Will Smith’s agent, Sean Coffey, joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!

Coffey takes us behind the scenes of Smith signing with the San Jose Sharks this past week.

But before we get to Coffey (44:15), we talk about what Smith’s arrival means for the Sharks.

We’ll talk more to Coffey about this -- he wasn’t one of Sheng’s sources!! -- but Sheng got wind of Smith signing last Friday. (1:50)

What was our initial reaction to the news? (4:20)

Would it make sense for the San Jose Sharks to send Smith to the AHL? Would the Sharks try to “slide” his contract? How does Smith compare to William Eklund at about the same age? (15:05)

Comparing Macklin Celebrini-Smith to Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin and Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane? Why start the clock on Celebrini and Smith’s contracts at the same time? (24:00)

Where does Smith slot positionally, center or wing, in his rookie year? It is more common than Sheng thought to go through a season with two rookie centers in the line-up. (27:20)

Sheng shares a conversation that he had with a league source about the lumps that Smith will likely face in his rookie year, his struggles at the World Championships, and what Smith has to learn about winning NHL hockey. (36:35)

Sheng and Keegan predict how many points that Smith will put up next year. (40:23)

And now, Sean Coffey! (44:15)

How did Coffey become a player agent?

When did the San Jose Sharks start signaling to Coffey that they thought Smith was ready to come out? (49:28)

When did Smith actually decide to sign with the Sharks? How many meetings did Smith have with Mike Grier or Todd Marchant or the Sharks throughout the season? (51:55)

Did Ryan Leonard announcing early that he was going back to Boston College impact Smith in any way? (55:20)

Sean shares why he ghosted Sheng via text for a few weeks. (57:25)

Coffey reveals when exactly Smith made his decision to come out. (58:10)

Between Boston College and the San Jose Sharks, how close of a decision was it for Smith? (1:00:10)

For Coffey, from a development standpoint, why did it make sense for Smith to go pro?

Coffey confirms that the San Jose Sharks winning the Draft Lottery and getting presumptive No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini had nothing to do with Smith’s decision -- but regardless, it’s great for fellow teenagers Celebrini and Smith to start out together. (1:02:40)

Coffey talks about the potential (or lack thereof) of Smith going to the AHL or the Sharks trying to “slide” his contract. (1:05:15)

Did the Cutter Gauthier situation change the paradigm of how NHL teams treat their top NCAA prospects? (1:09:00)

Coffey explains, even though Smith decided in early May, why Smith held off on the announcement that he was coming out until this past week. (1:13:00)

Was it a challenge to keep Smith’s decision a secret? Sean also talks about keeping Sheng’s texts on “Read” when Sheng was looking for confirmation.

Sheng shares his process from getting wind of the Smith signing on Friday to publishing a story on it on Sunday, two days before it was officially announced. (1:17:40)

Why was Tuesday the day that the Sharks announced Smith’s signing? (1:19:45)

Coffey shares some of the details about the bonuses in Smith’s entry-level contract. (1:21:55)

https://twitter.com/PuckPedia/status/1795509414990090339

Who is Coffey representing in the 2024 Draft? (1:28:00)

Also, Coffey subscribes to San Jose Hockey Now! You should too if you’re not!

https://sanjosehockeynow.com/membership-account/membership-levels/

Craig Button joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast this week!

The TSN draft guru thinks Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith might make a Crosby-Malkin like impact on the San Jose Sharks, who he’d consider for San Jose at No. 14, and an underrated Sharks prospect that he really likes. (1:22:52)

But before we get to Craig, Keegan and I talk about the San Jose Sharks coaching search. (2:18)

Then, we chat about four positions that the Sharks should target this off-season if they want to be more competitive, and discuss J.G. Pageau, Dakota Joshua, Dylan DeMelo, and Sean Walker as realistic possibilities. Sheng also suggests a couple more intriguing names in this middle class of the free agency market. (15:49)

We discuss the San Jose Sharks signing Luca Cagnoni. Are Sharks fans perhaps overrating Cagnoni? And is he better suited to start next season in the AHL or go back to the WHL? (44:24)

Have Sheng or Keegan changed their minds about whether Will Smith will sign with the San Jose Sharks for next year? (1:10:18)

Finally, before we interview Craig Button, we discuss his recent, perhaps controversial top-64 list (1:12:22) on TSN. By the way, we talked with Craig before he released these rankings:

