Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[sampler]

LTIR does not remove a contract from your cap hit.

No way I spend that much money on aging, middling players when we will soon have to extend Eklund, Celebrini, Smith, and Askarov.

That's also going to be awful defense going forward.

It is not going to happen. Just having a little fun. and I think LTIR does allow you to go over the cap, no? And I dunno if I would call those guys "aging"? all are 27-29 years old, so they should be pretty good for at least 3-4 more years before major decline.

The more realistic plays are what I posted subsequently. Marner and ehlers are not targets due to size. This summer is the summer of size!!! I bet no one acquired or signed will be under 6'1. and I expect as many 6'2", 200+ players as possible. Bennett and Boeser at 6'1 each would be the smallest I expect grier to consider. the top sharks teams had Hertl, Meier, Thornton, marleau, burns... all big dudes. Grier will want to reproduce this, but with talent unlike Klim Kostin.

Rantanen on a max deal???

For UFA D, Chychrun and Ekblad would be top targets with their size and skill. Provorov would be a secondary option. Dobson in trade.

Grier has some options out there to add some size and skill this offseason. I would be surprised if he struly stood pat. Besides, he kinda has to go buy some guys to hit the cap floor.

 

[Cas]

It is not going to happen. Just having a little fun. and I think LTIR does allow you to go over the cap, no? And I dunno if I would call those guys "aging"? all are 27-29 years old, so they should be pretty good for at least 3-4 more years before major decline.

The more realistic plays are what I posted subsequently. Marner and ehlers are not targets due to size. This summer is the summer of size!!! I bet no one acquired or signed will be under 6'1. and I expect as many 6'2", 200+ players as possible. Bennett and Boeser at 6'1 each would be the smallest I expect grier to consider. the top sharks teams had Hertl, Meier, Thornton, marleau, burns... all big dudes. Grier will want to reproduce this, but with talent unlike Klim Kostin.

Rantanen on a max deal???

For UFA D, Chychrun and Ekblad would be top targets with their size and skill. Provorov would be a secondary option. Dobson in trade.

Grier has some options out there to add some size and skill this offseason. I would be surprised if he struly stood pat. Besides, he kinda has to go buy some guys to hit the cap floor.

LTIR gives you a pool that allows you to exceed the cap by a certain amount (it is not the contract AAV), but you still have the cap hit and you do not accrue cap space if you are using LTIR space (which is why Couture is not on LTIR even though he will never play again).

 

[ThePlanet]

I would love the sharks to go big this summer. Ehlers (8M) and marner (12M) along with Ekblad (8), pionk (8), and chechryn (8) would be alot of fun. Even if the 5 of them cost 44M per year. The sharks are projected to have 43M in cap space next year. If they trade Ferraro, that would be 46M or so. they also have 7M coming off the books after next year with pickles, and another 8m off the books with cooch (and actually LTIR means 8m off the books already, making the real cap space w/o ferraro at 54m.)

The forwards with all 5 of those guys signed would be:

Mack-Marner-Toffoli
Smith-Ehlers-eklund
Wennberg-zetterlund-Kovalenko
Who cares (goodrow, grund, dyll)

That's a pretty strong forward lineup, and definitely a playoff caliber one. And that also assumes no rookie steps up and takes a top 9 role. Graf, gushkin, Bordeleau, Cardwell, Musty, Chernyshov, Bystedt.... Any could prove ready to take a larger role next year. Cherny especially looks almost NHL ready, and he sure has the size. He will also turn 20 early in the season as he is a bit old for his draft year.

Ekblad-Walman
Pionk-Chychryn
Liljgren-Mukh
Thrun

That top 4 D is definitely playoff worthy. Right now, Walman is the only guy who adds anything offensively and can eat good minutes. But with Pionk and Chychrun added, the sharks would now have at least 3 or 4 legit scoring threats from the blueline. it would also allow them to slowly slot in dick, cagnoni, thompson, or pohlcamp rather than forcing them into top 4 roles.

