Paddock hopes for future with NHL’S Sharks
It has already been quite a year for Max Paddock.
After being thrust into a starting role with the WHL’S Regina Pats in February, Paddock ended the 2017-18 campaign with an all-star performance at the Memorial Cup in Regina.
Although it wasn’t quite enough to get him selected in the 2018 NHL draft, the 18-year-old netminder did receive plenty of interest from prospective clubs. He eventually accepted a free-agent invitation from the San Jose Sharks to attend their summer development camp as well as their recent fall training camp.
“It was probably one of the better things that has happened for me development-wise,” said Paddock, who rejoined the Pats on the weekend. “Doing workouts with some of the NHL guys pushes you to get better. It was just a good two weeks.”
Paddock also had a pinch-me moment one day while he was riding an exercise bike in the Sharks’ workout room. He looked over towards the nearby dressing room and saw newly acquired defenceman Erik Karlsson chatting with Brent Burns and Joe Thornton.
That trio has played in a combined 16 NHL all-star games.
“It’s cool to see them, but you want to be playing with them eventually,” noted Paddock, who was in camp with the Sharks when they completed a blockbuster trade with the Ottawa Senators for Karlsson — a two-time Norris Trophy winner. “It was different seeing such good hockey players that you watch on TV and they’re right in front of you.
“I tried to act cool (laughs). I didn’t want to embarrass myself.”
Paddock seems to have made a positive impression on the Sharks. He appeared in one game at the Rookie Faceoff tournament in Las Vegas — a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche — before he was invited to main camp.
It was a rare opportunity for an undrafted free agent to rub shoul- ders with the veterans.
“They called all the invites in (after rookie camp),” Paddock recalled. “I was the first one in. I thought, ‘I’m going to go home now.’ I even got a text on my phone from Air Canada saying that my flight was booked, so I brought all my stuff to the rink expecting to go home and they brought me in and said they were going to keep me around for a while. It was awesome. They sent all the other invites home. I was the only one there, so it was pretty good.”
Sharks goalie development coach Evgeni Nabokov — who scouted Paddock during the Memorial Cup — gave him some feedback before he left about continuing to develop and “getting stronger.”
The six-foot-two, 161-pounder hopes to perform well enough in his first full season as Regina’s starter that he remains on San Jose’s radar.
“I think they want to continue the relationship,” Paddock added. “It would, for sure, be awesome to get a contract with them, but I try not to think too much about it. It’ll get in my head a little bit if I overthink it. I just try to go out there and do what I do best. Hopefully they’ll take notice. They told me they’ll keep a close eye on me. It’ll be good to see what happens in the next few months.”