Todd Marchant on Development of Quentin Musty, David Edstrom, Other Sharks Prospects

Welcome to the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!
We welcome San Jose Sharks' Director of Player Development Todd Marchant back to the show for our 50th episode! Todd was our very first guest on the new San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and we celebrate our 50th episode by getting his thoughts on tons of Sharks prospects, from Quentin Musty to Alex Young. (57:13)
But first! It was the NHL Scouting Combine this week and Sheng was on the ground in Buffalo. He shares loads of buzz, rumors and some confirmed prospect interviews. He added a new name to his list from yesterday. (3:25)
We cover whether we think Macklin Celebrini is actually going to return to the NCAA or sign with the Sharks, after multiple interviews have come out that Macklin is undecided at this point. (16:00)
We have some coaching search updates, including some rumored finalists to share. Also, did the San Jose Sharks ever reach out to David Carle or Joel Ward? (25:05)
Are the Sharks going to be active in free agency this summer? Jeff Marek floated the possibility of Jake Guentzel as a FA target, and we give our thoughts on that possibility. Also, will Eetu Makinemi be back? (33:25)
Our last topic is the retirement of Joe Pavelski. We share some of our thoughts about his tremendous career, and whether he has enough of a resume for the Hall of Fame. (42:50)
And now it's time for Todd Marchant! (57:13)
We decided to go through the San Jose Sharks system, from the 2023 Draft to the 2020 with Todd, discussing some well-known and lots of lesser-known prospects as well, focusing on mostly non-Barracuda prospects.
First, the 2023 Draft!
Quentin Musty (59:10)
Kasper Halttunen (1:03:47)
Brandon Svoboda (1:05:15)
Luca Cagnoni (1:08:03)
Axel Landén (1:10:28)
Eric Pohlkamp (1:12:10)
David Klee (1:14:30)
Yegor Rimashevsky (1:16:15)
2022:
Filip Bystedt (1:19:45)
Cam Lund (1:21:45)
Mattias Hävelid (1:23:10)
Michael Fisher (1:26:35)
Mason Beaupit (1:28:45)
Jake Furlong (1:30:20)
Joey Muldowney, Eli Barnett and Reese Laubach (1:34:02)
Who's left from the 2021 Draft, not playing with the Barracuda or the San Jose Sharks?
Theo Jacobsson (1:37:19)
Yevgeni Kashnikov (1:38:25)
2020:
Alex Young (1:39:25)
Timofei Spitserov (1:40:25)
Brandon Coe (1:41:30)
We also discuss with Todd some prospects not drafted by the San Jose Sharks, starting with David Edstrom, acquired in the Tomas Hertl trade. (1:43:35)
Finally, what does Todd think of Collin Graf? (1:45:10)
Todd shares some final thoughts about the direction of the Sharks going forward and who has taken some big steps from last year. (1:47:50)
Thanks for watching!

[@jborchel]

Great interview guys. Todd is a straightforward answer machine and gave us fan a terrific look at our prospects.

[@ianhall6614]

I still can’t believe how many quality prospects the sharks have, I’m just used to having maybe one C tier prospect or European player come over and spend the first half of the season on the 4th line before watching the second half from the press box. Exciting times ahead

[@Staxxx23]

I was iffy about GMMG when he was first hired due to no prior experience as a GM, but he has made great moves! I’ve seen other content creators have him at A/B+ tier in GM rankings

[@previnsnaidu1]

Great interview! Thanks for getting Todd on the podcast, seems like a really straightforward guy

[@insanum666]

People were getting mad that Edstrom was a bad pickup from the Hertl trade. But if he ends up being an Elite 3rd liner then that's great. We need someone to play that position. Why not someone who projects to be good there?

[@royanderson3478]

Good future is on the horizon 🙌. , should be a good, solid future.

[@gunnarburigsay6408]

great great guest. probably the most i've ever heard about the late round guys.

[@CRom5]

Pavelski is definitely in the hall of very good category. Had he played one more season to hit 500 goals AND won a Stanley Cup, I think he squeaks in.

[@joeyblackard6346]

I wish he won a Stanley cup

[@benjamingardner157]

I know he's an undrafted 4 year NCAA guy, but is Ethan Frisch on anyone's prospect radar? He somehow posted a +17 on a bad Barracuda team.

[@CH-rc1ui]

Been going to Barracuda games. He’s definitely slept on, really love his game and he’s a RHD.

