Two NHL scouts evaluate who Sharks can take with No. 11 pick

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I spoke with two NHL scouts from outside organizations to get a temperature check, post-draft lottery, about a month and a half away from Jul. 7 and the first round in Montreal.

There are six prospects that these two scouts agreed would not be there for the Sharks at No. 11: Forwards Shane Wright, Logan Cooley, Juraj Slavkofsky, and Cutter Gauthier, and defensemen Simon Nemec and David Jiricek.

Beyond that, highly-ranked forwards Joakim Kemell and Matthew Savoie could drop, but probably not all the way to San Jose.

One scout selected five-foot-10 center Frank Nazar from the USNTDP for the Sharks.

“I can’t see Savoie dropping past the top-10. Kemell either. I would take Kemell over Savoie,” the scout noted. “I think Lekkerimaki, Nazar, and [Conor] Geekie will be there at No. 11.
If you’re going forward, Nazar.”

Nazar is committed to the University of Michigan next year, following the steps of top Sharks prospect Thomas Bordeleau.

“Incredible offensive creativity, an offensive slant to the game. Very, very skilled, very creative. Power play work is awesome. But just his lack of detail and involvement outside of offense, there's a lot to work on,” the scout said. “He could go missing in games a little bit. If it's a heavy defensive game, he's not going to do a whole lot for you defensively. He can have stretches in games where you kind of don't see him, but then he'll come at you with an oh s--- play. You know what I mean?” 

The Sharks could also look to improve their backend. At the moment, they lack blue-chip blueline prospects.

“Depends on the day of the week, I’m a toss-up between Korchinski and Mintyukov,” the scout said. “If you’re going offensive D, I’d say Mintyukov.”

That’s six-foot-two Kevin Korchinski from the Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) or six-foot-one Pavel Mintyukov from the Saginaw Spirit (OHL).

“Mintyukov is playing like a fourth forward a lot of times. He's way up on the play. He's very high-risk. But he's also very skilled and very smart. It's just all or nothing with him,” the scout said. “His defending is awful. It's not like he doesn't want to, he's really competitive. He plays guys really hard. He just doesn't have a clue sometimes.”

The presumption is that you can iron out some of Mintyukov’s defensive deficiencies. 

“He's a home run swing,” the scout mused. “If he hits, oh man.”

The second scout picked five-foot-ten sniper Jonathan Lekkerimaki from Djurgarden (SHL) for the Sharks: “I have a hunch that it’ll be Lekkerimaki over Nazar or Mintyukov.”

The winger was teammates in Djurgarden with Sharks star prospect William Eklund in Sweden this past year.

“I would put him in the top-five [goal scorers in this Draft]. It's just the rest of his game isn't at the same area as other guys like [Logan] Cooley, who's obviously just like all-around talent,” this scout offered. “He's got a lethal shot. Lethal. He and Kemell would be real close [for best shot in the Draft]. Cooley's got a pretty good shot too. 

“You're talking probably top-five offensive tools in the Draft, for sure.”

This scout thinks, however, that the Sharks’ top targets are Korchinski or 6-foot-1 center Marco Kasper from Rogle (SHL).

“I think their dream scenario would be Kasper or Korchinski. But I think they’ll be gone,” he projected. “I really think it's Korchinski, or they'll go forward.”

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This scout said of Kasper: “He's performed well against men internationally for Austria and he was awesome in the SHL playoffs. 

“He's kind of a do-it-all guy. He's highly competitive. That really jumps out when you watch him is how hard he plays. There's a lot of energy and grit there. He's got good feet, good hands, and makes good plays. 

“Realistically, you're probably getting a second-line center that can play in all situations, power play, penalty kill, high character. He's been kind of a buzz riser.”

As for Korchinski over Mintyukov?

“If there's anybody in this [layer of defensemen] that could become like the next Shea Theodore, it's Korchinski,” the scout gushed. “Right now, he's all offensive playmaking. But he shows the most signs of becoming a competent defender.”

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