What’s Musty Got To Improve To Make Stronger Impression Next Training Camp?

What’s the next step for Quentin Musty?

The San Jose Sharks have sent the 26th-overall pick of the 2023 Draft back to the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL.

What’s Musty have to work on to make a stronger case for the NHL next year?

“He’s going to have to work on details in his game, so those bad habits don’t creep up again here at next training camp. You can’t go back to junior and go back to your old habits and think it’s going to be successful,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Musty was dominant at Sudbury last year, scoring 102 points in just 53 games. He led the league with 1.92 Points Per Game.

At first blush, it doesn’t seem like the 6-foot-2 power winger has a lot more to learn at that level. And unfortunately for Musty, he’s not able to split the difference and go to the AHL, it’s the NHL or OHL for him.

But Warsofsky thinks that Musty can still learn a lot in Sudbury: “This is the best thing for his development to go back, play OHL, do really well. Put up some points. He’s got a list of things he needs to work on and continue to work on that.”

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“He knows he needs to be more consistent in different areas than he’s probably ever been challenged. The wall play in the OHL is different than NHL. The size of the players is different. You can get away with things there that you can’t get away with here,” Warsofsky said. “He’s just one of those guys that gets away with some things in junior because the timing, the game slows down for him. Those are the things, the play away from the puck, the pace away from the puck will be important [to improve].”

Warsofsky added: “As a young kid, he’s just learning the pro game, the style, the speed, the pace, the details, the habits that you need to have to play this level. They’re just not there yet.”

Warsofsky say it’s up to the San Jose Sharks’ development staff to make sure that Musty practices good habits even in an environment that isn’t necessarily conducive to it.

“Our development staff’s gonna have to stay on him about certain things that we need to see in this game that will now translate to the pro level,” Warsofsky said. “And it’s going to be difficult.”

Warsosky knows, citing his head coaching experience with Seth Jarvis with the Chicago Wolves. Jarvis was negotiating the transition from the WHL to the AHL to the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes: “It’s difficult for all those guys that go back to junior, that are on that cusp. Had Seth Jarvis, going back to Chicago, you got to just fight those battles internally.”

But Warsofsky has liked what he’s seen from Musty in training camp, even beyond the obvious on-ice skills.

“Even throughout practice, he’s asking questions, which is really impressive, which is another step in his development.
Sometimes, you don’t want to say anything, you don’t want to ask coach anything,” Warsofsky said. “And he’s asking questions throughout games, in between periods. So he’s trying to learn. He’s trying to get better.”

The right attitude, more pace, and some more physical maturity should go a long way for Musty, when combined with his impressive puck skills.

But not this year, wait ‘til next year.

“I think he knows he’s been inconsistent at times,” Warsofsky said.