BREAKING: Sharks Trade No. 11 for Three Picks

MONTREAL — The San Jose Sharks have traded the No. 11 pick to the Arizona Coyotes for the No. 27, 34, 45 picks in the 2022 NHL Draft.

The Sharks appear to have left top available forward prospects Joakim Kemell, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Frank Nazar for other teams. The Coyotes selected centerman Conor Geekie with he No. 11 pick.

Kevin Korchinski, Marco Kasper, Matthew Savoie, and Pavel Mintyukov had just went off the board before the Sharks made this bold move back.

“I love this move [for the Sharks],” an NHL scout told San Jose Hockey Now.

A source had told San Jose Hockey Now that the Sharks liked defenseman Denton Mateychuk, but he went with the next pick, which I read as a possible trade back, but that was just a guess.

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Who could the San Jose Sharks be eyeing with the No. 27 pick?

Sharks director of scouting Doug Wilson Jr. had previously said that he “was really excited about some of the pockets in the mid-rounds.”

An NHL scout told me before the Draft: “I think the pockets of depth in this Draft are in certain ranges. Around No. 18-60 in this Draft is going to be pretty similar in terms of player quality. San Jose usually does a good job of moving around in the Draft to make sure they pick a lot in those ranges. Would they be a trade-down candidate at No. 11 to to make sure they load up on more second-rounders?”

Looks like he was right!

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