San Jose Sharks
Sharks Acquire Kesselring, Swap 1st-Round Picks With Sabres
The San Jose Sharks have added a defenseman.
The Sharks have acquired defenseman Michael Kesselring from the Buffalo Sabres, also swapping the No. 20 pick in the 2026 Draft with the Sabres for Buffalo’s No. 27 pick.
Kesselring, 26, had a tough season with the Sabres, notching two assists in 34 games. He was a regular healthy scratch.
But the 6-foot-5 right-hander had a breakout campaign with the Utah Mammoth in 2024-25, notching seven goals and 29 points, averaging 17:41 a night. He was also used on the second-unit power play.
Kesselring was traded, along with Josh Doan, to the Sabres for JJ Peterka last summer. Kesselring was expected to take on a regular role in Buffalo, but now, he’ll look to revive his career with the San Jose Sharks.
The RFA should have plenty of opportunity in teal: Right now, the San Jose Sharks have just two defensemen signed, Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson, and now, a pair of RFAs in Kesselring and Shakir Mukhamadullin.
According to Puckpedia’s Perri Pick Value Calculator, the difference between the No. 20 and 27 selections is roughly a mid-second round pick.
I like the move. I think Kesselring can be a good second pair D if he gets back to where he was with Utah. The price to Buffalo is reasonable and given his down year it shouldn’t be expensive to get him signed.
Yeah this is really interesting. I guess this gives us an idea what level Grier is going to be looking at.
I actually think the price was pretty minimal, and I’m assuming that Grier has a pretty big tier of guys he was looking at with pick 20, and most of those guys will still be there at pick 27, so if that is true, it’s almost a free Kesselring.
We had been talking about a rehab project possibly with a guy like Schneider and now we can do that with Kesselring. And oh boy gotta love the size. I’m sure the team sees something they can work with
Yeah this was a giveaway. Surprised it was so minimal.
I wouldn’t say it was a giveaway, but am pleased with the price paid 100%. Move back 7-slots to where most people thought that Edmonton pick would be at for a solid 2nd pair D-Man? Good piece of business, for sure.
Seven spots in a weak draft. That’s pretty minimal to me.
Not necessarily a weak draft, I just don’t think there is a lot of differentiation in the back half of the round. Possible they get the same guy they wanted anyways
That’s exactly it. If we’re totally honest, in all likelihood neither 20 nor 27 will make it as full time NHLer. If either one does make it, he probably won’t be a high impact player. If one is a diamond in the rough, his draft position probably won’t predict it. The star players that came out of the low first round are all over the place in terms of draft position. And a lot of times the player you’re interested will either surprisingly be available or surprisingly gone, since the draft gets less predictable the lower you go. So 20… Read more »
After 14-15 the draft opens up to huge range i like this move from GMMG.
Didnt give up any assets.
Great deal.
I am bit sad that now the move up is not in play but this is a good deal.
It’s a free Kesselrong because all he gave up for the 20th overall was “future considerations” to get Jake
Loved the trade. Low risk, high reward. Fits a need and the cost was almost nothing. Moving from 20 to 27 still allows GMMG (should be use the pick) to get close to the same level of prospect. At 20 it was a long shot to get say a Ryan Lin and at that range it was most likely that the best prospects would be forwards. Drafting late in the first still allows for some decent to good defensive prospects which (if this is where GMMG goes and if he actually uses the pick) help bolster the pool long term.… Read more »
evaluation of him is more likely he tops out as a very good bottom pair who plays on your pp2. He still has more propensity towards defensive zone transition gaffes than you want in a 2nd pair guy. Right now, the most accurate projections are that he’s a #4 – 6 dman. still a good piece but on a good playoff team, he doesn’t deserve 2nd pairing deployment.
A little pricier than I thought, but this is a great deal. At 27, the Sharks will probably still have their choice of a player in the same tier on their list as they would have at 20. Number of overall picks in the draft stay the same. Nicely done, Mike. Still has that late first to flip for another defenseman if he wants to.
Right? The drop from 20-27 is the equivalent of pick #50 in value (I go off the old Sound of Hockey chart), which isn’t small potatoes; I’d hoped that the bargaining position advantage would send a little less Buffalo’s way. I’m less confident that any of the second tier of prospects will still be available; which to me makes it more likely the pick is traded.
