San Jose Sharks: Initial grades for the 2019 NHL Draft class
By Justin Fried
Round 6, Pick 164 — Timur Ibragimov, LW, Russia
The Sharks continued their intercontinental flair selecting their third Russian of the day in left wing Timur Ibragimov. Ibragimov is a 6-foot-1 forward with plus shooting and scoring potential.
He’s a flashy player on the ice with average puck skills but excellent sniping ability. However, his defensive game remains a huge concern.
Luke Travis of Fear The Fin compared Ibragimov to former Sharks winger Nikolay Goldobin in that his offensive game was pretty solid, but he didn’t pan out due to his lackluster defensive game. The Sharks will be hoping that Ibragimov could develop as a defender and work out better than Goldobin.
With a sixth-round pick, there’s nothing wrong with taking a flyer on a player with his scoring ability.
Final Grade: B
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Round 6, Pick 184 — Santeri Hatakka, D, Finland
San Jose’s final pick of the 2019 NHL Draft plays the same position as their first selection — albeit in a very different capacity. While the aforementioned Kniazev is an offensive-minded defenseman, Finland’s Santeri Hatakka is much more defensive-minded.
Hatakka is a physical defender who has above-average gap control in the neutral zone and has gained a reputation as a solid penalty killer. However, his overall offensive game remains very unpolished to this point.
Hatakka is expected to transition to Finland’s top league, Liiga, next season while he continues his development before hopefully coming to North America in the near future. After stacking up on offensive-minded defensemen, it’s nice to see the Sharks go in a different direction at the position.
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Who knows if Hatakka will ever actually reach the NHL, but the thinking here with this selection makes sense.