Will Smith joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!Before we get to our interview with the latest San Jose Sharks sensation, Keegan McNally and Sheng Peng talked about the culmination of Sharks development camp, Thursday night’s prospects scrimmage (1:55).Sheng shares pre and post-scrimmage insights from Sharks director of player development Todd Marchant and San Jose Barracuda head coach John McCarthy about development camp, as he and Keegan talk about how Team Teal’s Will Smith (4:15), Cam Lund (9:54), Theo Jacobsson (11:05), Kasper Halttunen (15:42), Michael Fisher (17:05), Luca Cagnoni (18:50), and Eric Pohlkamp performed in the scrimmage. They then chat about the performances of Team White’s Quentin Musty (23:15), Filip Bystedt, Ethan Cardwell, Brandon Svoboda (31:18), Ozzy Wiesblatt (33:32), Jake Furlong (36:04), Mattias Havelid, Dylan Ernst (39:38), and Valtteri Pulli (40:30).Sheng adds some interesting Marchant/McCarthy thoughts about the development camps of Henry Thrun (44:20), Nick Cicek, and Thomas Bordeleau (45:48).Then, Keegan and Sheng review what the San Jose Sharks have done so far in free agency, including the acquisitions of Anthony Duclair (51:53) and Leon Gawanke (57:08), and the signings of Givani Smith (1:05:57) and Kyle Burroughs.They also talk about why it makes sense for the Sharks to be in on remaining high-end free agents Matt Dumba and Vladimir Tarasenko (1:13:41), even in the midst of their rebuild. With the help of independent scouting service Team 33 (1:19:00), Sheng gets into why Dumba, despite his recent statistical decline, could be a fantastic fit for San Jose.Next, Keegan and Sheng talk about Erik Karlsson (1:27:50), and why the lack of suitors for Karlsson could spell trouble for the Sharks.Finally, Will Smith (1:36:55)! Smith talks about who’s the best bowler among the Sharks prospects (1:37:32), why he chose No. 2 as his jersey number (1:37:58), how his sister Grace supported his career (1:40:40), carrying one of his grandpa Bill’s last business cards at the Draft (1:41:35), his dog Rigney and being the great-great grandson of Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey (1:42:45), his favorite nickname -- non-Fresh Prince or Smitty category (1:43:50), and hooking William Eklund up with a sponsorship deal with Chipotle (1:44:50).

★ Support this podcast ★