Still brisk business, and this plus the Winchesters landing Laila Edwards makes for a good day of SJ hockey.
There are very good players every year available at pick 50, but the chances you actually get one aren’t that high, the math bears that out. I think Kesselring is already a better asset than whoever they might have gotten with that pick.
Take the example of McKinney last year. We even like the kid. But he’s far far far from a sure thing still.
I’ll accept that 2nds may be overvalued relative to what they turn into, but that was just to show the value I place on moving those spots; my greater more specific concern is that I think a lot of interesting B-level prospects will be gone within the range we dropped, especially in this somewhat peculiar draft. Like barring some teams reaching and a guy falling, I think whoever’s available at 27 will be much more of a risk.
Like I said, I don’t mind, I just think it makes the pick more likely to be traded.
I could totally see it going like you said. But if they do keep the pick, I think dropping back was digestible because Grier saw a lot of guys he was fine with. Seems like about 14-35 in this draft are all pretty similar when I look at it, and maybe the team feels the same, or at least any drop was something they felt was worth bringing this kid in for. But let’s pretend the trade was for Buffalo’s 27 and 50… I would rather have Kesselring than 50, and Grier has even more info than we do since… Read more »
I predicted the 20th would just be gone for a player outright. They got back a later 1st and a player for it. Hopefully it goes out in a deal for a better D.
Gotta stop collecting the Pokemon cards at some point and just play the damn game….
Exactly.
I agree, I just would rather have stopped collecting AFTER this draft.
Not like they don’t still have 2OA. Being targeted and helping the roster now doesn’t suck.
I think you guys are way overvaluing these picks. You look at picks past the top ten in recent years and it’s a mix of blind luck and player development who makes it as a player. Chances are very good neither 20 nor 27 will be a NHL regular. Even if you go by the idea that the difference in value is a second round pick…most second round picks never dress for a single NHL game. Kesselring is at least proven able to play now at this level…and shoots right. A second round pick for that is not at all… Read more »
Not really surprising. Every teams fans overvalue their own picks and prospects. As you stated, MK is a RD. The hardest spot to fill. The fact he’s big, skates well, already has a 30 point season and has upside still is a pretty good gamble for a negligible drop in the late first of a below average draft.
As I said, in the end I’m fine with it, but prior to the trade, Buffalo was uniquely overburdened with Ds, and Kesselring just had a down year and is an RFA rumoured to want to come here. The leverage was ours. Is it too much to hope for a good old-fashioned Mike Grier fleecing? There was talk of him being shipped out for a third or even a fourth.
Where was he rumored to want to come to SJ? Wouldn’t matter anyway, he had no trade protection.
He told Demers who told the SJHN podcast
Hmm… I heard JD speculate that but not that MK said he wanted to come to SJ…
Dudes still a young big RD with potential. They rarely come cheap. This was a relative steal.
Pricier? Ok…
A bunch of teams wanted this guy for scraps. I am pretty sure there where a mid 2nd offered by someone and GMMG had to out bid that. He made it happen, its a very very good deal espcialy in this draft. #20 wssnt a good position to be in if you want tk move up have to pay 2 seconds or a late first. In to 11-13 range where you can get value IF a player falls. Big ifs. This price for the Sharks here is almost 0. I am pretty sure they want a project player at #27… Read more »
Demers called it
A+ trade in my opinion
Seems like a fair deal and I’m optimistic.
So who’s the next defender for us to speculate about??? I read a write up on Tyler Tucker from the Blues so he’s my new guy.
Link for that? He could be my guy too if you’ll share. Wait that sounded weird. I’m good with that.
It’s in Fowleball on substack.
This will also likely ratchet up the pressure on teams behind the Sharks in the draft who may now have some FOMO on Stenberg since the Sharks addressed one RHD slot on their blue line. The Sharks pony up for Anderson or Trouba in free agency and all the sudden Stenberg seems more of a lock UNLESS Rangers or Hawks wanna move up…
None of these deals would preclude the Sharks taking D at 2OA.
It isn’t possible to pony up for Andersson or Trouba until July 1 (if they are even available and don’t re-sign with their current teams), which is after the draft.