[@anthonygonzalez514]

Thought u would have asked about actual 1st and 2nd round drafted prospects like Ozzy & Tristen

[@ShengPeng]

As noted in the episode, to save time, we skipped Barracuda prospects. We'll have a guest for that in the near future. I really wanted to ask about Coe, so I shoved that in. But we really wanted to get to the least talked-about of Sharks prospects

[@philobeddoe8342]

Second comment here: Did you guys watch hockey from the 80's through the 90's? Some of those guys like Roenick played through the clutch and grab era where the top goal scorers weren't hitting above 40 goals. Those were the prime years of guys like Roenick and Tkachuk. Also they were the leaders on their respective teams. Recchi was a secondary dude on Lemieux and Jagr led teams. He also got to play with Lindros and LeClair. He was pretty fortunate in the centers he played with, however, I do believe he is a hall of famer

[@ShengPeng]

I did in the '90's, I became a fan in 1988. Granted, I was just a kid. Roenick was a dominant force early, better than Pav, but I don't know if he was quite the same after his knee injury. After 1995, I'd take peak Pav over Roenick. I'd also consider peak Pav over Tkachuk, because while Tkachuk was always a physical beast, which Pav never was, there were a lot of questions about Keith as a leader in his best years. Pav's intangibles mean a lot to me. As for Recchi, I do believe extraordinary longevity should be a compelling argument for the Hall, so Recchi (and Marleau) are fine for the HHOF in that regard. That's an impressive trait too. Pav doesn't have that. But again, I want to win one game, one playoff series, I might consider peak Pav over either of those guys at their best. So between Roenick, Tkachuk, and Recchi, only peak Roenick is clearly above in my book.

[@prosperfireson]

Hey Guys, While I agree with you both that Joe Pavelski may be just short of the HoF his career is pretty impressive. Over 1300 games played over 1000 career pts. A career plus/minus (for what its worth) of over +200. Something like 450 ish career goals, scored 25 or more goals 12 times in his career. The majority of his seasons in the NHL he played 82 games or close to it. Remarkable durability particularly when you consider his size. As far as comparing him to guys who played in the league primarily before Joe came into the NHL like JR and others I think its important to note that those early seasons in their careers were in the wild, wild west of offensive hockey that Gretzky thrived in. During that generation of play in the NHL people were just not concerned about playing defense too much so we see massively inflated offensive numbers back then. Selani's rookie goal scoring record of 72 goals in his rookie season or some such? When was the last time that ANYBODY in the NHL scored 70+ goals in a season? We are watching probably the greatest goal scorer of all time in Ovechkin and HE couldn't do that! The hell of it is Selani's 72 goals was not tops in the league back then!!! Its mind blowing the numbers of offense on display back then. I think its unfair to compare Pavs to any of those guys who had the benefit of coming into the league at the tail end of that era. It was just a different time. Hell, the goald standard now is 30 goals in a season and 40 makes you elite and 50 is a career year! I think if you consider how much defense has been stressed during Pav's career I think his numbers are pretty incredible when you put it in that context. For my money he IS the best captain the Sharks ever had which is saying a lot when you consider the list of captains in franchise history. Like Couture Pavs led from the front as all great leaders do. Its dangerous to do that but, by leading the charge you show to your guys there is nothing you are not willing to do and that you are not expecting your guys to do anything that you yourself would not do. In addition to winning a silver Olympic medal with team USA he captained his second Olympic team and earned that great nickname Captain America. In addition he had something like 75 game winning goals in his career. I think his body of work deserves consideration at the very least. Perhaps he is not a first ballot HoFer like Jumbo or Karlson but, he may have enough to earn his way. Peter St. John Clovis, CA

[@sempcast]

Outside opinion, imagine Celebrini, Smith & Musty, Cagnoni, Bystedt all played 9 games then went down and blew the doors off in the AHL and gave the Cuda a league championship?!!! I doubt it... but JUST IMAGINE that team... couple of these guys will stay in the bigs, because their time is now... and the team a few years ago wasn't quite ready to REBUILD, it was a RETOOL... glad GMMG embraced the full rebuild, and with a painful year last year we landed the #1 pick!!

[@sempcast]

Stolberg would be a poor choice at #14 (perhaps you were just saying the potential future Sharks) which is fair... Tankathon's mock draft actually has #42 (Devils->Sharks) pick as Stian Solberg!! For our #33 I really like the Swedish D-man Wallenius. I'm really torn... I'd love a winger at #14 - Nygard, Hellenius, or Eiserman but if none of them slip, it seems like all those 3 guys are going somewhere between 8-13 spots... I think the wildcard is Yakemchuk, if he goes higher... one of those 3 guys will be there for us! I like him at #14 for us, if we can't get a winger!! I wonder about Greentree & Sennecke who I think are a tier below those 3 guys... is it beneficial to trade down with someone a few spots later (if all 4 of those guys are gone?!), and grab a Cole Hutson later on, who's ranked #26. Or how bout a guy like this Ryder Ritchie, really like him.. he seems like a great kid, smooth/silky hands as well! People having him going in the late 1st round...#27 as well. Imagine we got both Hellenius & Wallenius? That'd be wild!! I'm big on selecting a top-generational D-man very high (likely next season we get another top-six, so pick up the Canadian -> Matthew Schaefer LHD) for me it woulda been Artyom Levshunov this year if we missed out on the Big Celebrini, I think a good bang for your buck is solid young wingers as well to complement our depth at centre. Most defenseman take years to marinate until their ripe in their 30s, unless you get a high pick (which is generational) like a Makar, Huggy... that can step after one year in college (like Willy Smith did last year) and make a huge impact early on in the NHL!!!

