Confirmed with Link: Zetterlund, Robins, 4th to Ottawa for 2025 2nd, Zack Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor

[Lebanezer]

The guys with the most say in how good the Sharks are next year will be Celebrini and Smith (barring injury). Grier will do his best, but simply based on their trajectories this season, their individual performance improvements alone will be significant.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

You're wasting a year of building to competing, which means you lose a year of competing on the backend.

They have to build before they can compete. Prior to this season they had Eklund and literally nothing else that was proven NHL ready. After this season they’ll have Eklund, Celebrini, Smith, Askarov, probably Muhk, and maybe Graf as NHL ready pieces to build with. That’s solid progress.

With 4 top 60 picks in the next two drafts, including a top 3 overall, Grier has positioned the team to add elite prospects AND some NHL ready talent via trade. And with something like $35-45M in cap space he may be able to add a nice piece or two via free agency.

The point being, it’s really only just been this season where the Sharks have actually started building. It’s gonna take time.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Sure but drafting 6th-10th overall is also wasting a year of Celebrini/Askarov's primes and you don't even get a surefire prospect to show for it.

Yes, but it would be a year of positive growth and building.

I should clarify that, of course, building through high draft picks is a good thing. But when that becomes the goal, you sacrifice growth (and building) in other parts of your roster.

I agree with all of this and I realize "just one more year" is a slippery slope. I just don't think it's the worst idea to have a repeat of the 2024 offseason - sign some quality veteran UFAs, maybe try to package the Edmonton 1st and a prospect like Bystedt to make an Askarov-esque trade for a defenseman who fits the timeline - rather than aggressively pursuing a Marner or Ekblad.

This could be fair. My only concern is that the goal should be to finish better. The goal should not be to tank; it should be to improve the roster and finish better to improve even more (and making the playoffs) the following season.

Maybe a way of framing it is that at the 2026 TDL, even if this isn't a playoff team, I would want it to be a serious debate about extending Ferraro and Wennberg instead of just trading them for futures.

Agree with this. For so long Patty and Jumbo were our two key core players and we traded for Jumbo when he was 26 in 2005 and maintained a cup window of 10+ years (with a couple of down years sprinkled in there) during their time in teal. Smith and Celebrini are still teenagers.

Hell, the Panthers drafted Ekblad and Barkov top 3 in 2013 and 2014 while drafting Huberdeau 3rd overall a couple of years earlier. They didn’t make the cup until two years ago. They added Reinhart, Bob, Bennett, Tkachuk (Huby trade) etc. as their core matured.

I think those players are the exception. In any case, my point would remain! 15 years of a contention window is more than 14 years...

There will be a time for Grier to make aggressive moves for high impact players via free agency and trade. We’re still a ways away from that. He does need to add some vets and improve the team starting this offseason though while our prospect pool continues to grow.

WRT to free agency, perhaps. There generally won't be value there, and often a team has to tie itself to a bad contract.
But via trade? Yes! If Grier had traded Zetterlund and a 2nd for Yakemchuk, who would have complained? Grier should absolutely be looking for high-impact players via trade.

 

[timorous me]

Agree with most of this. The “losing culture” thing is overstated. If Celebrini, Smith, etc. are the leaders and professionals that we make them out to be then they’ll overcome it.

I think the main thing for next year is supporting the young players as best as possible. Toffoli was a nice part of doing that this year, Wennberg to some degree as well, and Walman (somewhat surprisingly). And of course Granlund for half the year.

So there we have two guys to replace just to gain the level of support that we had for our young guys this year.

Next year, at a minimum, we'll have Celebrini, Smith, Askarov, and Mukhamadullin in the lineup. Maybe add one young defenseman to that, as well. We pretty clearly need one or two top six options to help out Celebrini and Smith--not so much about wins, right, as making sure they're developing as well as possible?

The Mukhamadullin experiment on the right is going pretty well for now (though against a top team like Colorado he got in a number of not great situations by being on his backhand against the right half-boards or in the corner). But I'd prefer to move him back to the left next season unless you win the lottery and get Schafer. We saw some of this last night and it wasn't great. Walman hadn't been very good since around Christmas, but still...he helped in that regard.

Of course, improving the defense will help Askarov not be pummeled, which I'd say is pretty important for his mental state long-term. Beyond that, I feel like we really need at least one defenseman brought in who's a good puck-mover, a PP1 option. Not only to help Askarov and maybe Schaefer or Dickinson and Mukhamadullin, but to help our young forwards, as well, because we know how dangerous Celebrini can be with his speed in the transition game, but it's going to be tough to allow him to flourish in those ways if he's only getting breakout passes from guys like Desharnais and Ferraro.