Agreed, I just meant the Sharks may be focused on addressing the RHD slot via free agency after draft or by trade during draft. Unless they do either, then Reid should be the pick. However if they have already chosen the path of addressing another RHD need through FA/trade, then Stenberg seems more likely. All I am pointing out is that NYR and/or CHI might be getting a little more nervous with this trade.
Agree we’ve no idea what Grier is focused on. He certainly has a much better idea than we do how realistic it is to sign Radysh, trade for Nemec, etc. We don’t know even know how interested he is in any of these things.
I’m not sure a Nemec trade is still possible after this but maybe? I’m all for it if the team believes in him. He’s not small like I thought initially and he was great at the Olympics. Who knows what he’s capable of on the PP with the Sharks talent.
Yeah, I’ve no idea what to think on Nemec. Obviously how strongly they believe in him and the cost to acquire him is the starting point. I don’t think pick 20 vs 27 impacts it much – neither of those, on their own, is enough to get him (I assume). But there are other factors too – how Grier projects guys like Pohlkamp and Kesserling, how he feels about the free agents, whether there are other trade options we don’t know about…it is just hard to know what the Nemec reality is.
All signs point to Polkamp starting in the AHL minimum so they still need to fill 2-3 defensemen spots. Maybe Cags is penciled in as the 7th D? I doubt it but no idea.
Fwiw, Morehouse said Pohlkamp was starting in the AHL during the podcast interview. At least that’s the plan unless he blows the doors off in camp
I said the same and Joey took offense. Zeke posted a Polkamp video where I guess he also says he expects to start in the AHL.
Should also be mentioned the reason Nemec might be available is he wants Luke Hughes money. It would also be similar to what Dobson got, and even in a rising cap world, that’s a lot when he doesn’t have the proven track record either of those guys had when they got pizzaid
Yeah – heard something similar. Grier mentioned calling on Nemec (trade deadline) and said it was one phone call and was never further discussed. I always wondered if it was possible that he found out Nemec’s contract expectations and that was the reason there weren’t further discussions.
I really hope the Sharks trade #27 and Bysted for Nemec
That would be awesome, but I’m positive that NJ would want considerably more than that.
I’m out on Nemec’s future extension. Also, I like Bystedt quite a lot.
Sounds like the Vegas experiment didn’t go as well as planned for Anderson and he’s likely hitting the market.
He didn’t look great in the playoffs. I don’t know what Vegas options are to replace Pietrangelo as that’s essentially who they were trying to replace when obtaining Andersson. Piets is probably done for…hips sound shot and he’s not young.
Feel for the guy. Never like hearing that injury ends a career even if it a FV player.
I think drafting a potential number one D is more about long-term future need. KAny free agent signing or trade now, including Kesselring, is addressing a short-term need and won’t address that need for a #1 D.
So you’re really talking about two different agendas. Picking a D with 2OA would be for addressing the future. Any likely trades or signings are probably about just fielding a competent D group for the near term.
This is my view of it as well.
Shot blocker.
Can play on power play. Will get tons of opportunity w our D situation.
Only 26
NHL experience.
Does he have a mean streak?
Great Move Mike G
He’s NOT known for his mean streak. You will want The Sharks to use the 27th pick on Maksim Sokolovskii. The same size and bad intent as his fellow London Knight legend Nikita Zadorov. I might prefer Xavier Villeneuve if available. Different strokes, as they say.
That’s about 100 lbs of Dman difference between those two guys. Another possibility would be moving down to #5, adding pick 1.26 from the Rangers (and maybe more, possibly even Schneider still), then taking 1.26 and 1.27 and moving back up to get Gustafsson or another higher end D prospect. Or perhaps that gets us Hronek.
One could be (a taller) Lane Hutson, the other maxes out at (a taller) Douglas Murray.
ill take one of each please
Murray was slow as hell and in today’s game wouldn’t even be a consideration as the game has sped up a lot more. Sokolovskii can actually move for his size. He’s got really good 4 way mobility which is not something you could ever say for Murray lol.
Good to hear.
But can he hit like Crankshaft! Loved Murray laying dudes out like Nik Kronwall in Det!!
26 and 27 aren’t getting you back into the top 10.
