- Editor's note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
General manager Mike Grier knows that the Sharks have to be better.
“I'm not going to put expectations on where we should be at the end of [next] season, but we got to take a step forward,” Grier told the media during his end-of-season availability on Friday.
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SIGN UP HERE The Sharks, in a full rebuild since trading Timo Meier in Feb. 2023, have finished in last place in back-to-back campaigns, with just one more win, 20, and five more points, 52, this year than the season before.
But now, the Sharks have future superstar Macklin Celebrini to build around.
So how will Grier make a better team around Celebrini, and other young guns like Will Smith, William Eklund, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Yaroslav Askarov?
Grier teased free agency plans, what might happen with unhappy free agent Nikolai Kovalenko, what’s going on with the Sharks’ captaincy, the long-term plan for Will Smith, and thoughts about the 2025 NHL Draft.
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Could San Jose Trade Away The No. 1 Overall Pick?
The Sharks have the best odds to get the No. overall 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft lottery.
Defenseman Matthew Schaefer is the consensus first-overall right now, with perhaps a group of forwards like Michael Misa and James Hagens and Porter Martone and Anton Frondell following.
"At the top, after Schaefer, it's probably more forward-heavy," Grier said, perhaps tipping his hand.
“I'm not gonna say no, someone wants to make a really good offer of established young players. There's a Ricky Williams-Herschel Walker type offer up? We'll listen.”
This is unlike last year, when Grier says he got “crazy” offers like that for the 2024 No. 1 overall selection that became Celebrini.
In 1988, the Dallas Cowboys basically got eight draft picks, highlighted by three first-rounders, from the Minnesota Vikings for star running back Walker.
“Last year, I probably shut the door on everything,” Grier revealed. “I got some good [offers], some that were probably pretty comparable to that. As crazy as a couple of them were, we didn't really think about it for more than 30 seconds.”
That says a lot about Celebrini.
What would a Walker or Williams-like offer look like for Celebrini?
In 1999, the New Orleans Saints traded their entire draft for the Washington Redskins’ No. 5 pick, which they used on running back Williams.
That was also eight picks going the other way, the Saints’ No. 12, and third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-rounders that year. They also added a 2000 first and third on top of that.
What’s an NHL comp?
In 1991, the Philadelphia Flyers sent No. 6 overall draft pick Peter Forsberg, young up-and-coming star Mike Ricci, veterans Ron Hextall and Steve Duchesne and Kerry Huffman, $15 million in cash, and two first-round picks to the Quebec Nordiques for 1991 first-overall Eric Lindros.
Lindros was arguably the most-hyped No. 1 in NHL history, this side of Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
But even the top half of that haul from the Flyers would’ve been an impressive offer for Celebrini.
Warsofsky, Other Coaches Coming Back
The Sharks finished with the 26th-ranked power play and 27th-ranked penalty kill in the NHL. They also scored the least goals and gave up the most goals in the league.
But Grier doesn’t see it as a coaching staff problem: “I thought they did a good job.”
So expect head coach Ryan Warsofsky, assistant coaches Brian Wiseman and Doug Houda and Jeff Ulmer, and goaltending coach Thomas Speer back.
Specifically about rookie bench boss Warsofsky?
“He pushed the group, kept them on task and got a lot out of them, put some structure in and made some tweaks throughout the year that helped our group,” Grier said. “I think the guys enjoyed playing for him.”
What’s Next for Sharks’ Free Agents?
We know pending UFA Alexandar Georgiev won’t be back.
So what type of goalie would Grier like to complement starter-in-waiting Askarov?
“I don't think it would be ideal to have two young and inexperienced guys in the net,” Grier said. “Our goalie group and myself and the staff, we're kind of assessing right now, personality-wise, of what we think would work best with Asky.”
Grier did make sure to point out that he’s not looking for Askarov to take on huge workload, a la Winniepeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck’s 63 games this season, next year.
It sounds like he wants more of a 1A-1B situation.
How about RFA Nikolai Kovalenko, who has vocalized his displeasure with his inconsistent playing time?
“He's a talented kid, we just have to sort out how much he's willing to buy into what we want to do,” Grier said, noting that Kovalenko has KHL options. “There's going to be an evaluation period with that, and I think he's got to be honest with himself, and talk to his agent and his circle about what he wants and what he's willing to do. As of right now, we'll plan on him being here next year.”
Grier said that there has been no decision made yet on the rest of his free agents, chiefly UFA Jan Rutta, RFAs Klim Kostin, Thomas Bordeleau, Danil Gushchin, Georgi Romanov, and the others.
Some of Grier’s free agents are also joining the San Jose Barracuda for the playoffs, which will also be a part of their evaluation.
Sharks’ Next Captain?
Grier went out of his way to let the assembled media know that he’s in no hurry to replace Logan Couture at captain.
“It’s a sacred thing for me,” Grier said.
Grier noted that he was comfortable without a captain next year: “We have a good group of leaders here.”
That’s not ruling out alternate captains Mario Ferraro, Tyler Toffoli, Barclay Goodrow, or Alex Wennberg. Or even captain-in-waiting Celebrini.
But there’s no rush.
Smith Is Going Back to Center
Will Smith was drafted as a center, but he was moved to wing at mid-season. That’s where he found most of his success this year.
But Grier says the intention is to get Smith back to his natural position as soon as possible.
“Starting next year, we'll probably get him back in there and see how it goes,” Grier said. “Will is more than capable of being a really good center in this league, a point-producing center, an impactful center.”
Will Sharks Sign Any Big Free Agents?
Don’t count on Grier making a pitch for superstar pending UFA Mitch Marner.
That said, he didn’t exactly rule it out.
Last off-season, Grier specified that five years was the max that he would offer a UFA. He was true to his word: The longest contract that he handed out was four years, $24 million to Tyler Toffoli.
Would he go past five years this off-season?
“I guess there's a possibility of it,” Grier said. “I think it's still not something I'm excited to do—to hand out, you know, seven- or eight-year deals or anything like that.”
It will likely take the maximum seven or eight years to lure a Marner.
“I'd still like to keep it more in the short to mid-term range, if possible,” Grier said.
That’s not a no, but it sounds like it.