Early in camp, Quinn feels Sharks are much better positioned in these three key areas
SAN JOSE – Some of the San Jose Sharks’ most recent draft picks might be assigned back to their junior hockey teams this week but they’ve already left a positive impression on coach David Quinn.
The Sharks started camp last Thursday with 64 players split into three groups and on Monday, are expected to trim that down to a more manageable number that can fit into two groups.
Among those cuts could be forwards Quentin Musty and Kasper Halttunen and defensemen Luca Cagnoni, who were all part of the Sharks’ 2023 draft class in June. Musty and Halttunen are property of Sudbury and London of the Ontario Hockey League, respectively, and Cagnoni plays with Portland of the Western Hockey League.
Those three players attended the Sharks’ development camp soon after the draft and were also at last week’s Rookie Faceoff event in Las Vegas. Although all three are just 18 years old, Quinn said he liked what he saw, reinforcing his belief that the Sharks are going in a positive direction.
“Our development camp looked a lot different this year than last year,” Quinn said Sunday before the Sharks played the Vegas Golden Knights in a preseason game at SAP Center. “I think our prospect pool has really improved dramatically in one year. (General manager) Mike (Grier) has done a heck of a job, and the staff has done a great job.
“I’ve said this repeatedly, we feel really good about where we are as an organization compared to a year ago.”
The Sharks drafted Musty 26th overall in June with the first-round pick they received from the New Jersey Devils as part of the Timo Meier trade. Halttunen was taken 36th overall with the fourth pick of the second round, by virtue of the Sharks finishing with the fourth-worst record in the NHL last season.
The Cagnoni pick at No. 123 overall belonged to Seattle before San Jose acquired it in the deal that sent defenseman Jaycob Megna to the Kraken.
The Sharks are slated to have four picks in the first two rounds of next year’s draft, their own two and two others acquired in the Meier and Erik Karlsson deals.
The Sharks also received a conditional second-round pick in the Meier trade that will turn into a first-rounder if the Devils make it to the Eastern Conference final this season, and a top-10 protected first-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the Karlsson trade in August.
Time will tell whether the Sharks received a big enough return for trading both Meier and Karlsson, two proven stars. But there’s not much question that the moves freed up valuable cap space in the long term.
Right now, per CapFriendly, the Sharks have a projected cap hit of $51 million for next season and $32.7 million in 2025-2026. The upper limit of the cap is projected to increase from $83.5 million to over $87 million next season, and over $90 million in 2025-2026.
“When you trade Timo Meyer and Erik Karlsson, you’re going to get draft capital, you’re going to get prospects, you’re going to get cap space, and that’s how you improve your organization,” Quinn said. “We were very short in all those areas last year, and in one year, things have flipped pretty quickly.”