They have the cap space to make all these signings. I know its a pipe dream that is completely unrealistic, but its not like they cant fit it. Furthermore, They have 80M!! projected space in two years, so adding 50M this summer does not bankrupt them at all going forward. The only 2 main guys to resign in summer '26 are Ekman and Walman, and by then we should have at least 2 or 3 strong rookies make the team and take top 9 roles or top 4 D.

In complete honesty, if Grier decided to cash in the summer, he could leap the sharks into contention right away and would not hamstring the team at all going forward. Even in 5 years, when those plays are 33-34 years old and in major decline, the cap will be much higher and most importantly, all the young kids in the system now (including the '25 pick) will be coming into their primes, allowing for somewhat decreased production from the marner/Ehlers/Pionk types while still being a very strong team.

In science, speeding up an experiment often leads to failure, and sometimes catastrophic explosions...

Spending all the money you have available is not a wise financial decision, and is how you end up having to trade off high draft picks or promising prospects, in order to clear cap space. This is especially true when you have players coming up in the system that you know you're going to need to pay, like Macklin.

 

[sampler]

In science, speeding up an experiment often leads to failure, and sometimes catastrophic explosions...

Spending all the money you have available is not a wise financial decision, and is how you end up having to trade off high draft picks or promising prospects, in order to clear cap space. This is especially true when you have players coming up in the system that you know you're going to need to pay, like Macklin.

Of course, you are correct. Grier is not gunna try to sign 5 big name UFAs. Its ridiculous. That post is not to be taken seriously.

All that said, having 43M in cap space next year and 80M the following year means that some money needs to be spent earlier. mack and will dont need to be given $$$ until summer of '27, and eklund is the only big name RFA who needs $$ in summer '26. Zetterlund is the only one aligned for a payday of any respectable amount this summer. This means the sharks can spend a lot and still have ample space to resign all the key young guys when the time comes.

The big question is going to be grier's approach. Does he start adding long term bigger $ deals or stick with the strategy of the last couple summers of adding mediocre depth players to big $ but little term, or does he take on bad contracts for draft assets like he did for ceci and walman (who of course turned out great).

I find the cap space for picks option to be far less likely this summer given: A) the cap went up so much that no team should be so cash strapped that they have to pay to divest assets. And B) Grier has to want to start to add pieces to build a contender, rather than be resigned to tank yet again.

So I do expect a couple significant UFA signings of at least one D and one top 6 forward. I also expect Grier to trade the dallas pick in a package to get more size, especially on D. Sharks don't really need another late 20's prospect as they will pick in the top 3 and then again at #33, which usually nets a late 1st round talent anyways (like chernyshov). They dont need 3 1st round level prospects again, when they are looking to build a roster that can compete much sooner than such a prospect would be ready to contribute.

 

[coooldude]

I'm not going to get into the nuances of one potential big name UFA vs another, but I'll say my expected offseason from Grier based on his comment of not wanting to sign "3 guys for $9mm and then two of them don't work out and you're dealing with it in a few years":

- One top of lineup UFA/trade in the $9mm++ AAV range - Marner, Dobson, Pionk, Ehlers, whoever he can convince to sign
- one middle of lineup (think Walman/Wennberg) at 4-6mm AAV, which for Sharks would still be a big get
- a fair few castaways and journeymen to replace some of our less consistent, more problematic unqualified RFA's or UFAs

He could go bigger, but I would be surprised. He could definitely go smaller depending on how the market shakes out. But last summer proves he's not afraid to make moves.

