The San Jose Sharks prospect pipeline isn’t exactly brimming with explosive talents. Drafting near the end of the first round and trading high-leverage picks for players to remain in contention will do that to a team. However, names like Ivan Chekhovich and Alexander (“Sasha”) Chmelevski have appeared repeatedly in discussions of who might jump to the National Hockey League (NHL) this year.
With the departure of three top-six forwards in Gustav Nyquist, Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi in free agency and a cap crunch to boot, it seems that much more likely the Sharks fill their roster holes with emerging players.