Sharks Prospect Filip Bystedt Entering Make-or-Break Offseason

In the NHL, long-term prospects often find their roles change well before they reach the highest level. San Jose Sharks center prospect Filip Bystedt is experiencing that phenomenon right now. When he was drafted, he had a high placement within the team’s prospect pool. Since then, the circumstances around him have changed significantly. He’s now trying to figure out exactly where he fits in at the NHL level, and this offseason will be his best — and possibly last — chance to prove he belongs there.

Bystedt Improving, But Is It Fast Enough?

Every player’s development curve is different, but Bystedt’s has been especially long. Nearly four years removed from being the 27th overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft, he’s one of two players from that draft’s first round who’s yet to play in an NHL game.

To be fair to Bystedt, he has made significant strides over that time period. He advanced to the highest levels of the Swedish hockey system before joining the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League (AHL). Playing parts of three seasons with them, he evolved into nearly a point-per-game forward and one of the best and most important players on the team as they made back-to-back Calder Cup Playoff appearances.

While that’s a positive trend, turning into a good AHL player in four years only takes him so far, especially when 30 of the other 31 first-round picks from his draft year have turned into NHL players. Furthermore, in those four years, the Sharks have drafted and acquired a number of forwards who were either already established in the NHL or developed far more quickly.

The Sharks were prepared to work with a raw prospect like Bystedt in 2022, when they were preparing for years of rebuilding. Now, forwards like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have accelerated the franchise’s contention timeline faster than expected, and they could add another at the draft this year. Bystedt is lagging behind, and he doesn’t have long to catch up.

Bystedt Needs to Find Place on Sharks

Given Bystedt’s playing style and the Sharks’ depth chart, he probably fits best as the team’s fourth-line center if he makes the NHL roster. The problem is that the Sharks already have a solid fourth-line center in restricted free agent Zack Ostapchuk. If the Sharks bring him back, Bystedt would need to make some major strides in order to prove he deserves to leapfrog Ostapchuk within the organizational hierarchy.

Bystedt’s best chance might be to hope the Sharks let Ostapchuk go in order to take a chance on a homegrown player like him. But if they prefer to go with the known commodity in Ostapchuk or acquire a different established NHL player, Bystedt could wind up out of luck.

In fact, his usefulness to the Sharks might not be as an on-ice player but as a trade piece for a defenseman. The Sharks still have gaps to fill on their blue line, and with a weak free-agent class, they’ll look at the trade market. Their most sellable assets are likely forward prospects, and as a forward with untapped NHL potential, Bystedt may be high on other teams’ lists.

As Mike Grier’s first-ever draft pick as Sharks general manager, Bystedt used to be a central part of San Jose’s future. He still could regain that role, but the circumstances under which he would do so have changed dramatically.

Bystedt’s Career at a Turning Point

A lot of Sharks forward prospects are in a tough spot right now, but given how long Bystedt has been with the organization, he may be facing the most critical offseason out of any of them. He’s gone from one of San Jose’s most important young pieces to possibly not having a spot with their NHL team at all. He’s only 22 years old, but given how much youth the Sharks have, they can’t wait on his development forever.

This summer, he needs to lock in, focus on his work, and do everything possible to convince the Sharks coaching staff and front office that he still belongs in the franchise. If he doesn’t, he faces serious uncertainty about the future of his professional career, and he might need to start over entirely on another team.