future.”
Grier on What Sharks Organization Needs To Address Next After Trade Deadline & More
Hmm, Grier knew something we didn’t??
I’ll add that it’s quite exciting that we have a few that are considered NHL ready. It’s going to make things fun for next season.
After watching a bunch of shift by shift videos of Muk, I like him except for the fact that he’s still going to get physically moved by a lot of NHL forwards. I thought he was 6’4″ but Sheng mentioned 6’3″ in his NBC guest post. If Shakir is still around 190, he definitely needs to add more weight and get a lot stronger. He still looks slightly out of sync with some of his movements. It’s subtle but will show up more once he’s in the NHL if he doesn’t get stronger. I saw him get bodied off pucks… Read more »
i like how active/strong his stick is, and he’s always moving, making himself available to his TM’s. nice footwork for such a tall/lanky player. makes good reads from what i can tell. he likes to close on/pressure the puck carrier and give him nothing. once he’s got the puck he likes to get rid of it with a quick/accurate pass (again, good reads) to a TM. i wonder if the puck skills aren’t as advanced (have to watch more for that)? his length is so obvious in that league! i wonder how he’ll look against NHL big men?
There’s tons of guys just like him that end up being busts. Imposing non physical players…kinda like bydstedt. I have high hope for bydstedt though I feel likehe can be a useful player somewhere. Big shaks scoring plays looks like he’s got all the time and the space in the world to make a play, and that’s on bigger ice. Not sure how this will translate, but if he is a good player it still doesn’t make the Meier trade any more acceptable since zetterlund is exactly what he is and Johnson will be gone next year. I wonder exactly… Read more »
i would’ve been much happier if instead of the conditional 2nd they’d been able to squeeze Seamus Casey or Holtz from them as well. i’m still not completely sold on Mukh’s ceiling…yet. hopefully he’s here to stay. the org will have a much easier time developing him (monitoring nutrition and strength conditioning) and learning our systems. i like how agile he is for a tall, lanky, guy. he’s got a strong stick, so there’s untapped strength to him, i think. the skating’s very good, multi-directional, good escape moves with hands to compliment them. the reads indicate a smart/aware player with… Read more »
Well, we’ll see. Team people do like these prospects right now, but this kind of stuff can change after a bad month or bad season