Totally. Zetterlund, Granlund, Sturm and Blackwood have been solid. Thrun and Emberson have shown some nice flashes. And we’ll see how these draft picks perform soon enough.
That was just an attempt to make a point that Grier has a lot to do before I think he’s “crushing it.”
Saying he's been crushing it is certainly premature to me, but I think the enthusiasm for how he's done has more to do with the big picture of where the franchise was when he came in versus most of the players he's acquired. Do I care about the specifics of guys you listed in that post above--like that he took a chance on Lindblom or Nutivaara? Not really. Even something like the Benning signing has to be taken in the context of nobody wanting to join the Sharks at the time, so, hey, there's a mildly cromulent guy most of the time (excepting his high-visibility f***ups).
It's really about Grier having a plan and acting on it. And, I'd say, convincing Plattner to go along with the full tear-down.
Obviously winning the lottery this year helps his resume, but that required good fortune. Outside of that, though, it's been about Grier moving on players who were of little use to the team going forward in a rebuild--and in some cases actual hindrances with their contracts--and actually getting valuable assets in return.
I'm a fan of the Meier, Karlsson, and Hertl trade returns, and the fact that he made those three trades and did some nice restocking of the cupboard in the process is way more important to me than the signings he's made that were never likely to be all that successful.
And on top of that, the draft from last summer (which I count as his first real draft) is looking very good a year out; I'd say that Smith, Musty, Halttunen, Pohlkamp, and Cagnoni have all kicked on nicely in that time. No guarantees, but obviously that development is great to see.
So, back to the "crushing it" idea: like I said, it's too early for me to make such a proclamation, but in terms of what really matters for the rebuild? Very happy so far.
