The contract

San Jose Sharks sign Jacob Trouba to a four-year, $8.25 million AAV contract.

Mark Lazerus: Mike Grier, it turns out, is fallible.

Through a combination of savvy moves and lottery luck, the Sharks general manager has been understandably lauded for speed-running the rebuilding process in San Jose. But signing Jacob Trouba to a four-year deal at an $8.25-million cap hit — even considering the rocketing rates for defensemen — is a head-scratcher, for sure.

Did the Sharks need some veteran stability on the back end after spending so much draft capital and attention on the forward group? Absolutely. Is Trouba coming off his best season in years in Anaheim, even if it was buoyed by playing alongside Jackson LaCombe? Sure. Did the speed- and skill-oriented Sharks just get nastier and harder to play against, with Trouba joining Mason Marchment as new signings? They did.

Is Trouba worth $8.25 million a year? He is absolutely not.

Not counting your Cale Makars and Quinn Hugheses and Zach Werenskis, the best defensemen tend to go largely unnoticed. And for better or worse — often worse — Trouba is one of the most noticeable defensemen in the league. He’s known for his booming, borderline hits, but his unquenchable thirst to dole out those hits often leaves him badly out of position. LaCombe masked a lot of his issues in Anaheim, to the point he was essentially a break-even player in terms of expected goals, a plateau he hadn’t reached since his Winnipeg days. His big shot found the back of the net 10 times, too, after scoring four in the previous two seasons combined. But in San Jose, he’s not going to have a partner anywhere near LaCombe’s level. He’s too slow to be a true top-pairing defenseman alongside Sam Dickinson, he’s not responsible enough to be a shutdown defender alongside, say, Dmitry Orlov, and he’s too pricey to make sense as a depth guy.

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Signing Trouba in a vacuum isn’t a bad idea. The Sharks could use some of what he brings, and a young team can benefit from having a player who was a captain in a major market in New York. But this isn’t a vacuum, and while prices are high all over the place (other than Montreal, it seems), this was simply too high for too long.

Contract grade: C-minus

Shayna Goldman: See, I don’t even think this one is a head-scratcher. Not even for a team that has gotten off to a fantastic start this offseason. It’s the kind of trap contract general managers cannot help but sign.

There are ways to defend it. The Sharks desperately need defensemen. Before the Trouba signing, the team only had three under contract for next year: Dmitry Orlov, Michael Kesselring, and Sam Dickinson. And not one of them is a true minute-eater who can be leaned on against top competition. So factor in Trouba’s experience playing shutdown minutes, the veteran presence he brings to an up-and-coming locker room, and the fact that San Jose has cap flexibility over the next few years, and this all checks out, right?

Well, not exactly — and certainly not at that price. Because even at his best, he can’t live up to the $8.25 million price tag. Trouba’s track record is way too much of a mixed bag.

As much as he bounced back with the Ducks last season, that rebound has its limits. At his best, he’s a No.4 who can put up passable results in his minutes, with a right-shot and some sandpaper. At his worst, his footspeed burns him at defending the rush, he botches his retrievals and gets hemmed in his own zone, and just gets peppered in scoring chances against. Even if he lands somewhere in between, it won’t be $8.25 million caliber, not even in this cap environment. Trouba only projects to be worth $3.1 million, on average, over the next four years. Age-related declines could sink that even further, and that’s pretty believable for someone with his physical play style.

While the Sharks obviously didn’t have a ton of options to choose from in free agency this year, this team has all the trade assets to swing a trade that 1) has more upside and, 2) lines up better with their timeline.

The four-year term is the saving grace, because he shouldn’t totally block the Sharks’ younger talent from jumping into a meaningful role. Still, it doesn’t absolve Grier from this signing. It’s a major misstep before San Jose’s window is even officially open.

Contract grade: D