No one is saying that the rebuild is over for the San Jose Sharks, but it feels like a new day at SAP Center.<\/p>\n
On Monday, GM Mike Grier surprised the hockey world, sending a pair of second-round picks to the Vancouver Canucks for pending UFA winger Kiefer Sherwood<\/a>. This was, as Grier would confirm on Thursday night, something of a reward for a team that has shocked the NHL, after back-to-back league-worst finishes, with their 25-21-3 record so far this season.<\/p>\n As of Jan. 22, the Sharks are tied for the final wild card berth in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n So it was a more-happy-than-not occasion on Thursday, when Grier addressed local media after the season ticketholder State of the Sharks event at SAP Center.<\/p>\n Grier spoke on why Sherwood was the right fit for the Sharks, his hopes to re-sign Sherwood, his biggest trade deadline decisions, what he\u2019s looking for on defense and more.<\/p>\n These were some of my takeaways from Grier\u2019s availability.<\/p>\n Kiefer Sherwood<\/p>\n As expected, Grier did not send that much draft capital to the Canucks for a rental.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s someone we’ve gone after with the idea of him not being a rental,\u201d Grier said of Sherwood.<\/p>\n Grier also noted that he had no trade deadline plans to send any of the Sharks\u2019 first-rounders out for a rental. San Jose isn\u2019t that far ahead in their rebuild, after all.<\/p>\n What makes Sherwood, who\u2019s got 17 goals this season and is second in the NHL in hits, so valuable to Grier?<\/p>\n \u201cHis acquisition was a targeted acquisition. He’s what this team needs, as far as someone who plays with some sandpaper, some grit, some speed, some physicality,\u201d Grier said. \u201cHe fits right now, but it’s just something I think, like I said from day one when I got this job, he’s the type of player I was speaking about that we need to have in here in order to be hard to play against. He just fits the identity.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Sherwood, 30, could end up being a rental. Early reports suggest that Sherwood and the Sharks\u2019 camp are far apart in contract talks.<\/p>\n But Grier, who usually stays away from negotiating in public, didn\u2019t seem overly concerned.<\/p>\n “I think we’ll be able to work something out,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we’ll just have to see how it goes.”<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a chance, if contract negotiations are going nowhere, that the Sharks could ship Sherwood out again, before the Mar. 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n There is precedent for this: Last January, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired superstar winger Mikko Rantanen<\/a> from the Colorado Avalanche, but after concluding that the pending UFA wasn\u2019t going to re-sign, flipped him to the Dallas Stars during the trade deadline.<\/p>\n Sherwood has value.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would help 32 teams,\u201d an NHL scout told San Jose Hockey Now this week.<\/p>\n State of Defense at Trade Deadline?<\/p>\n The Sharks currently have just two defensemen signed beyond this season, Dmitry Orlov<\/a> and Sam Dickinson.<\/a><\/p>\n Youngsters Shakir Mukhamadullin<\/a> and Vincent Iorio<\/a> are restricted free agents, meaning that the team has control over them.<\/p>\n Beyond that, however, the Sharks have four UFA blueliners, Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Timothy Liljegren and Vincent Desharnais, all of whom have contributed to the team\u2019s surprising start.<\/p>\n While outside consensus is that the Sharks must improve their blueline to take the next step, Grier went out of his way to recognize the current defensive corps\u2019 underappreciated efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might not be the most glamorous group of defensemen,\u201d Grier said, \u201cbut they\u2019ve played well, they\u2019ve played hard, they\u2019ve produced.\u201d<\/p>\n Grier conceded, however, that what he decides to do with his UFA blueliners could be his biggest Trade Deadline decision.<\/p>\n Like the Sherwood acquisition now, the Sharks\u2019 record in a little more than a month will guide Grier.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably the toughest decision I’ll probably have to make at the Deadline is trying to figure out where the group is at, where the team’s at, and what’s the best decision for the group short-term, but also long-term. If there’s a deal out there that gets presented to me, that makes sense?\u00a0It’s something that [we\u2019re] going to have to really think about and consider,\u201d Grier said about his free agents. \u201cIf we’re going well and things are good and we decide that we just roll through it and see what happens, it’s something we’re prepared to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Grier, interestingly, cited the example of the Montreal Canadiens last year. They had a pair of pending UFA centers, Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak, both contributing to their playoff run. They held on to both, made the playoffs, and re-signed Evans but lost Dvorak to free agency.<\/p>\n Anyway, Grier declined to be as emphatic about keeping any one of his UFA defensemen, as he was about Sherwood. It doesn\u2019t mean that Ferraro and company aren\u2019t long for San Jose, but it\u2019s noteworthy.<\/p>\n Grier, obliquely, also discussed how the Sharks are looking to improve their blueline: \u201cI think everyone’s looking for a D that can defend hard, defend the rush, and be hard around the net. If you talk to every team in the league, I think that’s what they’re looking for, because you got to defend, you got to be hard on and around your net, and you got to be able to exit your zone. Those are the things we’re looking at, they\u2019re probably no different than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n This certainly sounds like a greater emphasis on defense than offense from the blueline, for what it\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n Grier said that he wouldn\u2019t deal first-rounders for a rental, but could those come in play for the right young defenseman who can grow with Macklin Celebrini and company?<\/p>\n Besides their own first this year, they also have the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 first this season, from last year\u2019s Jake Walman trade.<\/p>\n Whatever happens, it feels like the Sharks\u2019 defense will look much different after Mar. 6.<\/p>\n Next Step?<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a good season for the San Jose Sharks\u2019 scouting and development staff.<\/p>\n 2024 second-round pick Igor Chernyshov\u2019s immediate impact is a tribute to the amateur scouts.<\/p>\n Free agent Collin Graf\u2019s transformation from college playmaker to ace NHL penalty-killer is a tribute to development.<\/p>\n And Zack Ostapchuk\u2019s emergence as a shutdown fourth-line center is a tribute to the pro scouts, who targeted him in the unpopular Fabian Zetterlund trade last season<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s similar to when we got Chucky last year at the Deadline and people were wondering why we would trade an established player [like Zetterlund],\u201d Grier said, \u201cbut you have to build a team.\u201d<\/p>\n Grier called Sherwood a \u201ctargeted acquisition\u201d. So was Ostapchuk.<\/p>\n Expect more of these, if not this summer, then during the off-season, now that the Sharks have their franchise center in Macklin Celebrini, and other potential pillars in Yaroslav Askarov, Will Smith, William Eklund, Graf, Chernyshov, and Sam Dickinson.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need players like Kiefer, players like Chucky. You need those styles of players to help supplement your group. We got a lot of skill with Mack, Will, Eky, and Toff, and guys like that,\u201d Grier said. \u201cYou need guys who can be physical, who can skate, who can be hard to play against, because, at the end of the day, that’s what wins in the playoffs, and that’s the goal for us: To get into the playoffs and win the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s still the real goal, not just making it into the playoffs this season.<\/p>\n This season, Grier and his staff, up and down the organization, are showing, playoffs or not, that they can put together a winning team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes all different types of parts and all different parts of character,\u201d Grier said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just like fantasy football, where you’re just accumulating stats.\u201d<\/p>\n Next step: Can they build a champion?<\/p>\n