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/craig-s-list-konsta-helenius-tij-iginla-push-into-top-five-1.2124326

And now, Craig Button! (1:22:52)

What is Macklin Celebrini’s ceiling? Why is Craig so high on him? (1:23:30)

Button draws parallels between Smith getting drafted a year before Celebrini…to the Pittsburgh Penguins getting Evgeni Malkin in 2004 and Sidney Crosby in 2005. Whoa! Button calls Smith a difference-maker. (1:28:40)

Button compares Celebrini to Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli. (1:30:12)

He discusses the recently-concluded U-18’s. (1:32:00)

Who could the San Jose Sharks pick at No. 14?

Button gives his thoughts about Trevor Connelly (1:36:35), Tij Iginla, Terik Parascak (1:42:25), Adam Jiricek (1:51:19), EJ Emery (1:54:10), Stian Solberg (1:54:47), Charlie Elick (1:55:10), and Dominik Badinka.

Button doesn’t see a big difference between Anton Silayev and Emery!

Button discusses the goaltending in the 2024 Draft. There’s only one goalie that he’d considered in the second round.(1:56:10)

Button talks about how Will Smith has “wowed” him for a long time and if he’s ready for the NHL. (2:00:37)

Button shares his thoughts about Quentin Musty (2:06:55), Kasper Halttunen (2:08:55), and Luca Cagnoni. (2:11:45)

Button shouts out a now under-the-radar San Jose Sharks prospect. (2:12:25)

This week on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, we welcome back Nico Sturm! (57:15)

We ask Nico all about the David Quinn tenure and his recent firing by GM Mike Grier, what Nico thinks about Quinn's coaching style and the 2023-2024 season in general. We also ask him about his likely future San Jose Sharks teammate Macklin Celebrini!

But before that, we cover just a few topics in what was a light few weeks for the Sharks. (01:33)

Who has been interviewed, or who has been rumored to be considered for the San Jose Sharks head coaching job so far? (03:20)

What do the coaching candidates so far seem to have in common?

We enter yet another week of Will Smith Watch! What did Will Smith say about his upcoming decision, stay in Boston College or sign with the San Jose Sharks for next year, at the World Championships? (12:17)

What can Will Smith learn by leaving the NCAA and breaking away from his long-time linemates? (18:45)

Sheng talks about an interesting dynamic that could form if both Celebrini and Smith leave college at the same time. (22:30)

We transition to the playoffs of Kasper Halttunen and Luca Cagnoni. Halttunen had 17 goals in 18 playoff games, leading the London Knights in goals in the postseason. (30:35)

The ultimate speculation: Leon Draisaitl to the San Jose Sharks in 2025? (35:00)

What do Sheng and Keegan think about moving up from the No. 14 pick to take a defenseman in the 2024 NHL Draft? (42:20)

Sheng dug deep and contacted local media members from each of the teams at No. 5-12 to get their thoughts on trading down to the Sharks, check out the article here! (43:20)

https://sanjosehockeynow.com/san-jose-sharks-2024-draft-defenseman-trade-up/

Finally, we talk about Brodie Brazil's interview with Jason Demers, who also shared his thoughts about firing David Quinn. (53:00)

Nico Sturm joins our show for the second time, this time from Czechia and the World Championships! (57:15)

Sturm talks about the San Jose Sharks winning the Draft Lottery. (58:20)

Sturm discusses Macklin Celebrini as a responsible two-way player and just how rare that is for a 17-year-old. (59:05)

Sturm on David Quinn's firing, was it a surprise? (1:02:25)

What did Nico think of Quinn as a coach? (1:04:15)

Why does Sturm think Quinn was fired? (1:06:00)

Does Nico think that Quinn lost the locker room? (1:08:00)

Does Sturm think there could have been more structure in the San Jose Sharks' game last year? (1:09:40)

Was there a way that this 2023-24 San Jose Sharks team could’ve realistically been better last year? How much better? (1:12:40)

Sturm has also played for former Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason. He's a potential coaching hire for the Sharks, what does Nico remember from his time with him? (1:15:15)

Nico Sturm hasn't played for Marco Sturm, but Marco's name is making the rounds as a coaching candidate for the San Jose Sharks, what does Nico think about his fellow German countryman? (1:19:00)

How’s Sturm's summer look after the World Championships? (1:21:10)