
Sharks' bold first-round haul locks in a dynamic young core
A Round 1 draft-by-draft review ranks teams as Winners, Overtime winners, Overtime losers and Losers, noting San Jose Sharks as the biggest winner after landing Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9 to anchor a budding young core. Seattle Kraken earn praise for adding Chase Reid at No. 7 to stabilize their blueline, and the Toronto Maple Leafs grab Gavin McKenna at No. 1 to inject elite skill. Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks also land strong first-round pieces in Carson Carels and Caleb Malhotra, respectively, with other notable picks like Björck (Jets) and Hermansson (Kings). The piece flags riskier selections that could backfire for Buffalo (Daxon Rudolph, Ilia Morozov), New Jersey (Alexander Command), Philadelphia (Maksim Sokolovskii), Ottawa (Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, Jaxon Cover), and Vegas (Juho Piiparinen). The analysis centers on value relative to pick position and projected rookie impact, not just total haul."













