San Jose Sharks‘ 6th round pick in the 2010 draft (#163 overall) German-born defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser(10) is expected to make a big splash, which would make sense considering he stands 6’5″ and currently weighs 212 lbs.
He’s starting his pro career with their AHL affiliate Worcester Sharks after an impressive four-year run in the QMJHL patrolling the blue line for Halifax Mooseheads.
He won the 2013 league championship in his final season of junior hockey and also went on to capture the Memorial Cup in what was thought to be an outstanding run by the team.
The 21-year old has shown a tremendous offensive upside especially when it comes to setting up goal scoring opportunities.
He finished juniors with 122 assists in 219 games and is already making his presence felt in minor league preseason play.
His 3-year entry level deal with the Sharks takes him through the 2014/2015.
Original story: 9/30-13
In his rookie campaign he would get a very respectable 6 goals and 15 assists in 57 games.
Although he seemed to establish himself as a regular on the farm team’s blue line, he somehow fell out of favor and was listed as a healthy scratch more often than even he thought possible despite putting up a career high 16 assists in 50 contests.
He was reassigned down the ladder to affiliate Allen Americans, possibly asking to be sent so he could play and got right to establishing himself as a force in the lower league.
In just 6 ECHL regular season games he scored 5 goals and 2 assists but really got to work in the playoffs, where in 25 games on the way to the 2015 Kelly Cup Championship he recorded 5 goals and 11 assists (tied for third best) with a +3 rating and 73 shots on net.
With a title in hand, he was set to enter his first restricted free agency but was dealt to St. Louis Blues for a deep draft as the Sharks seemed to be all set with the big blue liner.
The soon-to-be 23-year old was quickly signed to a one-year, two-way extension and will start 2015/2016 with his new farm team Chicago Wolves but one can almost expect the change of scenery is going to do great things for this still untapped, young d-man.
