Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. As we go through the summer of 2024, each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a look at one NHL team’s top prospects or other topical article. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, and Frederik Frandson on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! You can find all the articles here as well as our extensive NHL Draft preview. Today, we look at the 2024 San Jose Sharks Top Prospects.
For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or is 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.
2024 San Jose Sharks Top Prospects
1.) The Sharks Top Prospect and First Overall Pick Macklin Celebrini
The top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Celebrini has every attribute that a team would want in a top prospect. He is a talented stickhandler who can make plays with the puck while moving at top speed. He is also creative and gritty. Celebrini is not afraid of tight spaces or physical contact. He will make plays close to the goal and down low in the offensive zone. Celebrini is a hard worker who is not afraid to battle for the puck along the boards or in front of the net. Once there he has the soft hands to deke a goal, as well as the quickness and hand-eye coordination to get tip-ins, bury rebounds, and one-time short passes into the net.
Celebrini can also play the role of playmaker. He has the vision and passing skills to set up teammates. Celebrini can find a teammate with a tape-to-tape pass through tight areas. His agility and quick stickhandling can also lead to a quick move that creates a passing lane.
Celebrini is also blessed with a good array of shots. His wrist shot and snapshot are both extremely accurate. He gets them away with a quick, deceptive release that can handcuff goalies. His one-timer is also hard and accurate. This helps him to be a scoring option on the half-boards on the power play. Celebrini can even score with a quick backhand. A true game-breaker, Celebrini can take advantage of any time and space given to him by opponents. His work ethic is truly a standout feature for the top NHL prospect.
2.) Will Smith
Smith is a very good skater and this allows him to play a very creative game. He has very good speed and is able to create off the rush. His acceleration is also excellent. This allows him to win races to loose pucks. It also allows Smith to go wide on a defender and drop his shoulder, cutting to the front of the net. His ability to change speeds in the neutral zone creates openings and allows him to gain the line and effectively establish puck possession in the offensive zone. Smith also has very good edgework and agility. This makes him a real challenge for defenders to contain in one-on-one situations. Smith has good balance and does well along the boards and in front of the net. This area of his game should continue to improve as he adds muscle to his frame.
Smith controls the puck in the offensive zone, creating space and scoring chances for both himself and his linemates. He can make plays in a phone booth, with impressive hands and decent lateral agility and excellent acceleration. This allows Smith to manipulate defenders and open up passing and shooting lanes. He has impressive vision and hockey sense. Smith can control the puck down low, waiting for a teammate to get open. When they do, he effortlessly feathers a pass through tight passing lanes. Smith is also very good with a saucer pass, avoiding opponents’ sticks and getting through to a teammate. This makes Smith a dangerous playmaker. He can also score goals with a good shot and the soft hands to finish in tight.
3.) Sam Dickinson
Drafted with their second 2024 first round pick, Dickinson immediately becomes one of the Sharks best defensive prospects. Dickinson uses his strong skating ability as the basis for creating offence. He is a very good stickhandler and can lead the rush, carrying the puck through the neutral zone and generating efficient zone entries. He can quickly change directions, creating passing and shooting lanes. Dickinson has excellent vision and passing skills. This allows him to create chances for teammates off the rush. Combined with his poise on the puck, it also allows him to quarterback the play from the blueline. His quick stick and his agility allow him to walk the line, creating passing and shooting lanes.
Dickinson has vastly improved his shot over the last year. He understands to keep it low and get it through traffic and on the net. This allows his teammates to go to the net looking for deflections, screens, and rebounds. His shot is also hard and accurate. Dickinson can sneak in from the point, or let go his wrist shot off the rush. A quick and deceptive release helps him to beat goaltenders. He also has a strong one-timer. If a pass is slightly off, he is able to adjust his feet and still get good power on his shots.
4.) The Top Goaltender of the Sharks Prospects Yaroslav Askarov
Added in a recent trade, Askarov gives the Sharks one of the top goalie prospects in the world. Askarov is incredibly advanced for a young goaltender. He uses his size effectively, coming out to cut down angles and gives shooters very little net to look at. His strong legs take away the bottom of the net. They also make him an effective skater. He is able to take away those angles but still gets a powerful backward push, which makes him hard to deke. Those strong legs also give him a strong push and good side-to-side movement. He tracks the puck well on cross-ice passes and can get over to still make the save.
Askarov’s rebound control is very good for a young goalie, far ahead of other prospects his age. He is extremely efficient in his movements and is almost always square to the puck. This helps him to make a second save when he does give up a rebound. Askarov is also an athletic freak, with the ability to make a jaw-dropping save on those rare times when he does get caught out of position.
