Sharks’ first-round pick takes aim at Memorial Cup. Will he be in San Jose next season?

SAN JOSE Defenseman Sam Dickinson had a disappointing ending to his initial experience playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa in January At the tournament which is invariably highly scrutinized by hockey fans north of the boundary the San Jose Sharks prospect made a pair of unfortunate mistakes that led to two goals against during Canada s bitter quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic The miscues were not the only reason why Canada lost Still a inadequate days later Todd Marchant tried to offer Dickinson specific perspective You re going to experience adversity reported Marchant the Sharks director of sportsman expansion He made a couple of mistakes in a couple of the games and it really affected him later on It was like he couldn t get past it I just mentioned the best players in the National Hockey League they make mistakes too But they re able to move on from it and be able to continue to play the battle that they re capable of Dickinson still just went on to have one of the majority of productive regular seasons by a defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League with points in games setting a new London Knights record He followed that with points in playoff games helping lead London to its second straight league championship Last month Dickinson won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL s Defenseman of the Year He s showing a whole new level of confidence Marchant disclosed of Dickinson His ability to make plays offensively he just has great offensive instincts Not only did we see it in the regular season but we re seeing it in the playoffs Now London is back in the Memorial Cup for the second straight year and Dickinson and fellow Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen are front and center as the Knights look to win their first CHL championship since London advanced to the final last year but lost to host and OHL rival Saginaw The Knights began this year s tournament with a - overtime win over Moncton on Saturday with Dickinson assisting on a first-period goal and Halttunen scoring in the second London faces host Rimouski on Sunday at p m PT as the round robin portion of the four-team event continues I think there s a little bit of a fire burning with those guys Marchant stated and they want to get redemption and come away as Memorial Cup champions While Halttunen a second-round pick by the Sharks in who turns next month will be in San Jose full time next season either in the NHL or AHL a South Bay address for Dickinson is no sure thing After a dominant OHL season Dickinson might be best suited to continue his growth with the Barracuda in the fall However he is ineligible for the AHL since he will not turn until June The NCAA is also out of the question for Dickinson since he signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks last July shortly after the band selected him th overall in last year s NHL Draft in Las Vegas So it s the NHL or OHL for Dickinson who faces specific obstacles right now While selected changes could be in order the Sharks already have five defensemen signed through next season Marc-Edouard Vlasic Mario Ferraro Timothy Liljegren Vincent Desharnais and Henry Thrun If they are all healthy and still with the Sharks at the start of the season that would only leave two or three available roster spots Shakir Mukhamadullin Jack Thompson Luca Cagnoni and perhaps Lucas Carlsson will be in the mix for those jobs And that doesn t include whatever defensemen the Sharks may add via arrangement or free agency Dickinson has drawn comparisons to Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard a terrific skater with a great shot who can have lapses on defense Still Dickinson s combination of size -foot- pounds skating and offensive ability set him apart from other Sharks defensemen He s a little sleepy a little rocking chair sometimes Sportsnet analyst Jason Bukala noted of Dickinson on The Fan Hockey Show this past week But boy when he goes this kid s an elite skater big body can really rip the puck What a nice trouble to have To make the Sharks roster out of camp this fall and start the season with the organization Dickinson must earn the coaching staff s trust and have a better camp than he did last season Too often in preseason games last year Dickinson got caught standing still and was left in bad spots which led to unnecessary turnovers He s got to defend well Marchant commented Coaches will find places for players if they can defend well There s no denying his offensive ability and instincts Related Articles San Jose Sharks sign -foot- Russian forward to one-year contract Sharks City of San Jose close to finalizing new lease deal for SAP Center Barracuda forward expresses frustration with Sharks They know where I stand San Jose Sharks sign another member of draft class San Jose Barracuda experiences bitter ending to otherwise positive season He necessities to get back move his feet move pucks effectively out of the zone and be trusted defensively when he gets stuck in his own zone If he can do those things he has a chance to stick around with the big club If Dickinson doesn t stay with the Sharks roster next season could his progress stagnate There s constantly that concern with talented junior players Marchant noted but Dickinson will get the opportunity to be in the NHL What he does with it is up to him Sam had a little bit of a letdown when he went back to London last fall Marchant disclosed It took him about five to games to get his feet back under him It happens to a lot of junior players when they get sent back We ll see what Sam brings