Musty opens eyes with size, physical play for Sharks

Quentin Musty did not waste any time getting noticed on the first day of San Jose Sharks development camp last month.

The 18-year-old forward prospect, selected by the Sharks in the first round (No. 26) of the 2023 NHL Draft, did a good job opening the eyes of San Jose AHL development coach John McCarthy.

"I think Quentin Musty is pretty impressive," McCarthy said. "He has a bigger body. Stronger, young guy. He's been a nice surprise."

Musty put his physical presence (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) on display right away, running drills with Sharks icon Patrick Marleau on the opening day on the ice, then put on a show on his opening shift during the prospect scrimmage when he knocked an opponent off the puck and went on to score a hat trick.

His mix of size, skill and physicality is something San Jose fans can get excited about in looking to the future.

"As a player, I don't think there are a lot of players like me with my size but also with my skill set and vision, playmaking," Musty said. "I think I have a lot of tools that I can bring to this organization."

Musty is about to begin his third season with Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League. As an alternate captain last season, he was second on Sudbury in scoring with 78 points (26 goals, 52 assists) and was plus-16 in 53 games.

He also had 71 penalty minutes, a good example of how he uses his size and a big reason the Sharks will be keeping a close eye on his development.

"Over the course of four or five years, we've gotten a little bit smaller as an organization," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "We all talk about the speed and skill of this game, and it has improved, but [when] playoff hockey starts, it's better to have some size."

McCarthy said, "If you're going to defend your net hard and you're going to attack your net hard, you need some bigger bodies and bigger, stronger guys to clear out the front of our net and also generate those second chances out there."

Though Musty appears to bring a little bit of everything to his game, he still has one area he wants to improve on this season in the OHL.

"I've just got to get up to speed," Musty said. "I know hockey is a fast game. These guys out here [at development camp] are really fast, and you know it's going to be even harder when the NHL guys get here. So just trying to get faster and keeping up with the speed of the team."