I would be happy getting Gustafsson at 14 or so. It was awhile ago, but the Bystedt trade involved the Sharks getting less. Different year, but still
I like Gustafsson. I doubt he gets to 14 but you never know. Even then, I think the odds of trading up for him became extremely unlikely in moving from 20 to 27 – if it was something Grier really wanted to do, I don’t think he moves down from 20. The Bystedt trade is fair, but it requires a team that is more interested in quantity than quality – I don’t think any of the teams picking in Gustafsson’s likely range are, organizationally, in a place where that is the kind of trade they are interested in making right… Read more »
Hope they add one more RD with higher impact. Hopefully it wasn’t this guy or Reilly and they can still be in on him. I would hope for my than something like Kesselring, Trouba and Deharnais.
“My than something” -> “more than something” perhaps?
If so, I think Grier is aiming higher than that. Hope so anyways. I think the reason Desharnais isn’t signed already is he’s looking for term beyond 2 years and I think Grier is right to look at more options. Kesselring might be instead of Desharnais, and if Grier lands his big fish, he could be fighting for 3rd pairing minutes, which feels pretty ideal to me.
I’ve known about this move for 10 minutes now and I’m liking it more and more by the minute.
Yeah no shit. My posts are always full of typos. What else is new? Water wet, etc… 😜
pretty clear Grier wants a big mobile D. I don’t think Shak gets moved and I don’t see Cags playing NHL minutes for the Sharks. It’s early but we’ll see.
There was no doubt it was a typo. The challenge is deciphering your intended meaning
Easier this time than some.
It takes time to add all the pieces, especially the high end pieces. We’ll see. Canucks might still be shopping Hronek given the apparent intention for a full teardown and rebuild. But it might simply take more than one off-season to get that D group to where it needs to be.
I think they still need a PP QB. Not sure Hronek is that. Ideally one of Raddysh, Hamilton or Nemec.
Just need Raddysh to finalize Demers vision. Maybe a tough contract to swallow down the line, but seems like the range for the next 3 years is 50-70 points, and 30-40 in his final two potentially. Would be good if we can cap dump him via trade in his final two years if necessary.
Orlov-Raddysh
Dickinson-Kesserling
Mukmahdullin-xxx
Pretty solid. Huge upgrade without giving up any material assets.
This would be spectacular. Don’t be so quick to worry about dumping guys at the end of their contract. Not all players need dumping.
Doesn’t VGK just run guys into LTIR and move to the next UFA, they dont fear any decline
If the price is right. If it’s a tough contract to swallow down the line, maybe Sharks shouldn’t swallow it because “down the line” is the important part. This is not a “win now” team. The team should not be taking on any UFAs that might hurt the future.
This is why I believe so strongly that a shorter term, higher AAV deal is the move to try to make happen. No future contract would be agreed upon, but in the event that the player declines a bit, maybe they extend him for less AAV down the line and the deal is better timed for the team’s cap table, or maybe they just let him walk. Or he doesn’t decline, the original deal is well worth it, and they sign him again for another deal that feels good. Right now, if the Athletic prediction of 6/$48M is correct, then… Read more »
Going to have to pay up if they want him. Offering less means he plays somewhere else.
This is why I’m offering more. In this scenario, Raddysh would only need to make 2/$8M in years 5 and 6 to break even. The salary cap could be 30% or more higher by then. John Carlson is projected to get 2/$18M in the current environment. Getting a 1st pair, PP1 QB role with the Sharks should be a prime gig allowing Raddysh to shine. I know you’ve talked about “risk” here, but the risk is pretty minimal. Cody Ceci makes $4M AAV. If he wanted to mitigate risk, he could have re-signed with Tampa months ago. Unfortunately, it will… Read more »
Everyone forgets Warso won Gold with Kesselring so they know each other well. Kesselring will stand up for his team mates. He keeps the crease clear. Makes the correct pass to clear the zone. Has a 100 mph slapper. Essentially, Grier Drafted a NHL Ready Kesselring at #20 and still get to swing for his guy at 27. That swing will likely be Maskim Sokolovskii. With Kesselring on board, a reach for Sokolovskii is less of a risk. Sokolovskii could be the kind of backside Sheriff Chara was. He might not have the offensive upside, but he will crush folks… Read more »
Good point on Warso knowing Kesserling. Hope Sokolovskii is still there at 27 – lots of hype around him now, so I think being there at 27 is a bit of a coin flip. But 20 might have been a bit of a reach, so it could work out really well this way.
