Sharks acquired winger Kiefer Sherwood<\/a> from the Vancouver Canucks for their 2026 and 2027 second-round draft picks and minor league defenseman Cole Clayton.<\/p>\nSan Jose Hockey Now spoke with four NHL scouts, none with the Sharks or Canucks, who are all high on the player, even if they\u2019re a little leery of the acquisition cost for a pending UFA.<\/p>\n
Obviously, too, adding a winger doesn\u2019t address the Sharks\u2019 biggest need, the blueline.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the bigger area of concern for them,\u201d Scout No. 4 noted.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s still plenty of time from now until the NHL trade deadline, and San Jose has lots of other quality assets to deal for an impact defenseman.<\/p>\n
The Sharks still have all their first-round draft picks, and the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 2026 selection, too, as well as a bushel of solid prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cFabulous pick up,\u201d Scout No. 3 said of Sherwood. \u201cThought they would get a first for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sherwood, 30, is a physical 6-foot-0 winger with a scoring touch. Last season, he scored 19 goals and set an NHL record with 462 hits. This year, he has potted 17 through 44 contests and is second in the league with 210 hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally like him,\u201d Scout No. 1 said. \u201cPlays direct and gets to the net. Not a natural finisher but earns his looks. Offense will likely drop off, but plays hard, fast, and physical. Ideally, a bottom-six winger, but can jump up higher in the lineup to give a spark.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a competitive player with decent skill,\u201d Scout No. 2 said. \u201cGets in on the forecheck and plays with some jam. Can be used on both penalty kill and power play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood wheels. Offers the physicality that most teams are looking for in a playoff drive,\u201d Scout No. 3 said. \u201cPerfect middle-six banger, complements good players well. Generates turnovers and scores dirty goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would help 32 teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sharks don\u2019t have a player like Sherwood in their top-nine right now. At the moment, they don\u2019t have a prospect quite like him either.<\/p>\n
His fast and physical forechecking style, with a touch of skill, seems like an outstanding fit for how the Sharks want to play, now and in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould fit in well,\u201d Scout No. 1 said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s a fit for a lot of teams,\u201d Scout No. 3 said. \u201cHe would help 32 teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sherwood also is an excellent locker room presence, by all accounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need some vets to help younger players,\u201d Scout No. 2 said. \u201cHe will help them, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a player, Sherwood appears to be, actually, a perfect fit for the Sharks, on and off the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cChecks all those boxes,\u201d Scout No. 4 said.<\/p>\n
But there are some red flags with Sherwood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill be overpaid.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Sherwood is an ideal fit as a player for general manager Mike Grier\u2019s vision of the Sharks, he\u2019s 30 and a pending UFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink his value is highest right now under his current contract. Will be overpaid on his next,\u201d Scout No. 1 said.<\/p>\n
Sherwood\u2019s current AAV is just $1.5 million, but that might triple in his next deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely to be overpaid on his next deal, but the Sharks are okay cap-wise,\u201d Scout No. 1 added.<\/p>\n
In a perfect world, Sherwood would be in his mid-20\u2019s and locked up long-term. But on the other hand, if you wait for the perfect player who\u2019s like a Sherwood, young, physical, skilled, and great in the room \u2014 a hard-to-find combination \u2014 you could end up with nothing.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also reason to believe that Sherwood can be an integral part of the Sharks for the next half-decade, as 30 isn\u2019t 40, after all. His tangibles and intangibles could make a pricey new deal worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood trade for San Jose,\u201d Scout No. 2 said. \u201cI assume they will get him extended, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood move,\u201d Scout No. 4 said, \u201cespecially if they can re-sign him.\u201d<\/p>\n
If they don\u2019t, it\u2019s a heavy price to pay for a rental, especially for a team like the Sharks, that is a playoff contender, but not necessarily a Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n
But if you trust these scouts, Sherwood is the right kind of player for a team that\u2019s trying to establish itself as a winner.<\/p>\n
Sherwood sounds like a good risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood opportunity for the Sharks to keep him for this playoff push and gives them a chance to lock him up,\u201d Scout No. 1 said.<\/p>\n
Download and follow the San Jose Hockey Now podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Sharks are … buying? For the first time since 2019, also the last time that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[41681,88,90,89,4054],"class_list":{"0":"post-141292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-kiefer-sherwood","9":"tag-san-jose","10":"tag-san-jose-headlines","11":"tag-san-jose-news","12":"tag-sharks-analysis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}