What Mike Grier has wanted from the San Jose Sharks hasn’t changed. It just took four years of deconstructing and rebuilding to begin to realize his vision.

Grier took over as Sharks GM in Jun. 2022.

“I’ve said it since day one,” he said on Thursday, the opening of training camp, “to win in this league, you have to play fast and be hard to play against, in-your-face, competitive.”

Going back to late last season, Grier committed over $125 million to veterans Kiefer Sherwood, Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, Mason Marchment, and Michael Kesselring, to complement a young core, led by superstar do-everything center Macklin Celebrini.

“It’s kind of taken some time here, but I think this group has a lot of those characteristics,” Grier said, “so it’s a group that’s moving into the direction that I would like it to be.”

A playoff direction? Grier won’t say that’s the goal, but that’s the goal. The San Jose Sharks are hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019…and to do some damage.

“Those are still the things I believe win hockey games and win hockey games when it matters the most in the springtime,” Grier said. “So I think this is probably the closest group we’ve had to having a lot of those elements of physicality and speed, but to go along with the skill and talent that we have.”

Grier spoke for over a half hour on Thursday, addressing Will Smith’s extension, the captaincy, the team’s defensive depth, and more.

Here are my thoughts: What do I make of Smith being unsigned, as of now? Grier’s coyness about the captaincy? Should the Sharks add a defenseman?

What Will Smith’s Extension Look Like?

The question, in my mind, about Smith’s extension, isn’t if or when he’ll sign, but for how much?

Recent contracts like Ryan Leonard’s, $80 million for eight years, and Cutter Gauthier’s, $81 million for six years, are setting higher-and-higher comps for Smith.

Somewhere in between Leonard’s $10 million and Gauthier’s $13.5 million AAVs may be where we’re at now — Smith and Gauthier’s Point Per Game are similar, but Gauthier is a 40-goal scorer.

Grier projected confidence with how negotiations are going, and Will Smith didn’t seem too worried either.

“It’s in a good spot,” he said. “We’ve had good conversations, and I’m sure we’ll continue to have conversations as the year goes on.”

Smith’s estimated figure may explode soon, though.

It’s good for the San Jose Sharks if Smith has a breakout year, but it also will make him a lot more expensive.

Mitch Marner is an instructive case.

In the summer of 2018, Marner, coming off a 69-point second season, didn’t sign an extension. His 0.84 PPG was actually under sophomore Smith’s 0.86 PPG last year.

Marner bet on himself, ringing up 94 points in this third season, and earned himself a six-year and $65 million contract, almost $11 million AAV, which is 13.4 percent of the cap.

13.4 percent is roughly $15 million AAV in summer of 2027 cap language.

“There’s some risk there, but at the same time, if he has a really good year, it’s good for us, and we’ll deal with it from there,” Grier said. “But I think we have, at least on our side, we have an idea of what’s the ballpark he’ll be in, and I think it should work, hopefully, for both sides.”

The Sharks have locked Celebrini up, but they’ve got a cavalcade of young stars who will be up for massive extensions soon, besides Smith. Can San Jose also fit Michael Misa, Igor Chernyshov, Ivar Stenberg, Sam Dickinson, and Yaroslav Askarov in?

“If too many people take too much of the pie, then someone’s going to get left out,” Grier said, “and we’ll have to have some tough decisions to make, or someone’s not going to be able to be re-signed.”

That’s the reality of the salary cap, even a fast-rising cap.

Another reality: Celebrini, no doubt, occupies his own stratosphere, in terms of his importance to the franchise. There’s a reason why he’s the first of the young stars to command a staggering financial commitment.

It’s an open competition, which includes Smith, to see who the Sharks deem as irreplaceable as they seek to go from playoff hopeful to Stanley Cup contender.

The recent William Eklund trade should be a lesson to all Sharks fans: There are no sacred cows in San Jose, except those named Macklin.

Mack-aptain?

Speaking of…

Grier says that a decision hasn’t been made about whether the San Jose Sharks will have a captain this year.

And as Grier reminded us, it’s ultimately his decision.

In May, Emily Kaplan wrote, “Celebrini wearing a ‘C’ as captain next season is all but guaranteed.”

In August, San Jose Hockey Now echoed Kaplan, citing a source who said a Macklin Celebrini captaincy is “all but certain.”

“That stuff is all driven by you guys out there,” Grier said. “Someone in May said I made a decision on it.”

For what it’s worth, neither Kaplan nor I were suggesting that Grier was a source for our reporting — he certainly wasn’t for my story.

And indeed, it’s up to Mike.

Those caveats aside, it’d be a shock if Celebrini isn’t named captain before the season.

“I’ve said before that the captaincy in this league, it’s a very sacred thing to me. It’s very important. It’s not something I’m in a rush to hand out to anyone,” Grier said. “When we do decide to name a captain, it’s hopefully someone who’s going to be a captain for a long time. I don’t really believe in moving the ‘C’ around every year or every couple years.”

I mean, that sounds like your literal franchise-changing superstar, who’s already universally acclaimed for his leadership on and off the ice, and is signed until 2032, right? Who’s already served as your alternate captain last year and Canada’s captain at the most recent World Championships?

But it’s not my call.

Should Sharks Add D-Man?

The San Jose Sharks made clear improvements to their defense this off-season, adding Nurse, Trouba, and Kesselring to incumbents Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson.

I was a little surprised, however, that Grier didn’t add another NHL veteran to compete for one of the two remaining defensemen spots on the roster.

“If there’s someone on waivers or the trade market that we think improves our team, we’ll look at it,” Grier said, coyly.

Grier could also be assessing how young rearguards Nolan Allan, Luca Cagnoni, Eric Pohlkamp, and Leo Sahlin Wallenius look during camp. For what it’s worth, Allan is not waiver-exempt, while the other three rearguards are.

We’ll see how confident Grier is with these defensive prospects by Oct. 1 opening night.

“Nolan, you know what you get there. Pretty simple, but the skating and the size and the aggressiveness is always good to see,” Grier said. “Cags looks a little bit more comfortable out here…Eric had a little bit of a head start at the Rookie Faceoff, he did well there and he’s still adjusting to this level and this pace and everything. He’s been fine…And I thought Leo looked really good today for someone who hasn’t played a ton of hockey in the last six months or so.”

I still think the Sharks could use another vet on the back-end.

I get Cagnoni is arguably the team’s best hope for a PP1 quarterback right now, plus there isn’t a better readily available candidate out there for that specific job, so let’s give him a shot.

I’m not sure, however, that Allan is an NHL regular, in the long run.

I might’ve taken a pass at a Nick Blankenburg or a Logan Stanley, a couple examples of unsigned UFA defensemen.

Giving essentially two rookies — yes, I know Allan played 46 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2024-25 — spots on your defense gives me pause, especially if you’re serious about making it back into the playoffs.