[@alecvincent7609]

Solber is a late riser because of the WC. He'll go in the 1st round now guaranteed ... no way in hell he drops to 40+

[@Searles007]

College won't help Macklin's development like the NHL will. However, he might want to live the college life one more year. This is the only chance he'll have to be in college. He can play in the NHL for the next 15-20 years. 🤙🏼

[@sharxboy]

This need for strength and size hopefully won't lead to the use of substances. It must be tough for a kid to know that if he were bigger he could possibly make the NHL.

[@realmusicnj]

Why can't the Devils do media like this?

[@philobeddoe8342]

I don't think you guys realize how quick a turnaround can be. The Sharks could flirt with a .500 record next year with an influx of talent and the hopeful return of Couture. The biggest issue I see with the Sharks is the defense corps. That's where they should grab one of the FA's and overpay them. The goalie situation is unsettled, as well. But that could be from very poor defensive play. I think with the right combo's this year and flirting with a .500 record could springboard into playoff contention the following year. It's not like there are a lot of stacked teams and there's quite a few aging teams that are going to suffer the Sharks fate of just fading away. Also plenty of teams are struggling with cap space to boot. If this takes 3 or more years to build a winner then something didn't go right. I also think it would behoove the powers that be to let Bordeleau and Gushchin play this year, even if they aren't in your plans because of what they bring/style. But if they are decent offensive performers you can get something in return for them instead of just letting them walk away for nothing at the end of their next entry level contract.

[@TheLilLeeroy]

The Sharks were the worst team in modern NHL history last season, they are not close to flirting with .500. Even guys like Celebrini and Smith take time to become impact players at the next level, and they still have a walking disaster of a D-corp.

[@philobeddoe8342]

@@TheLilLeeroy it doesn't take years to turn around a team. They were the worst team on purpose. They have cap space, there's no way by year 3 of Smith and Celebrini and others being in the lineup they shouldn't be thinking playoffs. Like I said, some teams are getting old and most of them are cap space strapped. If you think them being crappy should drag out 5 years then you are giving way too much leeway......👍 They have to spend $15+ million this year just to reach the cap floor. They have $37 million + in cap space. Of course they shouldn't spend more than they have to this year. However, the year after that will be the end of Vlasics 7 million salary and Granlund's $5 million ends after this year, even though they might want to keep him. They are going to be loaded with cap space that they "have" to use. There's no way it can't be done if you've drafted well and have the right veterans. Hell, the Kraken made the playoffs with castoffs. This was a tank year, they didn't have to be this bad. They got their prize now it's time to go to work.

[@TheLilLeeroy]

@@philobeddoe8342 It does take time. Unfortunately the Shark's first couple years of being crappy was when they were trying to go all in last year was really year 1 of the rebuild. The Blackhawks are a year ahead of where the Sharks are and the Ducks are 3ish. The Sharks still have a lot of needs, and relying on free agents won't work.

[@philobeddoe8342]

@@TheLilLeeroy you gotta remember, not all rebuilds are the same.......👍 Ottawa has been at it for a while The Coyotes, and Flames too. Like I said, they have to "spend" it's not if they feel they are ready to spend. Couture is still no guarentee to play, if he can then that's a teaching tool for the young guys right there. If not he can go on ltir and then that's 8 million more they will/would be able to spend. Like I said, if Grier does it right, year three should be when we can expect them to challenge. If he makes the right moves on defense and goaltending, I would absolutely expect it.

[@TheLilLeeroy]

@@philobeddoe8342 You need to have an attractive foundation to be able to spend, and attract impact free agents. Last offseason the Sharks offered Tarasenko more money than anybody else but he went to Ottawa for less money. You need to accumulate spare assets to trade for big times guys when they become available. The Sharks are still a long way from being able to do any of that. Completely revamping the horrid D and finding a #1 goalie is going to be extremely challenging and take a while.

[@sempcast]

Martin Kaut... guy's a speed demon (as fast as Noah Gregy?!! nobody...) and he's playing in the Czech league... anyone know if we still own his rights, and can bring him back? We need wingers with our 6C - Logan, Nico, Celebrini, Will Smith, Bysted, Edstrom... some of those guys could play wing, or can we recall Kaut? He could be a decent PP2 bumper kinda guy.

[@FutureConsiderations]

Dude was a bust who left the league bad mouthing the sharks. Good riddance, enjoy the Czech league. Said sharks staff were pushing him to fight and be tougher which he says he was against because of past concussions. with 0 fights and like 7 or 8 minutes of penalties as a sharks/barracuda player. Ended year with the sharks team. Shows me, they didn’t push too hard if they did. He never fought, was never physical and never lost time on ice because of it. Just let go after the year. Dude couldn’t take not being good enough and likley made up/twisted stories to down the sharks on his way out.

[@royanderson3478]

Times ⏲️ r changing for the Shark 🦈. 4 picks in top 50 . Building blocks 🚫 💪 are there, up to scouting to snag a few 💎