Sharks Locker Room: Warsofsky Has High Praise for Underrated Prospects

The clock is ticking on Danil Gushchin as a prospect.

While the Russian winger is still waiver-exempt, he’s a 2020 third-round pick.

So time may not be on his side.

Gushchin, however, seized his opportunity on Thursday night, notching two assists in the San Jose Sharks’ 3-2 OT victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

He also led the Sharks with four shots and 10 shot attempts, a constant source of offense for a San Jose squad that mustered just 19 shots.

“The best I’ve seen him play,” new San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

No one questions Gushchin’s skill, but of course, the 5-foot-8 winger’s size is another matter.

But the Sharks aren’t exactly stacked with clear top-six forwards, so Gushchin might be playing himself into an opening night shot or at least first call-up.

Warsofsky spoke on the performance of younger Sharks like Gushchin, Ethan Cardwell, Quentin Musty, Jake Furlong, Georgi Romanov, Luca Cagnoni, and Klim Kostin.

Warsofsky, on the Gushchin-White-Cardwell line:

Really, really good. I thought Goosh was the best I’ve seen him play. He was on pucks, he was tenacious. He was using skating. He was getting under guys with his leverage, something that we’ve talked with him about the last couple days. To see him get rewarded, just the way he played tonight, was really good.

Obviously White, he’s a vet and been around and played a lot of NHL games, but plays the right way.

[Cardwell] continues to impress us, right? Since rookie tournament, he’s brought it to training camp.

When it’s a live game, and the things get a little bit quicker than it is in practice, he’s processing it. That’s a step in the right direction for Cards. And he was really good tonight. And that’s what he needs to be. Needs to be reliable. He needs to be good on the walls. He was really good on the penalty kill.

The line was really good. Really good. Set the tone for us tonight.

Warsofsky, on Quentin Musty’s performance:

You just got to learn to be more consistent throughout the game, right? It’s something that he’s going to have to learn as a young player to play in this league, you have to be consistent shift after shift. Gotta have a motor. Gotta skate, gotta skate with pace and get to certain spots.

I thought he had moments he was pretty good, and [did] things that we’ve talked about, and there were moments where he needs to learn.

Warsofsky, on Jake Furlong’s preseason debut:

Really impressed by Jake. I thought he was really good, more comfortable as the game went on. He manages the game well. He manages pucks well. He doesn’t put himself in tough spots on the ice. He looked like an older player, to be honest with you, very impressed with Jake and happy for him. He had a lot of recovery. Worked so hard to get back from the offseason surgeries and missing a lot of hockey, and he’s in great shape, so I’m glad he got rewarded tonight.

Warsofsky, on Georgi Romanov:

Thought he was awesome. I thought he was tracking pucks. He just looks more a complete goalie as far as structure, he’s not flopping. He’s very square to pucks.

He’s trying to just be a little bit more calmer in the net. [Evgeni Nabokov] and Thomas Speer have done a really good job. If you took a video of him from last year to this year, it’s one of the best transformations I’ve seen in a goalie in a long time.

Warsofsky, on Luca Cagnoni:

He’s gotten better every single time he’s on the ice. That’s step No. 1. He doesn’t look out of place with the speed.

Obviously, positionally-wise, needs to learn some things.

Warsofsky, on Klim Kostin:

Another guy that was really good tonight.

Obviously, a couple plays, we gotta shore up. Certain situations and crucial moments, he needs to learn managing pucks and playing underneath as a low forward, little things defensively, to earn the trust of the coaching staff. And he’s getting there.

He’s got all the tools, all the ability in the world, it’s just gonna have to continue to be more consistent.