San Jose Sharks 2020 NHL Draft Profile: D Jeremie Poirier

The San Jose Sharks should keep away from Jeremie Poirier in the 2020 NHL Draft.

An 18-year-old defenseman with some very serious offensive upside, Jeremie Poirier is poised to go in the late first round of the 2020 NHL Draft — a spot where the San Jose Sharks could take him.

Playing for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL this season, Poirier put up impressive numbers of 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists) in 64 games. However, there are several question marks in regards to his defensive game.

Strengths

Poirier is an excellent skater — he has a very good first step and excellent speed, acceleration, agility, and edge work. The Quebec City native combines his excellent skating with superb stickhandling to effectively start the rush and even lead it.

Additionally, Poirier is very good at zone entries and establishing puck control in the offensive zone. If he doesn’t lead the rush, Poirier also likes to join the rush as a trailer.

The young offensive defenseman is also gifted with a very good shot. Both his slap shot and wrist shot are hard and accurate. He knows how to get his shot on net by walking the line to open up new passing and shooting lanes.

Poirier is also an excellent passer. He can start a rush with an accurate breakout pass and quarterback the powerplay from the point.

When it comes to defense, there’s not much that impresses you about Poirier’s game. However, his active, quick stick to break up passes and his willingness to put his body on the line to block shots are a couple of good things.

Weaknesses

Poirier’s biggest issue is his defense — it’s very inconsistent. At times his positioning and decision-making are great, but every other time he seems lost. The young blue-liner is known to turn over the puck via a bad pass or by trying to do too much with it.

As previously mentioned, Poirier likes to join the rush as a trailer. This is an issue sometimes as he picks his spot poorly and gets caught in deep and can’t get back to play defense.

Another issue with Poirier is his decision making. He tries to push plays that he shouldn’t, leading to turnovers and odd-man rushes against his team.

Furthermore, although he comes with good size at 6-foot-1 and 196 pounds, he isn’t very physical. He rarely plays in front of the net and goes to the boards.

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San Jose Sharks Prediction

Because of Poirier’s offensive ability and upside from the blueline, he’s a late first-round prospect. He’s mostly ranked between the late teens and mid-30s and will probably be picked somewhere in that range.

If he can clean up his defensive woes Poirier has the potential to be a top-four defenseman and quarterback a top power-play unit on an NHL team.

However, he’s a very risky pick because of his defensive inconsistency and this is a huge reason why I think the Sharks should steer clear of him.

With San Jose already having offensive defensemen with iffy defensive play (Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Ryan Merkley in the system), there’s no need to draft another.