The first step is drafting. Watching these kids play junior hockey, evaluating their potential, identifying the players who will be the best fit within your organization. And San Jose has an *unbelievable* amateur scouting staff. Maybe I'm biased, but I truly believe it's one of the best in the NHL. Since Grier took over as manager in 2022, we've consistently seen smart drafting by him & his staff, even well into later rounds, and San Jose's prospect pool is now widely considered one of the top 3 (if not the best) in the NHL.

Once a player is drafted, Todd Marchant & his staff take over. (He's the Director of Player Development.) He's pretty hands on with the prospects, working with each player on what they need to focus on, checking in with them regularly, etc. He doesn't like to rush development & has said over and over that every player develops at their own pace.

A lot of players are opting to take the NCAA route after junior hockey, which allows them to transition to playing against larger players under a great coaching staff, with a reasonable season of around 35 regular season games that'll still allow them time to work on strength training & conditioning. So while they're in college or in the SHL or the OHL or wherever they are, Todd and his staff continue to communicate with those players & evaluate how much progress they've made.

Here's where things get dicey. John McCarthy is the coach of our AHL team (the Barracuda) and he's... not great. He's a former player without much coaching experience who took over as a sort of interim coach but never left.

Back in 2023, a Czechian prospect named Martin Kaut left the Cuda. He went on to tell reporters in Czechia that it was because his coaches made him fight other players, despite him having a history of concussions. He also said the culture was bad, that it was a very competitive environment that didn't foster teamwork. The Sharks denied the fighting allegations, but a slew of veteran Barracuda players all left around the same time, and some said it wasn't a good place to be, which definitely was not a great look.

There's been no additional allegations coming out about the Cuda, and players like Musty, Halttunen, Lund, Bystedt & Cagnoni have developed very close friendships there. It's possible the atmosphere was a product of previous leadership/attitudes and there aren't issues anymore. We've seen players like Graf, Chernyshov, Cags & Askarov progress very well within the Barracuda & move up to the NHL level, which is promising.

But players like Musty & Bystedt have developed more slowly than expected, which could speak to coaching issues on the Cuda. It'll be interesting to see what kind of progress Pohlkamp makes this year, transitioning to the AHL after 2 years in Denver. If we see a backslide after he had such good progress last season, that may be a red flag that it's past time for a coaching change.

The final hurdle is Warso. I don't know if it's lack of experience or just his coaching style, but some players seem to respond well to him (Mack, Graf) and others (Mukh, Will) do not. In his defense, he was handed a bunch of talented (but flawed) kids, some mid-level veterans who had to take on top-level roles, and a restless fan base who just wanted to be excited about our team again & occasionally WIN. I don't agree with all his choices & I think he fumbled badly sometimes, but I do think he's learned some important lessons and has made progress.

So. Going back to what you said, I disagree that the Sharks are unequivocally bad at developing younger players. I think things have improved a lot under Grier, I think we've seen late-round "project" draft picks like #123 Cagnoni & #132 Pohlkamp exceed expectations by not pressuring their progress, and I think the Sharks as a whole are trying to foster a more positive culture from the ground up. They want to be a team that players WANT to be on, and based on what all our newest hires & draft picks have said about how excited they are to join the Sharks, it's working. That's the kind of team players will take less to be a part of.