Rookie defenseman Jim Fahey has made a solid first impression with the San Jose Sharks in his first month of NHL action.

Since being promoted from the minors, Fahey has skated against some big names such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, Mike Modano and Peter Forsberg; picked up two fighting majors and scored a goal in his hometown of Boston.

But most importantly, Fahey looks like he belongs, which helps right now, but is also part of a larger picture involving how this franchise is building for the future.

Fahey has already made some team history: He is the first U.S. high school player that the Sharks have drafted to reach the NHL.

The Sharks took him in the eighth round of the 1998 draft out of Boston Memorial Catholic. He was the first scholastic selection since director of amateur scouting Tim Burke began directing the team's drafts in 1996.

Before that, the Sharks had drafted three U.S. high school seniors: Peter Roed (second round, 1995); Dean Grillo (eighth round, 1991) and Aaron Kriss (11th round, 1991). The selection of Roed was considered a major reach in the second round as one official from another NHL team revealed that Roed wasn't on his club's list even as a ninth-rounder.

But since Fahey, the Sharks have begun to invest more heavily in U.S. scholastic players, taking left wing Marc Concannon in the third round in 1999 and left wing Tom Cavanagh in the sixth round in 2001. Concannon, now a senior at UMass-Lowell, hasn't developed as nicely as the Sharks had hoped.

Concannon has been slowed by injury, but he needs a strong season if he's going to be offered a contract.

Nevertheless, in June the Sharks splurged with schoolboys as they selected right wing Mike Morris in the first, defenseman Dan Spang in the second and defenseman Tom Walsh in the fifth.

Like Fahey, Morris has gone from high school to Northeastern University.

As a freshman, Morris is currently Northeastern's third-leading scorer. But also like Fahey, the Sharks are willing to let Morris season himself with four years of collegiate competition. When the Sharks drafted him in June, they made some general comparisons between Morris and Chris Drury. Drury, drafted out of high school by Colorado, spent four seasons at Boston University before turning pro.

With the Sharks failing to make much serious headway in getting back into the playoff picture, perhaps the draft is the one thing fans can look forward to, even if it is only early January. But fans who bone up on some of the top U.S. prep players might be getting an early preview of a Sharks' selection in June.

But in the meantime as the Sharks forge on, Fahey's role might become even more significant now that Brad Stuart will miss at least two weeks because of a bad ankle. Stuart had off-season surgery to repair torn ligaments, but the ankle has been slow to heal completely.

The Sharks had been easing Fahey into the mix, not overwhelming him with responsibilities. But without Stuart, Fahey will get a chance to skate on the power play, an area in which he excelled in college. The Sharks need a serious boost in this department, and getting a righthanded shot at the point with Fahey helps create some more options.

-courtesy faceoff.com