 

[sampler]

I'm not going to get into the nuances of one potential big name UFA vs another, but I'll say my expected offseason from Grier based on his comment of not wanting to sign "3 guys for $9mm and then two of them don't work out and you're dealing with it in a few years":

- One top of lineup UFA/trade in the $9mm++ AAV range - Marner, Dobson, Pionk, Ehlers, whoever he can convince to sign
- one middle of lineup (think Walman/Wennberg) at 4-6mm AAV, which for Sharks would still be a big get
- a fair few castaways and journeymen to replace some of our less consistent, more problematic unqualified RFA's or UFAs

He could go bigger, but I would be surprised. He could definitely go smaller depending on how the market shakes out. But last summer proves he's not afraid to make moves.

I expect more than just two impact adds. After all, the sharks lost granny. To add just one top 6 forward and one middle pair D would be just replacing granny and adding just 1 middle pair D, which is little more than replacing Ceci. First, that may not actually spend enough as it might leave the sharks with too much space. Second, they would still be bottom feeders as that's not really much of an upgrade over this year's starting roster aside from a year more experience for the kids.

I expect at least one more impact add via trade or UFA, especially on the back end.

My big fear is the "castaways": if he adds another few Goodrows and pays them similarly 3-4M per, I will lose my s**t. Grier has added a lot of overpriced crap in his tenure and we have a fourth worst and two dead last finishes to show for it. That was fine for a while, but not anymore. It's time to add quality guys, not a small army of Luke kunin, Ty Dyllandrea, grundstrom, lindbom, Kostin, and even Wennberg ($5m per?). It time to get actual quality NHL players in the house...

Big summer coming...

 

[timorous me]

I'm not going to get into the nuances of one potential big name UFA vs another, but I'll say my expected offseason from Grier based on his comment of not wanting to sign "3 guys for $9mm and then two of them don't work out and you're dealing with it in a few years":

- One top of lineup UFA/trade in the $9mm++ AAV range - Marner, Dobson, Pionk, Ehlers, whoever he can convince to sign
- one middle of lineup (think Walman/Wennberg) at 4-6mm AAV, which for Sharks would still be a big get
- a fair few castaways and journeymen to replace some of our less consistent, more problematic unqualified RFA's or UFAs

He could go bigger, but I would be surprised. He could definitely go smaller depending on how the market shakes out. But last summer proves he's not afraid to make moves.

I have to say, I'd consider this outcome a major success for Grier. In fact, I'd consider just a middle-lineup player and a couple positive lower-level acquisitions to be a solid outcome. I just think that getting any top-of-the-lineup guy right now, with how bad the team is (combined with the long-standing worries about getting players to come to California), even with Celebrini in place, would be kind of amazing.

I'm also not worried that this kind of plan would be deleterious for the long-term future of the rebuild, as with the cap rising it would be manageable. I can see an argument to wait a year or two to add free agents who might only have a few somewhat prime years left, but I've kind of softened on this stance over the past couple years as I've seen how the Giants have proceeded in their not-exactly-a-rebuild that's not-exactly worked.

Having a star prospect does sort of change the equation, but I think getting a top player in at any point of the rebuild matters for a lot of reasons, whether it's outside perception or support for your top kids or pumping up the fanbase, and if the Sharks can convince someone like that to come at this point, I'm all for it.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

First everyone said his production was a product of Matthews, then Matthews went down and Marner kept on producing. Now he's a product of Nylander? Even though they're both RWs?

And that's beside the point that we do actually have "that kind of goalscorer".

This is all a moot point, since he's not signing here, but if he has even a baseline level of interest in coming to SJ you 100% push it as far as you can go.

I don’t know what you’re getting on your soap box for with that first bit. Marner has been playing with Nylander and Tavares. We don’t have that kind of goal scorer. None of what we have compares to someone that’s going to post three consecutive 40 goal seasons.

Signing Marner puts the team down the wrong path for building a playoff competitive team even if he brings a clear improvement to regular season competitiveness.