Anyway, the point is, as I think you'd agree, that Grier's shopping list will be targeted more from this perspective rather than simply improving wins and losses. Sure, the two can go hand-in-hand in a way, but I think now it's more about trying to build around the guys in place than just grabbing any additions to boost the win total and appease a certain group of sad fans.

 

[TheBeard]

I do indeed believe there will not be 30 other teams offering Eklund a large offer sheet that we cannot afford to match.

My point is if Eklund didn’t want to stay, no amount of money would change his mind, especially an 8 mil AAV which 30
teams would gladly give him if he became available via trade.

 

[TheBeard]

I will add that the same thing happened when Hertl was traded. Fans are emotional and losing fan favorite players is hard...but you get over it with time. Now the Hertl return was a lot more solid (particularly given his negative value contract...thank you, Joe Will) whereas here we really need to put faith in the scouts and Ostapchuk (+ whatever the 2nd round pick is used for, I guess), but that's besides the point. Overall, I agree with your point wholeheartedly.

Losing a fan favorite who’s already in his thirties before the rebuild really had a chance to start is different than a young player who offered something for the future. Zetts contract, unless he was asking for the moon, was never going to be a hinderance.

I truly believe Mike had intended to trade Fabian all along which is why he waited for the last second to do so. Get the best (in his mind) offer he could. Probably had a list of 15 younger players he could “target” with a pre-written template about how they were the player they wanted all along, but the key for him was the second rounder.

 

[Munnyro]

Having acceptable goaltending and defense will fix a ton problems.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

My point is if Eklund didn’t want to stay, no amount of money would change his mind, especially an 8 mil AAV which 30
teams would gladly give him if he became available via trade.

I don’t see a reason to be concerned about that hypothetical. I’d look to get him an 8 year deal for whatever he’d accept in July. If Eklund wants out because building a team takes time then we look to move him where we get something useful. As likable as Eklund is, he’s not irreplaceable.

 

[themelkman]

Im not worried about Eklund wanting out yet, I suspect its much more likely Grier would want to move him for a player that fits what he likes.

 

[sampler]

I would not be at all surprised to see Eklund shipped out in a blockbuster for a top pairing big D 23 or younger. It seems very very clear to me the roster Grier is building after listening to his interview.

1. Forwards: He has his 4 centers of the future already set with Ostapchuk in the 3C role. He wants hulking, mean, skilled, power forward wingers. He has 3 in the system (cherny, musty, haltunnen) already along with Lund. He likely wants 1 or 2 more this draft, with either Misa/Martone or with the #30 and 33 picks. I get that martone fits the mold better, but Misa, at 6'1, is not undersized, so I would expect grier to go with him over Martone.

2. Defense: he likely has Mukh and Dick penciled into the top 4. He needs two more. If they win the lottery, they take Schaefer and he pencils in as well. That leaves just one more to add via draft or trade, as they can fill the rest of the D with solid UFA vets. I don't think grier wants to wait until the '26 draft to get that last top 4D into the organization. I expect this player will come in trade, although they could try to get one with the 30, 33 picks.

3. Goaltending. Askarov. the end... UFA replacable vet goalie to back up. Think James Reimer style.

As such, I would not be surprised to see Eklund moved either this summer or next for that last young top 4D. Something like Eklund+Cagnoni+Edmonton 1st for Owen Power.

in short: if they lose the lottery, they will almost surely pick a forward with some size (misa/martone) making eklund more expendable. If they win the lottery, they pick Schaefer, but still may trade Ek to compete the top 4 of the future.

Here is the Roster of the next decade if they win the lottery/lose the lottery (with Eklund trade).

Celebrini-Musty-Chernyshov
Smith-Haltunnen- Graf/Misa
Ostapchuk- Cardwell- [#30/#33/#49 '25 pick] / Graf
Bystedt - Vet - Vet (Wetsch? Lund?)

Dickinson-Power
Mukhumadullin - Schaefer/big name overpaid UFA summer '26/ [#30/#33/#49 '25 pick]
Vet- Vet (Thompson? Pohlcamp? LSW? Landen?)

 

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

Having acceptable goaltending and defense will fix a ton problems.