5.) Quentin Musty
Musty is a pure goal scorer. He has an excellent shot and a deceptive release. While his wrist shot is his best asset, he is also good with his snapshot, slap shot, and one-timer. While Musty can score from the faceoff circles, he does his best work down low. With his size, he is able to play a power game, establishing position and making plays between the hash marks. His size and power allow him to establish his position and dominate in the dirty areas of the ice. Musty also has the soft hands to finish in close. He can deke a goalie and elevate the puck quickly. He also can score on tip-ins, rebounds, and one-timing a pass from a teammate. Musty is smart without the puck, getting to open ice and finding a pass from a teammate.
6.) Igor Chernyshov
Chernyshov has the skills to be a power forward. He is willing to drive the net and play in the dirty areas of the ice. His soft hands allow him to deke defenders. They also help him to score goals in tight. He is able to beat goalies by pouncing on rebounds and getting deflections. From further out he has a strong wrist shot and a quick release that can fool goalies. Chernyshov knows how to get open without the puck. He is able to find open ice and be ready to take a pass, along with the skills to one-time the puck on the net.
While his playmaking can improve, it isn’t a weakness at this point. His ability to control the puck down low and win battles on the boards helps his team to maintain possession. By increasing offensive zone time, he helps his team to create more scoring chances.
7.) Kasper Halttunen
Halttunen has great size and while he isn’t a huge hitter, he is effective in the cycle game. Moreover, he is able to win battles on the boards. He plays a puck possession-based style down low. He loves to get to the front of the net. Halttunen also has an excellent shot. He is certainly not afraid to use it. Halttunen is very much a shoot-first player. His skating stride is a bit awkward, which can take away his speed and balance. However, he has worked to improve it over the last year and has come a long way. He has also improved his vision and puck movement playing with the London Knights. Halttunen is also very good in his end of the ice, taking advantage of his size and his ability to win puck battles to maximize his effectiveness.
8.) Shakir Mukhamadullin
Mukhamadullin is the bigger risk, biggest reward of the Sharks prospects and he has a big shot at the point. His slap shot and one-timer is an absolute cannon. However, he has some issues with control, as he can get wild at times. He could also stand to keep it lower as this will increase the chances of him getting it on net through traffic. This would also give his teammates more opportunities for deflections and rebounds. Mukhamadullin also has a powerful wrist shot but needs to learn to use it more often.
Mukhamadullin is also a good passer. He vision allows him an advantage on his opponents and he can make smart plays from the point as well as start the transition game with his first pass. He handles the puck well and is poised at the line, using his agility to move laterally and open up those shooting and passing lanes. His strong skating and puck handling skills also allow him to retrieve pucks in the corners and skate them out of danger, thus avoiding forecheckers.
9.) Luca Cagnoni
Lack of size meant that Cagnoni fell in the 2023 draft. However, the defender is a extremely strong skater. This allows him to push the offence on one end and still get back defensively on the other end. He combines his strong skating with excellent puckhandling skills. He transitions well through the neutral zone and creates effective zone entries. His strong edgework and lateral agility allows him to walk the line and open up shooting and passing lanes. Cagnoni is a smart defender who quarterbacks the power play in the WHL as well as creates offence at even strength. His shot is also considered a strength. Cagnoni loves to sneak in from the line and let go a quick wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circles.
10.) Filip Bystedt
Bystedt uses his long reach and strong stickhandling ability to protect the puck and create offence. He is able to control the puck down low and wait for his linemates to get open. Once they do, Bystedt is able to hit his teammates with a pass. He is good at moving the puck quickly in the cycle game and getting open on the give-and-go to get the puck back. However, Bystedt does not attack the dirty areas of the ice enough. He seems content to play on the perimeter and try to make plays from there. With his size and skating ability, it would be nice to see him play a bit more of a power forward’s game.
Collin Graf is the Honourable Mention of the San Jose Sharks NHL Prospects, Who’s Not Necessarily 11th
Graf might not be a third-round or better draft selection in any given year. However, he signed as an undrafted college free agent and put up two points in seven games with the Sharks. Graf is a strong skater with the vision and passing skills to become a playmaker in the team’s middle six. He is a willing backchecker and plays a 200-foot game. This has helped him to be NHL-ready, as he did not look out of place late last season. Graf is 6-foot-1. He uses his size and leverage effectively to win board battles and maintain puck possession down low. He could stand to add muscle to his frame as he adjusts to playing at the NHL level. While he can hold his own now, this would make him even better in the coming years.
Main photo: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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