 

[tiburon12]

I'm not going to get into the nuances of one potential big name UFA vs another, but I'll say my expected offseason from Grier based on his comment of not wanting to sign "3 guys for $9mm and then two of them don't work out and you're dealing with it in a few years":

- One top of lineup UFA/trade in the $9mm++ AAV range - Marner, Dobson, Pionk, Ehlers, whoever he can convince to sign

Rantanen 12x7

- one middle of lineup (think Walman/Wennberg) at 4-6mm AAV, which for Sharks would still be a big get

Bennet 7x5
Ekblad 8x7

- a fair few castaways and journeymen to replace some of our less consistent, more problematic unqualified RFA's or UFAs

He could go bigger, but I would be surprised. He could definitely go smaller depending on how the market shakes out. But last summer proves he's not afraid to make moves.

There's 27 out of 43m in cap space and gives us:
elite winger and finisher for Mack
Playoff-style 2C/w (if Smith needs sheltering as he learns to C)
#1D to steer the ship before prospects are ready.

Then, do what you can to poach Nemec from NJD or wait a year and OS him @4.8 for a 2nd

By the end of 2026, and assuming some of our better prospects pan out or show that they are gonna pan out, that's a team that will attract role-playing guys in FA.

 

[coooldude]

Rantanen 12x7

Bennet 7x5
Ekblad 8x7

There's 27 out of 43m in cap space and gives us:
elite winger and finisher for Mack
Playoff-style 2C/w (if Smith needs sheltering as he learns to C)
#1D to steer the ship before prospects are ready.

Then, do what you can to poach Nemec from NJD or wait a year and OS him @4.8 for a 2nd

By the end of 2026, and assuming some of our better prospects pan out or show that they are gonna pan out, that's a team that will attract role-playing guys in FA.

This is awesome! But I don't think it's realistic that's why my post was about my expectation, not what I hope happens.

It's simply not realistic to plan for the Sharks signing the #1 UFA who is more likely than not going to stay at his new home, two more high end UFAs, and also poach one of the league's top RD prospects in an off-season. If I'm wrong, I'll be super excited, but it feels more like a video game than a realistic expectation.

In over 30 years, Toffoli at 4x6 is the Sharks' biggest FA signing ever. That really sunk in for me last off-season.

 

[tiburon12]

This is awesome! But I don't think it's realistic that's why my post was about my expectation, not what I hope happens.

It's simply not realistic to plan for the Sharks signing the #1 UFA who is more likely than not going to stay at his new home, two more high end UFAs, and also poach one of the league's top RD prospects in an off-season. If I'm wrong, I'll be super excited, but it feels more like a video game than a realistic expectation.

In over 30 years, Toffoli at 4x6 is the Sharks' biggest FA signing ever. That really sunk in for me last off-season.

Yea, definitely not realistic, but the framework is one i think needs to happen (the nemec thing would be next season FYI though).

We need to make a calculated splash this year that springs us up into the next strata of team while simulataneuosly support and not sabotaging the youth movement.

 

[Star Platinum]

Yea, definitely not realistic, but the framework is one i think needs to happen (the nemec thing would be next season FYI though).

We need to make a calculated splash this year that springs us up into the next strata of team while simulataneuosly support and not sabotaging the youth movement.

It's simply not up to us if we make a splash or not. Players have to want to come to play for the last place team in the league and that's gonna be a hard (though easier than last year) sell.

If they manage to get one free agent of note to sign here, I'll be pleasantly surprised. My hope would be that we get at least two league average middle of the lineup or better quality guys in free agency that we don't have to overpay too much to come and if we do overpay, give them more money and fewer years. But a lot of the cracks are probably going to have to be addressed in trades and trading futures for NHL quality veterans.

I feel like it's a waste of time trying to pick which players I'd want to chase not knowing if they'd want to come as free agents or whether their current team is willing to trade players for us. I just hope Grier sets his sights higher than he did this last offseason when he did more dumpster diving than he had to. He needs to aim for guys at or above Walman's level in terms of talent this time. No more bottom 6 defensemen or barely 4th line forwards.