They don’t just want to fix the NOW problem; they want to get a true shot at the Stanley Cup. Fixing the problem now would be simple, but building a true contender? That’s the real challenge.

 

[hohosaregood]

Having acceptable goaltending and defense will fix a ton problems.

crazy how bad georgiev is. interestingly though, he has the same stats in SJ as he did in COL. I guess a good team can overcome bad goaltending from time to time.

 

[Cas]

My point is if Eklund didn’t want to stay, no amount of money would change his mind, especially an 8 mil AAV which 30
teams would gladly give him if he became available via trade.

He's an RFA. He can accept an offer sheet (which we can match), a contract, or go back home to Sweden and wait for a trade.

If Eklund doesn't want to stay because we traded his friend away, we should be looking to dump him anyway, because he's not part of the future and we shouldn't be concerned about losing him. If he's a professional, he'll see that this is part of the sport and get over it.

 

[timorous me]

I truly believe Mike had intended to trade Fabian all along which is why he waited for the last second to do so. Get the best (in his mind) offer he could. Probably had a list of 15 younger players he could “target” with a pre-written template about how they were the player they wanted all along, but the key for him was the second rounder.

You may believe this, but that doesn't mean it's true.

It might be, but it's a level of cynicism I can't get behind. I also think there are a lot of legitimate reasons why Grier would actually have jumped on it specifically because of Ostapchuk. It's just always going to look bad at first when you're trading a guy who can score for one who hasn't yet shown he can and is more of an intangibles guy.

But that doesn't mean it's a bad idea in the big picture, especially if we accept the flaws in Fabian's game.

 

[coooldude]

If Eklund doesn't want to stay because we traded his friend away, we should be looking to dump him anyway, because he's not part of the future and we shouldn't be concerned about losing him. If he's a professional, he'll see that this is part of the sport and get over it.

He's a kid, he'll get through it. Not without any help -- Wennberg lost his best friend Karlsson from CBJ during the VGK expansion draft, and he talked about that pre-game yesterday. I'm sure Eklund will recover and be fine, but I also understand if he has a few bad games trying to get his head straight.

If he does indeed want out of SJ because of this, then I 100% agree he's not the piece we need anyway and we should move him for an older developing or established D in our age window (23-26ish). If he gets traded, this is what I will assume happened.

 

[Cas]

He's a kid, he'll get through it. Not without any help -- Wennberg lost his best friend Karlsson from CBJ during the VGK expansion draft, and he talked about that pre-game yesterday. I'm sure Eklund will recover and be fine, but I also understand if he has a few bad games trying to get his head straight.

100%. This is what I expect, and is totally fine.

 

[Munnyro]

They don’t just want to fix the NOW problem; they want to get a true shot at the Stanley Cup. Fixing the problem now would be simple, but building a true contender? That’s the real challenge.

My comment was more for the forecasting the future to not be a dumpster fire next year. Fixing the D and Askarov alone will go a long way.

I think the forward group is fine for where we are at plus a veteran or two. Then let the forward group that isn't Mack/Smith take their time.

 

[TheBeard]

I don’t see a reason to be concerned about that hypothetical. I’d look to get him an 8 year deal for whatever he’d accept in July. If Eklund wants out because building a team takes time then we look to move him where we get something useful. As likable as Eklund is, he’s not irreplaceable.

concerned? No. Mindful? Yes. I’m not even 100% sure it’s Eklund who would ultimately make that decision on whether or not he’s a part of the team’s future. Frankly i don’t really know what Grier’s timeline is. He’s been rather vague on that.

 

[TheBeard]

He's an RFA. He can accept an offer sheet (which we can match), a contract, or go back home to Sweden and wait for a trade.

If Eklund doesn't want to stay because we traded his friend away, we should be looking to dump him anyway, because he's not part of the future and we shouldn't be concerned about losing him. If he's a professional, he'll see that this is part of the sport and get over it.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s part whether or not he wants to be part and part whether or not grier sees him as core piece of the future.

 

[TheBeard]

You may believe this, but that doesn't mean it's true.

It might be, but it's a level of cynicism I can't get behind. I also think there are a lot of legitimate reasons why Grier would actually have jumped on it specifically because of Ostapchuk. It's just always going to look bad at first when you're trading a guy who can score for one who hasn't yet shown he can and is more of an intangibles guy.

But that doesn't mean it's a bad idea in the big picture, especially if we accept the flaws in Fabian's game.

