The Sharks have signed defenseman Sam Dickinson, their second of two first-round picks in final month’s draft, per a staff announcement. They didn’t disclose the monetary phrases of his three-year, entry-level contract, which might start as late because the 2026-27 season if he performs fewer than 10 NHL video games in every of the subsequent two campaigns.
Dickinson, 18, is a left-shot blue liner who performs a well-rounded sport. With the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League final season, the 6-foot-3 defender racked up 18 objectives and 52 assists for 70 factors and a glowing +56 score in 68 video games. He added 13 factors in 18 playoff video games because the Knights took residence the 2024 OHL championship, received a gold medal earlier than the season with Canada’s U18 staff on the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and was named to the OHL’s Second All-Star Workforce for his efforts.
He’s not as bodily concerned as you’d hope for from a defenseman checking in at over 200 lbs in his draft 12 months, doubtless a cause why he fell out of the highest 10. Dickinson was the consensus No. 6 prospect in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s final polling of NHL scouts and wasn’t ranked any later than 10 by any main public scouting web sites. Nonetheless, he slipped to San Jose at 11 to enhance first-overall choice Macklin Celebrini. He has stable two-way instincts and is a superb skater for his dimension, even when he doesn’t lay the physique or block pictures with aplomb.
Dickinson isn’t prone to play within the NHL full-time subsequent season and even obtain a nine-game trial, though the latter doesn’t appear inconceivable. He might, nevertheless, problem for minutes as quickly as 2025-26. A full-time project to the AHL received’t be within the playing cards for at the very least two extra years, although, as he’ll should be loaned again to his junior staff if not within the NHL earlier than his age-20 season, per the NHL-CHL switch settlement.
He’s now the highest protection prospect within the Sharks’ system, checking in above the 22-year-old Shakir Mukhamadullin and 23-year-old Henry Thrun, the latter of whom averaged 20 minutes per night time in 51 video games of NHL motion final season and ought to be a full-time fixture starting this fall. Second-pairing duties are doubtless probably the most sensible expectation for Dickinson’s long-term potential, though he does have top-pairing upside.
