- San Jose drafted 7-foot-1, 272-pound Alexander Karmanov 201st overall
- He’s the tallest player ever drafted in NHL history and the first Moldovan ever picked
- Read below for his winding path and what comes next in North Bay
The San Jose Sharks went big with one of their final picks of the weekend. Like, really big.
They grabbed 7-foot-1, 272-pound defenseman Alexander Karmanov with the 201st overall pick in the seventh round of the 2026 NHL Draft. That makes him the tallest player ever drafted in league history.
Some perspective: Zdeno Chara, the tallest man to ever play in the NHL, stood 6-foot-9. Karmanov has four inches on him. If the kid ever cracks an NHL roster, the record books get rewritten.
San Jose had a little fun with the announcement:
The story doesn’t stop at his height. Karmanov is also the first player from Moldova ever selected in the NHL Draft.
His road to Buffalo was a winding one. He was born in Moldova, developed his game in Russia and Belarus, then moved to the United States to play 16U Triple-A hockey in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 2024-25. This past year he suited up in Canadian junior.
The 18-year-old split last season between the Brantford Titans of the GOJHL and the North Bay Battalion of the OHL. He put up seven points in 15 games with Brantford before adding a pair of assists and 29 penalty minutes in North Bay.
Take a look at what the Sharks are working with:
San Jose isn’t rushing anything. Karmanov is expected to head back to North Bay next season, then play at Penn State in 2027.
A seventh-round flier on a 7-foot-1 defenseman is the exact swing a rebuilding team should take. The Sharks spent the 2026 NHL Draft stacking up size and skill, and this is the swing-for-the-fences pick of the bunch.
You can’t teach 7-foot-1.