I don’t know if it’s cynicism. We don’t really know what Grier’s timeline has ever been in terms of when he wants to begin the upswing of this rebuild. The trading of Zetterlund made is clear it’s a slower process than some of us had hoped. You don’t push a trade with 30 seconds left before the deadline unless it’s something you absolutely wanted to get done before the offseason.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

concerned? No. Mindful? Yes. I’m not even 100% sure it’s Eklund who would ultimately make that decision on whether or not he’s a part of the team’s future. Frankly i don’t really know what Grier’s timeline is. He’s been rather vague on that.

I mean, we have higher priorities than a top six winger that if they needed to move him to secure, it should be viewed as okay to move even someone like Eklund. I don’t know what Grier’s timeline is either but we need someone that can be an anchor for the team on the blue line. Probably more than we need Eklund but I’m hoping we’re able to get that without having to move Eklund.

 

[coooldude]

I don’t know if it’s cynicism. We don’t really know what Grier’s timeline has ever been in terms of when he wants to begin the upswing of this rebuild. The trading of Zetterlund made is clear it’s a slower process than some of us had hoped. You don’t push a trade with 30 seconds left before the deadline unless it’s something you absolutely wanted to get done before the offseason.

You're right we don't know the timeline other than "you can't rush this". We do know he's on record now, saying that the teardown is complete. Any further moves are highly likely to be roster constructing moves, and we will judge him on that. We also know that he is on record saying he thinks he has his 3 C's of the future in Celebrini, Smith, and Ostap. So that would indicate his timeline is that we are truly competing for the cup in about 4-5 years when these key players are hitting their prime at age 23-24+.

Plus, unmentioned others like Bystedt, Giles, Lund, who are highly unlikely to be cup winning 3C's but maybe they're tweeners, who knows.

On the bolded part, I don't know that selling Zetterlund means it's a slower process than some hoped. I'm not sure we want to bank on Zetts being a cup winning 2RW/top 6 winger. He might have been an amazing 3RW on a cup winner, but if the timeline is 3-4 years, you have to hope he's still all systems go at age 30.

I am taking Grier at his word - Ostap is a piece he really wanted, and he felt that the deadline was the best chance to get him because Ottawa still feels like they're on the verge of the playoffs, and maybe the offseason has less urgency. We can judge him on that -- it's a big, big bet, not nearly but ish-like the Askarov bet. But I'm not sure it means that Grier's timeline is much longer than it was in a world where Zetts is signed. It certainly means he has a shit ton of work to do this offseason if we're going to truly step forward.

 

[timorous me]

I don’t know if it’s cynicism. We don’t really know what Grier’s timeline has ever been in terms of when he wants to begin the upswing of this rebuild. The trading of Zetterlund made is clear it’s a slower process than some of us had hoped. You don’t push a trade with 30 seconds left before the deadline unless it’s something you absolutely wanted to get done before the offseason.

See, I look at it the other way, that if he were genuinely shopping Zetterlund he wouldn't have waited until the last seconds.

But if he only heard late on that a guy he and his scouts like (Ostapchuk) was available--which I think is certainly possible, as Ottawa's priorities seem to have gradually shifted as making the playoffs has become a more realistic possibility--then that would help explain it. Because I think on the surface it is pretty clear that Zetterlund looks like he should've garnered more...unless you're someone who really likes Ostapchuk.

And I feel pretty confident in saying that we haven't gotten any indications yet that this front office is ill-prepared for situations like this. If they intend to (or are open to) trade somebody, they do their due diligence--but they also are going to target guys they specifically like in return. Just look at the Meier deal (Zetterlund included!), especially with Mukhamadullin as a guy they seem to have targeted.

 

[TheBeard]

I mean, we have higher priorities than a top six winger that if they needed to move him to secure, it should be viewed as okay to move even someone like Eklund. I don’t know what Grier’s timeline is either but we need someone that can be an anchor for the team on the blue line. Probably more than we need Eklund but I’m hoping we’re able to get that without having to move Eklund.

I don’t necessarily agree. Beyond Eklund and Toffoli the team’s highest scoring winger is Kovalenko. Until we have a clue what any of Musty or Cherny or Halt can do we don’t really have wingers.

 

[TheBeard]

See, I look at it the other way, that if he were genuinely shopping Zetterlund he wouldn't have waited until the last seconds.

There’s a difference between whether or not he was shopping him and when that Ottawa deal came together. Front office guys are very careful how they choose their words.