San Jose’s first-round pick Keaton Verhoeff is staying in college for at least another season, and the Sharks sound perfectly fine with that.
North Dakota coach Dane Jackson said Verhoeff told him he’ll be back for his sophomore year, with the plan to sign with San Jose next year. Jackson put it plainly: “Keaton has told us he is playing at UND this upcoming season,” Jackson wrote in an email to this news organization.
That lines up with what the Sharks have been saying since they selected the defense prospect ninth overall in last month’s NHL draft in Buffalo, N.Y. Verhoeff, 18, was one of three first-round picks for San Jose, coming after forward Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 and before defenseman Ryan Lin at No. 21.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Verhoeff already looks the part of an NHL defenseman, but he said at Sharks development camp that there’s still work to do, especially on his skating.
“Obviously, (skating is) a big thing that I want to work on,” Verhoeff said. “To be out there doing some skating drills and working on my feet, working on my edges, it’s huge.”
Verhoeff’s freshman year at North Dakota gave a pretty good glimpse of why the Sharks were so interested. The Edmonton-area native led all NCHC freshman defensemen with 20 points in 36 games in 2025-26.
There had been some uncertainty about whether he would jump straight to pro hockey or head back to school after development camp in San Jose earlier this month. The Sharks said they would talk with Verhoeff, his family, and his representative before deciding.
Todd Marchant, San Jose’s director of player development, made the organization’s thinking clear on July 2.
“I say this a lot, we don’t want players just to play in the NHL, we want them to have success, and if that means waiting one more year and playing another year in college, then we’ll wait a year,” Marchant said.
“If it means playing right now, then that’s what will happen. Mike (Grier) is a very patient general manager, and we’ll make the best decision for each player.”
Grier echoed that patience when he spoke about Verhoeff at camp. He praised the young defenseman’s personality, puck movement, clean retrievals, and shot, while also stressing that the Sharks don’t want to rush him.
“He’s got a great personality,” Grier said of Verhoeff at development camp. “On the ice, he’s been pretty smooth.
His puck movement, and how clean he is on the retrieval work, and things like that, have been great. His shot stands out, too.
He was scoring at a pretty good clip for a D-man in the drills.
“So he looks good. We’re excited to have him.
He’s a young pup, and it’s a tough league to be a young defenseman in. A part of the reason to get (Kesselring, Nurse and Trouba) in here was so we didn’t feel like we had to rush these guys and give them too much too soon.”
For now, Verhoeff’s path is set: another season at North Dakota, where he should be a major piece on the blue line. He’s also expected to be in the mix again at the World Junior Championships, with the tournament set for Edmonton and the possibility that he could captain Canada.
San Jose’s blue-line picture also looks crowded enough that there’s no urgency to force the issue. Under contract are recently acquired Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse, and Michael Kesselring, along with holdovers Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson. Competing for spots are Luca Cagnoni, Nolan Allan, Eric Pohlkamp, Libor Hajek, and potentially recent second-round picks Leo Sahlin Wallenius and Mattias Havelid.
Cagnoni, Allan, and Havelid spent most of last season with the Barracuda. Pohlkamp won a national title at Denver and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, while Hajek has already logged eight seasons as a pro.
For Verhoeff, the next step is clear. For the Sharks, the message is just as clear: no need to rush.
In Other News...
Sharks Opening Night Picture Brings One Huge Celebrini Question Into Focus
A speculative opening-night roster picture can tell you a lot about where the Sharks are headed, even before anything is official. The forward group alone would be a mix of established names and young talent, with Macklin Celebrini at the center of the conversation and a long list of possible pieces around him, from veterans like Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg to prospects such as Michael Misa, Will Smith and Ivar Stenberg.
The deeper intrigue is on the blue line and in goal, where the projected defense group already looks crowded and the battle for a couple of spots could stretch into camp. With Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic penciled in as the goaltending tandem, the bigger storyline remains the same one hovering over the entire roster build: who, if anyone, is ready to emerge as the next true difference-maker up front alongside Celebrini. [Read more 🡒]