Can that guy play in the NHL next season? He clearly can physically. What about the rest of his game?
I don’t think he can play in the NHL too quickly. Chris Peters (I think it was Chris – rankings are starting to run together in my head) has him down in the 50s. Thinks his skating is bad. And I think I read there were issues with his consistency – minutes might have been inconsistent at London? Anyways, the only reason he *might* go in the first round is his size. His game isn’t NHL-ready.
Someone else just said his mobility is good…?
Yeah, I know. And I don’t know what to think. I was surprised what Peters said based on other stuff I heard. 🤷♂️ I haven’t watched any film of him, so I’ve no idea. And I see him ranked anywhere from 25ish to 60ish. Mostly closer to 25, but Peters had him in the 50s and Button today has him at 60. Peeps are all over the place with him.
The one thing I can say confidently is that I haven’t seen anybody say they think he is close to NHL ready.
Interesting note about Chara. Picked in rd 3. 56th overall.
Sharks had pick 55 and selected Terry Friesen. Who never played an NHL game. Which is 1680 fewer regular season games than Chara
You can play that game with everyone who passed on Pavs.
Solid move by GMMG. Filled a big hole w/o giving up much.
No notes.
yup
two mock drafts, The Athletic on youtube and th one in this link by Tony Ferrari both had a similarity. After pick 20, the number of d-man picked dropped off a cliff.
Off the last dozen picks in these drafts, one draft had just 2 d-men picked and the other had just 1.
Almost certain that GMMG is going to go after d-men — and its possible that the guy he might have wanted at 20 will be there at 27. Especially if he’s looking mostly at d-men
Adam Goljer is the pick at #27.
I guess this means we’re not getting Byrum
From what I have heard/read, Buffalo hasn’t had any intention of letting him go, at least not since the new regime took over.
I wouldn’t either. He was really good for them and is big insurance if Dahlin ever gets injured.
Yeah my thought too. It’s ok though. Not going to get everything we want. This kid is a solid bounce back candidate. Worth being excited about.
Ya we definitely need warm bodies back there and he’s a big RHD (Kesselring) so it was a necessity but you never know about a player until you get to watch him regularly like I did byrum this spring and he is one heck of a player.
Hopefully the guy the Sharks draft early turns into one heck of a player too.😉
We have Byrum at home
Where…?
In the fridge
…? Must be some joke I’m not getting. Thought you were going to tell us Shak is the Sharks version of Byrum.
It looks like not the case Byram is getting available I hope GMMG jumps on him.
That is the guy we need.
Late to the game on this one as usual but I dig this move for a number of reasons. Best player available rationale aside I bet Grier and Co felt that the prospect disparity from an organizational needs perspective was minimal between their projected #20 and #27 options and were already looking at the BUF blue line as an offseason target independent of this!?
This feels like “classic” Grier if you will with a subtle, calculated move. Nothing splashy but perhaps under the radar beneficial
Stole this from YT comments, damn near busted a gut.
Can’t wait for the Dickinson-Kesselring pairing (DickRing)
The classic Prince Albert pairing.
Found this elsewhere…
”The Athletic’s draft pick value chart (which is based on actual historical performance of players picked at each slot) says the difference in value between #20 and #27 as the ~75th overall pick, not a mid 2nd rounder.”
Great link… Also according to that chart, trading down to 4 or 5 should result in at least a late-ish 1st coming back, and the 1.02 for 1.05, 1.26 and Schneider looks very much within reason. But this is still a rough calculator and doesn’t factor in extra information that teams possess. Specifically, if the Sharks do value Reid and Carels the same, they should absolutely be trying to get Chicago and New York bidding against each other and take the most assets. And supposedly NYR wants Malhotra, so if Vancouver also wants him, they might be sucked in too.… Read more »
I truly hope your trade dreams come to fruition. I have seen way more mocks with the Sharks taking D though. Getting Schneider would be acceptable to me because I believe in the development staff. as far as Eklund, if there’s anything don’t move him I hope he comes to camp with a thick ass neck and upper body and the transformation gives him the confidence to play more in between the circles and helps him win more puck battles. Also hope the Ekystans are right about needing a healthy off season to become a legit goal scoring threat. If… Read more »
Interesting breakdown of his game.
https://youtu.be/1XAt_yCuBIU?is=hm-ozxt3qk7yE2NT