Overtime winners: Teams I believe will perform in line with or just above where they selected. Overtime losers: Teams I believe will perform in line with or just below where they selected. Losers: Teams I believe will underperform where they selected. I think the Sharks perfectly executed this draft cycle and are the biggest winners of Round 1. They need a premium D prospect more than another premium young forward as an organization, but I think they came to the right conclusion that Stenberg was the best player available at No. 2, and they still managed to get one of the top D in the draft at No. 9 in Verhoeff. Their foursome up front of Macklin Celebrini, Michael Misa, Will Smith and Stenberg should give them a formidable power play and two pairs in their top six that scare opposing teams, and the emergence of Igor Chernyshov gives them another like-aged forward to round out that group. Now they also have two top young D in Sam Dickinson and Verhoeff as well.
Published: June 27, 2026 4:33 am
Source: The New York Times — Read original