{"id":5274,"date":"2026-07-24T04:38:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274"},"modified":"2026-07-24T04:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:38:01","slug":"san-jose-sharks-first-round-draft-pick-finalizes-plans-for-upcoming-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

As anticipated, San Jose Sharks defense prospect Keaton Verhoeff will be returning to the University of North Dakota for at least one more year.<\/p>\n

Read more The Bay Area has a massive shelter shortage. More beds alone won\u2019t solve homelessness<\/a><\/p>\n

North Dakota\u2019s head coach, Dane Jackson, said Verhoeff told him that he would be coming back to the school for his sophomore season, with the idea of signing with the Sharks next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeaton has told us he is playing at UND this upcoming season,\u201d Jackson wrote in an email to this news organization.<\/p>\n

The Sharks took Verhoeff ninth overall at last month\u2019s NHL draft in Buffalo, N.Y. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Verhoeff already has the physical stature of a professional, but said at the Sharks\u2019 development camp recently that there are aspects of his game he needs to refine.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, (skating is) a big thing that I want to work on,\u201d Verhoeff said. \u201cTo be out there doing some skating drills and working on my feet, working on my edges, it\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

With North Dakota in 2025-26, Verhoeff, an Edmonton-area native, led all NCHC freshman defensemen with 20 points in 36 games.<\/p>\n

Verhoeff, 18, was the fifth defenseman selected in the draft, and one of three players the Sharks took in the first round, following forward Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 and before defenseman Ryan Lin at No. 21.<\/p>\n

While Stenberg signed an entry-level contract with the Sharks this month and is expected to be on the team\u2019s roster this fall, and Lin headed to the University of Denver, and there were some questions about Verhoeff\u2019s immediate future.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

When the Sharks wrapped up development camp in San Jose earlier this month, it remained unclear as to whether Verhoeff would turn pro or return for another season of college hockey. The Sharks said they would speak with Verhoeff, his family, and his representative before coming to a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say this a lot, we don\u2019t want players just to play in the NHL, we want them to have success, and if that means waiting one more year and playing another year in college, then we\u2019ll wait a year,\u201d said Todd Marchant, the Sharks\u2019 director of player development, on July 2.<\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Oakland drivers deserve safe, well-maintained streets<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it means playing right now, then that\u2019s what will happen. Mike (Grier) is a very patient general manager, and we\u2019ll make the best decision for each player.\u201d<\/p>\n

With or without Verhoeff, it appears the Sharks, as of now, will have one or two roster spots available at the start of the season for younger defensemen.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Under contract are the recently acquired Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse, and Michael Kesselring, plus holdovers Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson. Challenging for roster spots will be Luca Cagnoni, Nolan Allan, Eric Pohlkamp, Libor Hajek, and potentially recent second-round draft picks Leo Sahlin Wallenius and Mattias Havelid.<\/p>\n

Cagnoni, Allan, and Havelid all played mainly with the Barracuda last season. Pohlkamp won a national title at Denver and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, and Hajek has been a professional for eight seasons.<\/p>\n

Verhoeff is not only expected to be a big part of North Dakota\u2019s blue line this upcoming season but will likely once again play at the World Junior Championships, possibly captaining the Canadian team with the tournament taking place in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a great personality,\u201d Grier said of Verhoeff at development camp. \u201cOn the ice, he\u2019s been pretty smooth. His puck movement, and how clean he is on the retrieval work, and things like that, have been great. His shot stands out, too. He was scoring at a pretty good clip for a D-man in the drills.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he looks good. We\u2019re excited to have him. He\u2019s a young pup, and it\u2019s a tough league to be a young defenseman in. A part of the reason to get (Kesselring, Nurse and Trouba) in here was so we didn\u2019t feel like we had to rush these guys and give them too much too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin, a Vancouver-area native, might also make the Canadian World Junior team, and the Sharks could also release Stenberg to play for Sweden.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump imposes double-digit tariffs on dozens of countries as his 10% levies are set to expire Friday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Jose Sharks chose defenseman Keaton Verhoeff ninth overall at last month’s NHL draft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSan Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Jose Sharks chose defenseman Keaton Verhoeff ninth overall at last month's NHL draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274\"},\"wordCount\":736,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274\",\"name\":\"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1755},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5274#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest","og_description":"San Jose Sharks chose defenseman Keaton Verhoeff ninth overall at last month's NHL draft","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season","datePublished":"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274"},"wordCount":736,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274","name":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-24T04:38:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2f7ec68fe77e2269a7ba18c5aa2f21d7-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1755},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"San Jose Sharks’ first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}