 

[mogambomoroo]

Very good conversation about what Sharks needs to do to be successful but the thing is that MG should be looking for deals yesterday.
The getting better part has already started, so if there is a deal that can make them better for now & future at a reasonable price, he should go for it.
I want to see a lot better end of the season which will be a bridge to the next one with all the additions.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Rantanen 12x7

Bennet 7x5
Ekblad 8x7

There's 27 out of 43m in cap space and gives us:
elite winger and finisher for Mack
Playoff-style 2C/w (if Smith needs sheltering as he learns to C)
#1D to steer the ship before prospects are ready.

Then, do what you can to poach Nemec from NJD or wait a year and OS him @4.8 for a 2nd

By the end of 2026, and assuming some of our better prospects pan out or show that they are gonna pan out, that's a team that will attract role-playing guys in FA.

I think those cap numbers are going to be much higher than projected especially if the Sharks want to have any chance.

I was thinking:
Rantanen or Marner at 7x$15-17 million.
Ekblad at 7x$9 million
Pionk at 7x$8 million
Bennett at 7x$8 million

Even signing those 4 players at those deals would be $40 million in cap which the Sharks can absorb since it is literally half their cap space in 2 years.

 

[Patty Ice]

If Dobson (6'4") hits the market, grier will definitely make a big play. Dallas 1st+Cagnoni+Ferraro could be a good enough return?

Underwhelming offer. GMs aren't going to value those late 1sts traditionally. Most are aware it lacks depth. You won't find a bigger Cagnoni fan than me but realistically teams aren't going to value him as us fans might or the Sharks organization due to his size limitations unless Lou has a guy in his scouting department that loves his game and even I doubt he would hold the value to be a centerpiece in a deal for Dobson. Ferraro is Ferraro and I'm sure they might have Interest but overall that offer is extremely underwhelming.

 

[Skeksis25]

The fact that Toffoli is our biggest FA signing ever should tell you that its unrealistic to expect big splashes in free agency. High value players with multiple options generally don't seem to have San Jose as a desirable destination. I'd be shocked if that suddenly changed this offseason. Although who knows. Grier signed Toffoli and Toffoli stated playing with Celebrini was a big reason why he signed. I don't know if there were a ton of other teams offering him a similar deal and he turned those down for us or not, but its something. Maybe Celebrini and the promise he has shown this year can make us a more attractive destination? I would still be very surprised.

We have to build the team via the draft and trades. Its how its always been.

 

[Jargon]

The fact that Toffoli is our biggest FA signing ever should tell you that its unrealistic to expect big splashes in free agency. High value players with multiple options generally don't seem to have San Jose as a desirable destination. I'd be shocked if that suddenly changed this offseason. Although who knows. Grier signed Toffoli and Toffoli stated playing with Celebrini was a big reason why he signed. I don't know if there were a ton of other teams offering him a similar deal and he turned those down for us or not, but its something. Maybe Celebrini and the promise he has shown this year can make us a more attractive destination? I would still be very surprised.

We have to build the team via the draft and trades. Its how its always been.

I think he said that but the actual reason is he’s won his Cup, his wife is from the area and he gets 4 years where he was guaranteed a place he can relax and not be traded away from. I think everything just aligned with Toffoli. I’m dubious of our ability to sign any of the big FAs because as good as Celebrini is, there are tons of great young guys players would be interested in playing with, who are on better teams in places with less taxes.

Like I said somewhere else, Marner is the only one that, if I squint, might be convinceable purely cause of Joe and Marleau.

 

[Hodge]

I was looking at AFP Analytics latest contract projections. They're usually pretty accurate and they have Kovacevic pegged for a 2x1.5M contract as a UFA. This seems insanely low but maybe I'm overrating Kovacevic. He's 27 and this is his first season as a top 4 defenseman and he doesn't really provide any offense. I would have been happy with the Sharks giving him the Brett Pesce contract (6x5.5M) so it would rock if we can get him for significantly less than that.

