The 1997 draft, featuring Sharks Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Joe Thornton's hair (RIP).

Ahh, draft day, the day where 29 teams get to use their first round picks on hopeful NHL prospects, boys my age (no, seriously – this is my draft class, if I was a guy and played hockey) who have been talked about and analyzed to death. Particularly if their last name is “Tavares.” And, like last year, us Sharks fans are left sitting on their hands because of the wheelings and dealings of GM Doug Wilson.

To be fair, I don’t think any Sharks fan is complaining about the reason why we don’t have a first round pick, as that was in the Boyle deal and Boyle is already universally loved by Sharks fans in the one season he has played in San Jose, but still. To look on the bright side, at least we have a pick before the fourth round, which wasn’t the case last year.

As it stands right now, the Sharks have a pitiful 4 draft picks in this year’s draft, which are as follows:
Second Round: 43 (from BUF), 57
Fifth Round: 146
Seventh Round: 206

Luckily, the Sharks have a tendency to have bona fide NHL players develop out of the later rounds (Ehrhoff=4th round, Pavelski=7th round, Nabokov=9th round, Murray=8th round, etc.), so the position isn’t that bothersome – its just the lack of picks. Of course, Doug Wilson is always in the position to trade players for more picks (like Cheechoo, who will likely be moved purely for cap purposes), or even to trade down, but he’s always been the “trade up for players you want” sort of GM.

And for those who want to know what kind of players the Sharks normally draft, its pretty well-known that Doug Wilson cannot avoid three types of players: goalies, Germans, and Ottawa 67′s. Look for any of the three, or a combination of them, and you’ll be sure that the Sharks have taken an extra-hard look at them. I mean, the Sharks have drafted 9 goalies in the past 5 years, and have produced two of the all-time top-scoring German players in the NHL (the fact that 27-year-old defenseman Christian Ehrhoff is 7th on the list is beside the point).

As the draft progresses, I’ll update this post with the picks. No analysis, since I don’t know enough about the prospects or each team’s needs.

2:05pm PST: I’m getting bored; nothing has happened yet and the draft doesn’t start for two more hours. I’ve taken to recreating a game. Currently, its tied 1-1, Pavs with the PP goal.

3:37pm PST: Abandoned that, and now I’m looking at trade rumors. Pronger to the Sharks? Boooo. Clowe for the 7th pick? Ehhh.

4:29pm PST: Pronger and Dingle to Philly for Lupul, Sbisa, two firsts, and a conditional third rounder. Overpayment by Philly for a guy with just one more year on his contract.

5:03pm PST: Islanders and Blue Jackets swap picks, including San Jose’s well-traveled first round pick.

7:01pm PST: San Jose’s pick traded once again, from Blue Jackets to the Ducks.

Draft Picks:
Islanders – John Tavares
Lightning – Victor Hedman
Avalanche – Matt Duchene
Thrashers – Evander Kane
Kings – Brayden Schenn
Coyotes – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Maple Leafs – Nazem Kadri
Stars – Scott Glennie
Senators – Jared Cowen
Oilers – Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson
Predators – Ryan Ellis
Islanders (from Wild) – Calvin de Haan
Sabres – Zack Kassian
Panthers – Dimitri Kulikov
Ducks – Peter Holland
Wild – Nick Leddy
Blues – David Rundblad
Canadiens – Louis Leblanc
Rangers – Chris Kreider
Devils – Jacob Josefson
Blue Jackets – John Moore
Canucks – Jordan Schroeder
Flames – Tim Erixon
Capitals – Marcus Johansson
Bruins – Jordan Caron
Ducks – Kyle Palmieri
Hurricanes – Philippe Paradis
Blackhawks – Dylan Olsen
Lightning – Carter Ashton
Penguins – Simon Despres

So, the draft is over, and three teams – Sharks, Red Wings, and Flyers – ended up not having a pick in the first round. There was a lot of exchanging picks, but no big trades other than the Pronger one already mentioned.

I gotta say, the most interesting part of the draft was seeing where the #26 pick would go. Before the draft, it went from San Jose to Tampa Bay to Ottawa to Long Island, but then during the draft from Long Island it went to Columbus and then back to California in Anaheim. It delights me somewhat as a Sharks fan that Anaheim got our “sloppy sixths,” as a certain agitator might say.