Eric Pohlkamp: Sharks Defenceman, Stats and Draft

Eric Pohlkamp is an American defenceman for the San Jose Sharks, a fifth-round draft pick who led every defenceman in American college hockey in goals and went on to win a national championship. Eric Pohlkamp made his NHL debut on 4 November 2026, away at Los Angeles, after three college seasons and one spring in the minors. He is from Baxter, Minnesota, and the scouting reports that doubted him were wrong about the part he later led the country in.

Fast facts: Eric Pohlkamp
Current team	San Jose Sharks, NHL
Shirt number	48
Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
Born	23 March 2004, Baxter, Minnesota
Height / weight	5’11” (180 cm), 200 lbs (91 kg) per the NHL register. Listings run from 200 to 210 lbs
Drafted	2023, fifth round, 132nd overall, San Jose Sharks
Contract status	Two-year entry-level deal announced April 2026, running through 2027-28
Previous clubs	San Jose Barracuda, University of Denver, Bemidji State University, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Eric Pohlkamp’s road to the San Jose Sharks

Four stops and no shortcuts. He played high school hockey in Brainerd, two seasons as a junior for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL, one college season at Bemidji State and two at Denver, then signed with San Jose in April 2026 and reported straight to their AHL side.

San Jose drafted him in the fifth round in 2023 and then left him alone for three years. That is the normal shape of a late pick: the club holds the rights, the player develops somewhere else, and the decision gets made when the college career ends. Pohlkamp chose to end his career a year early.

He had turned up at development camp before any of it worked. “My first year, to be honest with you, I was scared shitless,” he told San Jose Hockey Now. “I didn’t realize guys have been here for three years or longer, so everything was just new to me.”

The transfer to Denver was deliberate, not opportunistic. “One of the main reasons I came here is just to have that winning culture and to be able to make it as far as we did,” he told the Brainerd Dispatch, and on what he wanted from the move: “I really wanted to learn how to play good defense and play the two-way role and learn from the other guys too.”

Eric Pohlkamp’s career stats

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	P	PIM
2020-21	Minnesota Magicians	NAHL	9	0	1	1	4
2021-22	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	61	7	11	18	22
2022-23	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	59	16	35	51	26
2023-24	Bemidji State University	NCAA	32	11	13	24	18
2024-25	University of Denver	NCAA	44	11	24	35	22
2025-26	University of Denver	NCAA	43	18	21	39	33
2025-26	San Jose Barracuda	AHL playoffs	1	0	1	1	0

Completed seasons. He also won gold with the United States at the 2024 World Junior Championship and at the 2022-23 World Junior A Challenge, where he scored five goals in four games as a defenceman.

Pohlkamp took 188 shots in his final college season, more than any other skater in American college hockey, and 18 of them went in, a shooting percentage of 9.6.

Eric Pohlkamp’s NHL debut

On 4 November 2026, away at Los Angeles, after San Jose recalled him from the Barracuda the day before. It was his first recall. He had seven assists in his first ten AHL games that autumn, scoring in seven of them, and the club named him its prospect of the year.

He played 17:37 in the debut and took three shots without scoring. He got his first NHL point three games later, an assist against Dallas.

Eric Pohlkamp’s championship season at Denver

The 2025-26 season made him. He scored 18 goals, which was more than any other defenceman in American college hockey, added 21 assists, and set a new NCHC single-season record for goals by a defenceman. He blocked 83 shots, the most on his team, and finished plus-24.

Denver beat Wisconsin 2-1 in the national final in Las Vegas in April 2026, the program’s eleventh title. Pohlkamp was named an AHCA First Team All-American, NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year, and one of the three Hobey Baker Award finalists. He did not win it; Max Plante of Minnesota Duluth did.

The title mattered to him for a specific reason. A year earlier, he had talked about watching teammates who had won in 2024 before he arrived: “I really want to win national championship, right?” He got his, and marked it. “Now I finally got my tattoo,” he said at the following summer’s development camp, before showing it to reporters.

Eric Pohlkamp’s draft

San Jose took him 132nd overall in the fifth round of the 2023 draft in Nashville, on the second day. He was committed to Bemidji State at the time, had just been named USHL Defenseman of the Year, and had played in the BioSteel All-American Game that January.

Scouting reports liked the shot but worried about everything around it. Elite Prospects summarised him as “High-impact shots and even higher impact hits.” Corey Pronman of The Athletic was more skeptical, and his objection is worth quoting because of what happened next: “His fitness level is also a question.”

Three years later, Pohlkamp led every skater in American college hockey in shots on goal.

Eric Pohlkamp in the AHL

He turned professional with the San Jose Barracuda in April 2026, joining in time for one playoff game against Henderson, in which he picked up an assist. The following autumn he started the season there and scored at better than a point every other game from the blue line before the recall came.

Seven of those first ten AHL games produced a point, all of them assists. For a defenceman arriving straight out of college, that consistency is harder to maintain, and it is what the club pointed to when it moved him up.

Eric Pohlkamp’s contract

Two years, entry-level, announced in April 2026 and signed after his third college season rather than his fourth. Signing early meant giving up his final year of NCAA eligibility, which is the trade a player makes when the club wants him and he thinks he is ready.

The deal runs through 2027-28, after which he becomes a restricted free agent. Published figures put the cap hit at $1.05 million, with performance bonuses raising the annual average, though those numbers come from a single contract database rather than the club.