 

[sampler]

Underwhelming offer. GMs aren't going to value those late 1sts traditionally. Most are aware it lacks depth. You won't find a bigger Cagnoni fan than me but realistically teams aren't going to value him as us fans might or the Sharks organization due to his size limitations unless Lou has a guy in his scouting department that loves his game and even I doubt he would hold the value to be a centerpiece in a deal for Dobson. Ferraro is Ferraro and I'm sure they might have Interest but overall that offer is extremely underwhelming.

You might be right that the 1st and cagnoni is not good enough. Personally, I have no problem adding a musty or haltunnen to the offer.

At this point, the D has to be priority #1. As I mentioned, outside of walman, they have no top 4 D. They need at least two more to be a reasonable team. Dick is not ready to step into that kind of role and wont be for a few years.

If a clear top 4 D is available via trade or UFA, Grier has to move on it. We have a lot of prospects and picks, so it's time to begin adding sure things. You cannot hope to complete a rebuild with homegrown talent alone. Even if everyone hits, we need solid NHL vets around them. Dobson would be a great target. Ekblad too. chychrun would be good as well.

Either way, I tink Grier needs to start adding real D. Liljgren was a cast off Ferraro is a 3rd pair on a good team. Thrun's cieling looks like 3rd pair. mukh is young, but I havent seen top 4 like play yet. Cagnoni has potential but is so undersized for an already undersized team. Thompson also has shown flashed but again nothing top 4 like yet. It's essential to beef up the D alot this summer.

I would be fine if they added virtually nothing up front if they could bring in 2 minute munching two way NHL D vets.

 

[sampler]

I think he said that but the actual reason is he’s won his Cup, his wife is from the area and he gets 4 years where he was guaranteed a place he can relax and not be traded away from. I think everything just aligned with Toffoli. I’m dubious of our ability to sign any of the big FAs because as good as Celebrini is, there are tons of great young guys players would be interested in playing with, who are on better teams in places with less taxes.

Like I said somewhere else, Marner is the only one that, if I squint, might be convinceable purely cause of Joe and Marleau.

marner is not coming. hes too small. Pure and simple.

64	Mikael Granlund	C	52	15	30	45	20	-8	1992-02-26	32	Oulu, Finland	5.10	185
71	Mack Celebrini	C	45	17	23	40	20	-20	2006-06-13	18	North Vancouver, BC	6.00	190
72	William Eklund	L	52	11	29	40	8	-5	2002-10-12	21	Stockholm, Sweden	5.11	181
73	Tyler Toffoli	C	54	20	16	36	10	-19	1992-04-24	32	Scarborough, ONT	6.00	203
20	Fabian Zetterlund	L	57	15	18	33	10	9	1999-08-25	25	Karlstad, Sweden	5.11	220
96	Jake Walman	D	44	6	23	29	30	-1	1996-02-20	28	Toronto, ONT	6.01	218
2	William Smith	C	49	8	15	23	10	-9	2005-03-17	19	Boston, MA	6.00	181

Sharks top 6 leading scoring forwards are all 6' or less and only toffoli tops 200 lbs. No way Grier adds yet another undersized forward (6', 180) with no physicality. the only UFA forward targets will have to be 6'1"+, 200 lbs+. Don't waste time thinking that Grier will target any more smaller forwards.

 

[Celly4Celebrini]

Underwhelming offer. GMs aren't going to value those late 1sts traditionally. Most are aware it lacks depth. You won't find a bigger Cagnoni fan than me but realistically teams aren't going to value him as us fans might or the Sharks organization due to his size limitations unless Lou has a guy in his scouting department that loves his game and even I doubt he would hold the value to be a centerpiece in a deal for Dobson. Ferraro is Ferraro and I'm sure they might have Interest but overall that offer is extremely underwhelming.

agreed, while i like Dobson, the rumours of his value being around a young top forward dont match with the late 1st+ prospects no matter how many you add to it.

