If there’s a trend among most of the San Jose Sharks’ top-end prospects — or prospects the front office is hoping can develop into at least middle-six players — is that they were, at one point, a long shot to make the NHL. While John Leonard, who comes in at number 19 in our prospects ranking, has already gotten a shot at the show, his journey began in the US high school prep system before joining the United States Hockey League, the top-tier junior hockey league of the US, a less-trodden path to the big league.
Not to get too into the weeds on the differences between the USHL and Canadian Juniors, especially because the differences in talent levels between the two systems has gotten slimmer over the years, but generally speaking, the USHL preserves amateur status, allowing players to play for the NCAA system, which is not a direct journey to playing hockey professionally.