‘He’s A Young Pup’: Sharks Still Evaluating Verhoeff’s Future

The San Jose Sharks development camp has come and gone, but some questions will remain unanswered, including the plan for Keaton Verhoeff.

Verhoeff, 18, played his freshman season at the University of North Dakota as a 17-year-old. It would be quite the accomplishment for him to make the jump to the NHL right away. While the Sharks didn’t officially rule out his chances, GM Mike Grier’s words make it seem like he’s headed back to ND.

“We’re excited to have him. I’ll have a conversation with him and his agent, as we go on here,” Grier said. “You guys still got to remember, I don’t even know if he’s 18 yet. He’s a young pup still, and it’s a tough league to be a young defenseman in. We’ll see.”

The San Jose Sharks’ active offseason included a complete restructuring of the blue line, adding three defensemen: Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse, and Michael Kesselring. Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson will be back this season, leaving, at the moment, one spot left.

Other Sharks prospects like Luca Cagnoni, Nolan Allan, or even Eric Pohlkamp appear to be headed to training camp competition for the spot.

“You never know. You never know what’s going to come up here in the next two months before camp starts,” Grier said. “If this is the way it shakes out, we’d be happy to let Cags, Allan, and Pohlkamp battle it out. See who emerges from the competition.”

So, with internal competition getting tougher and adding established NHLers, what was the point of drafting Verhoeff? The answer is simple: he’ll develop on a smooth timeline and make a bigger impact when he eventually arrives in a year or two. The San Jose Sharks GM had that in mind when he made the moves.

“Part of the reason we got Kesslring and Trouba in here was so we didn’t feel like we had to rush these guys and give them too much too soon,” Grier said.

While all the talk seems like he’s a ways away, that didn’t stop Grier from praising the No. 9 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

“He’s looked good. He’s got a great personality. I think people are attracted to him and spend time with him,” Grier said. “On the ice, he’s been pretty smooth. His puck movement, how clean he is on the retrieval work, and things like that have been great. His shot stands out, too. Scored at a pretty good clip for a D man yesterday in the drill.”

San Jose Sharks Director of Player Development Todd Marchant also spoke glowingly of Verhoeff.

“Keaton, 6-foot-5, great skater, moves the puck well,” Marchant said. “As I said before, no two development paths are the same. It’ll be interesting to see which path each player takes.”

Marchant also followed what Grier said; there isn’t a reason to rush him to the NHL.

“At the end of the day, there’s no rush. There’s no rush to get to the NHL,” Marchant explained. “I say this a lot, we don’t want players just to play in the NHL, we want them to have success. If that means waiting one more year and playing another year in college, then we’ll wait a year. If it means playing right now, then that’s what will happen.”

With the blue line set up as it is, all signs point to Verhoeff heading back to the NCAA. If Verhoeff signs an entry-level contract that makes him ineligible for the NCAA, that would change things.