I think most of the UFAs are unlikely except maybe Ekblad or the second tier of guys like Bennett and even then i'd guess we get at most 1, definitely not several.

Marners an interesting case of a guy that needs to be out of the limelight but is unlikely to go to a non-cup contender. IMO i think places like Carolina (if they dont resign Mikko), LA, COL, and Jersey are all more likely if they can make the cap work.

 

[pappaf2]

Macklin to Mikko R.:
“Hey Mikko come to SJ, I’ll be your Mackinnon.”

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

I think those cap numbers are going to be much higher than projected especially if the Sharks want to have any chance.

I was thinking:
Rantanen or Marner at 7x$15-17 million.
Ekblad at 7x$9 million
Pionk at 7x$8 million
Bennett at 7x$8 million

Even signing those 4 players at those deals would be $40 million in cap which the Sharks can absorb since it is literally half their cap space in 2 years.

And thus literally half their cap in 2 years on 30+ year old players who might not even be very good at that point. These are the kind of moves that actually destroy rebuilding teams.

 

[Sharksfan66]

First everyone said his production was a product of Matthews, then Matthews went down and Marner kept on producing. Now he's a product of Nylander? Even though they're both RWs?

And that's beside the point that we do actually have "that kind of goalscorer".

This is all a moot point, since he's not signing here, but if he has even a baseline level of interest in coming to SJ you 100% push it as far as you can go.

I think you may be underestimating the impact mentors can have in your life. Does Marner look up to Patty? Looking from the outside in, it sure seems like it. And I know for me, if the mentor I had as a young 20 something, whose house I was often invited to before I had a family of my own, told me they thought a certain job opportunity would be a great fit for me, it would certainly make me think real hard about it.

And Think how easy the pitch is.

"Mitchy, are you sick of Toronto media? Come to SJ. It will be a game changer for you. And have you seen the kids we have coming up? This team will be a powerhouse before you know it, especially with you here. And did I mention it's currently 65 degrees and sunny here right now? What's the weather like in Toronto today?"


That said, Matthews didn't come here after living with the Thorntons, and it does seem the Matthews-Marner bromance is strong, so I'm not saying we should expect him to come here. But I would go as far as to say if he leaves Toronto, I actually expect him to come to SJ.

 

[wickedwitch]

marner is not coming. hes too small. Pure and simple.

64	Mikael Granlund	C	52	15	30	45	20	-8	1992-02-26	32	Oulu, Finland	5.10	185
71	Mack Celebrini	C	45	17	23	40	20	-20	2006-06-13	18	North Vancouver, BC	6.00	190
72	William Eklund	L	52	11	29	40	8	-5	2002-10-12	21	Stockholm, Sweden	5.11	181
73	Tyler Toffoli	C	54	20	16	36	10	-19	1992-04-24	32	Scarborough, ONT	6.00	203
20	Fabian Zetterlund	L	57	15	18	33	10	9	1999-08-25	25	Karlstad, Sweden	5.11	220
96	Jake Walman	D	44	6	23	29	30	-1	1996-02-20	28	Toronto, ONT	6.01	218
2	William Smith	C	49	8	15	23	10	-9	2005-03-17	19	Boston, MA	6.00	181

Sharks top 6 leading scoring forwards are all 6' or less and only toffoli tops 200 lbs. No way Grier adds yet another undersized forward (6', 180) with no physicality. the only UFA forward targets will have to be 6'1"+, 200 lbs+. Don't waste time thinking that Grier will target any more smaller forwards.

If GMMG actually thinks that the issue with Marner is his size, he should be fired tomorrow.

If Marner were willing to sign a good contract, then you sign him and trade someone else (or multiple someones) who is not Celebrini.

(Also, your own data shows Zetterlund is 220 lbs.)