With 24 hours to go before the USA/Canada brawl in Vancouver, my thoughts are still on trade deadline day. As I scrolled through the ESPN rumor mill and noticed the reported price for Predators dman Dan Hamhuis (a scoring forward and a late 1st/early 2nd pick) I began to wonder about the Sharks 2010 draft pick situation and what kind of bullets Doug Wilson had left to fire at deadline day. Here’s the skinny, from what I can tell:

1 – 1st round pick

0 – 2nd round picks (we traded our own to Ottawa for Heatley, we traded Buffalo’s to Carolina for Wallin)

1 – 3rd round pick

0 – 4th round picks (we traded our own to Tampa Bay for Dan Boyle)

2- 5th round picks from Carolina (in Wallin trade) and Ottawa (in Heatley trade). Our own was traded to LA in 2008 to draft junior d-man Samuel Groulx (39 points in 58 games in the QJMHL with two teams)

0 – 6th round picks (we traded ours to Dallas in 2009 so get a 7th round pick to select Marek Viedensky, 46 points in 49 games in the WHL with two teams)

0 – 7th round picks (we traded ours to Buffalo in the Craig Rivet deal)

So, if I’ve done my math right – and that’s a major question mark – the Sharks only have four draft picks currently in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Not good news for a team that’s been criticized for having a lack of quality prospects in their system. So if you’re Doug Wilson, are you willing to trade that 1st round pick to get a Dan Hamhuis or a Tomas Kaberle? It’s got to give one pause…

Like I said yesterday, I’m willing to take the gamble, especially since it’s likely Setoguchi could fetch you that 1st rounder in the offseason if that’s the road you decide to go, but it’s always good to take a hard look at what Doug Wilson has to play with here. He’ll likely balk severely at parting with this first round pick, and it’s entirely possible we could see him sell off someone like Torrey Mitchell for a 2nd rounder if he thinks Jamie McGinn can do the same job – which he probably could.

Major props to Dmitry, our Dudes on Hockey Olympic advocate, proudly wearing his Dudes on Hockey t-shirt around the Vancouver games. We feel the love and Dudes madness is now wilder than Cross Country Skiing.

International hockey flavor. A Russian Dude in Canada wearing an American t-shirt.