Ozzy Wiesblatt was selected by the San Jose Sharks to conclude the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Trevor Redden

Shifty Shark

Wiesblatt receives warm welcome to San Jose

Oct 6, 2020 | 10:06 PM

Night one of the NHL Entry Draft ended with a heartwarming touch, as San Jose Sharks director of scouting Doug Wilson Jr. announced the team had selected Raider forward Ozzy Wiesblatt with the 31^st overall pick.

While announcing the pick verbally, he also announced it with sign language so that Ozzy’s mother Kim White could enjoy the moment just as much as the rest of her family.

“That means a ton, especially to my mom and the deaf community in general. It’s a very nice gesture for him to do, and my mom will never forget that,” Wiesblatt said.

From the Sharks perspective, they couldn’t say enough about both the player and his family.

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“He’s an unbelievable kid with an unbelievable family. It’s a bunch of hard workers, he’s got character, he’ll run through the wall for you. In my life, my mom is a huge factor, and if I was in this moment I would want to be able to share It with my parents too,” Wilson Jr. explained, joking that he would have signed Wiesblatt’s full name but he’s not smart enough but wanted to make him feel like a part of the family.

Wiesblatt’s impressive journey, growing up in a household with four siblings and a single mother who is also deaf, has been well-documented this year, and now he can say he is a first-round NHL draft pick.

The sign language wasn’t the only personal touch in-store on this night, as four members of the current Sharks roster called into a media Zoom call after the draft came to an end to welcome him to the team.

First, it was Brent Burns, who had just returned from a multi-week hunting trip, and ducked out of a date with his wife to say hello and welcome Wiesblatt to the team.

Then, captain Logan Couture told him he had watched a documentary on his family’s story and thought his mom must be “an angel.”

The third Shark to pop in was defenceman Erik Karlsson, who assured him he had seven years remaining on his deal, so he expected they would be teammates down the road.

Lastly, forward Kevin Labanc checked in to congratulate him on his hard work to this point and welcome him to the organization.

If that wasn’t enough, even Sharks forward Noah Gregor was part of the welcoming party. Gregor, who won the 2019 WHL Championship with Wiesblatt and the Raiders, was sure to send his congratulations on Twitter.

Of course, as feel-good as the proceedings were, the Sharks picked Wiesblatt because of what he could do on the ice. Wilson Jr. explained to media that he is exactly what they want in the modern NHL.

“He’s one of the fastest kids in all of major junior hockey. We were looking for speed, playmaking, possession, and puck protection, and pursuit. That’s this kid in spades. It’s tough to get the puck off his stick, no one gains the O-zone entry like he does, and he’s shifty. And it just so happened that four or five of the games I was at, his teammates would get run and he was the first guy in the pile taking care of them, that’s the kind of kid he is,” Wilson said.

“He’s new age toughness in the NHL, and I’m so thrilled to have him.”

After putting up 39 points in 64 games as a 16-year-old rookie on the Raiders’ WHL Championship team, the forward took a big step in his second year, putting up 70 points in the same number of games. This was good for second on the team, behind leading scorer Aliaksei Protas.

Along with Kaiden Guhle, who was selected 16^th overall by Montreal, this is the first Raider duo to be chosen in the first round since Steve Kelly and Brad Church in 1995. Prior to that, Pat Elynuik and Kim Issel were the only members of the organization to accomplish the feat, doing so in 1986.