Top pick Norris is center of attention
U.S. National team and combine star looks like Couture, GM Wilson says
Josh Norris put on an eyepopping display at the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month. But his athleticism wasn’t the only reason the Sharks elected to take the 18year-old center in the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday.
Norris, taken 19th overall at the United Center in Chicago, kind of reminded the Sharks of one of their biggest draft-day home runs.
“He’s got a lot of Logan Couture attributes to him,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. “Style, certainly his hockey sense, his compete factor. He likes big moments.”
Listed at 6 foot and 189 pounds, Norris, who is committed to play with the University of Michigan next season, had 61 points in 61 games to lead the the U.S. National Development Under-18 team this past season.
Described as an athletic, heady, two-way player, Norris is the first center the Sharks have chosen in the first round since they selected Tomas Hertl 17th overall in 2012. They chose Couture ninth overall in 2007, and all he’s done is record 376 regular season points in 504 NHL games.
“I think I can give you a little bit of everything,” Norris said in a conference call. “I think I’m a 200-foot player, can play in different situations and can chip in offensively.”
Norris is also the first American player the Sharks have taken in the first round since they selected Charlie Coyle 28th overall in 2010.
“He’s a guy that has a very good potential to be a one-two centerman, which is hard to find,” Sharks director of scouting Tim Burke said. “He has speed and can play in any matchup and he has the ability to (play) on both the power play and penalty kills.”
Norris’ on-ice numbers this past seaosn represented a huge jump in production from the prior season when he suffered a broken wrist and had 27 points in 44 games.
He also made a big impression at the recent combine, leading all 104 draft-eligible players in attendance in five of the 14 fitness tests — pro agility left and right, peak power, vertical jump (26.19 inches) and standing long jump (118 inches).
“He’s a guy that came into the combine and just blew it away,” Wilson said. “His athletic ability, his interview. Those are some final pieces
“He’s a kid that in big games, he plays his best hockey.”
“I think it was really important for me,” Norris said of the combine. “I wasn’t too nervous for the interviews, I thought I did a good job with that. I interviewed with most teams throughout the year, so I was pretty comfortable with them. From a testing standpoint, I’ve always been a pretty athletic kid, I’m in the weight room a lot. So that’d probably be the reason why I succeeded so much.”
Norris’ athleticism and hockey sense might partially come from his father, Dwayne, who played briefly in the NHL in the mid-1990s with Quebec and then Anaheim. Dwayne Norris then had a long career playing in Germany.
“The things he taught me the most were about work ethic and my habits every day,” Norris said, “and showing up to the rink to get better.”
This year’s NHL Draft, while perhaps lacking in name recognition compared to the last two years with Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews at the top of each team’s draft boards, holds plenty of potential.
The draft continues Saturday morning with the second to seventh rounds. The Sharks have seven picks remaining at No. 49 in the second round, No. 123 in the fourth round, nos. 159 and 174 in the sixth round and nos. 205, 212 and 214 in the seventh round.
That’s a decent amount of currency if the Sharks wanted to move up in the second round.
In 2015, the Sharks sent the No. 39 selection they had that year, their second-round pick in 2016 and their sixth rounder in 2017 to Colorado to acquire the 31st overall pick. San Jose used that pick to select defenseman Jeremy Roy out of Sherbrooke of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“We’re pretty comfortable at 49 right now, but we’ll talk to teams (Friday night),” Wilson said. “We’ve got seven more picks. Sometimes you move up, you move down. We’ve identified some players and forecasted where we need to be to get them. Historically, that’s what we’ve done.”