Sheng Peng
This is the first time in a long time that San Jose Sharks fans have been excited by free agency.
That’s been life in the rebuild lane, of course.
But after Macklin Celebrini’s superstar-in-the-making rookie campaign and GM Mike Grier’s Trade Deadline proclamations about improving the team, naturally, fans scarred from consecutive worst-in-league campaigns and six straight seasons out of the playoffs were hoping for more on Jul. 1.
Instead, the San Jose Sharks added intriguing reclamation projects John Klingberg and Philipp Kurashev, a bottom-six forward with some power play chops in Adam Gaudette, and traded for 1B goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
To a man, these are actually solid additions, but nothing that makes you think that the Sharks are leaving the cellar any time soon.
But as they say, Rome wasn’t built it in a day.
“This is just one day at the very beginning of the off-season, so I’ll continue to try and make our group better,” Grier said.
Basically, don’t judge Grier’s off-season by one day. Free agency is one way to improve the Sharks, there are also trades and other means.
Day 1 of free agency was always set up to be a disappointment for Sharks fans, if we’re being honest.
While it’s San Jose Hockey Now’s belief that the Sharks circled around marquee names like Mitch Marner and Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers, there’s no reason to believe that the cellar-dwelling Sharks were ever close to catching the big fish.
“It’s just part of where we are that there’s going to be some free agents that are going to prioritize trying to win as soon as they can,” Grier said. “That’s just the reality of our situation.”
So what does Grier think that the Sharks still need this off-season? Why was William Eklund’s extension just three years? What does “better” next season mean for the Sharks?
Grier also talked about Klingberg, Kurashev, Nedeljkovic, Nikolai Kovalenko, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and more.
I also shared my thoughts on the state of the Sharks.
What Do Sharks Still Need?
The San Jose Sharks didn’t shed a lot of key personnel this off-season, so the additions of Klingberg and company should make them better than how they ended the season.
However, they’re probably not a better team than their pre-Mackenzie Blackwood trade group last year, 10-15-5 on Dec. 9, a .417 Points %. That would be fourth-worst in the league last year, a notable improvement over the Sharks’ .317 last-place finish. Celebrini also missed about a month of those games, but they still had Mikael Granlund, Jake Walman, Cody Ceci, and Blackwood.
“We probably need to still add someone who can defend, or at the very least help us get pucks out of our end. I think that would be the focus on the back-end, just to be able to fend [off] a little bit and help us get the puck up to our forwards and get us out of our end as quickly as we can,” Grier said.
We’ll see if the Sharks can add a blueliner or two like that by opening night.
Grier did also admit that San Jose is looking for another goalie, someone to pair with Gabriel Carriere with the Barracuda.
“We’re gonna look to probably add a little bit more of an experienced No. 3 down there,” Grier said, “and that also kind of went into a little bit of the decision with [not qualifying Georgi Romanov].”
Why Just 3 Years?
William Eklund was eligible to sign an eight-year extension, to begin in 2026-27, on Jul. 1.
Instead, he inked a bridge contract, just three years and $16.8 million.
It’s San Jose Hockey Now’s understanding that this was a mutually amenable decision, and GM Mike Grier corroborated that.
“We talked about all kinds of options—longer term to two, three, four, five, seven [years]. We kind of went through the gamut. It was good working with his agent, Todd [Diamond]. He was good to work with, and I think both sides ended up on three and thought that was a good number to watch and see where Eky’s game goes,” Grier said. “Both sides were comfortable with the term and where the money ended up.”
While a longer Eklund extension would’ve been nice, it takes two to tango.
The salary cap projects to be well above $113.5 million in 2028-29, when Eklund’s extension ends. We’ll see where his game is at then — if all goes well, Eklund could be looking at a huge payday.
Alex Nedeljkovic
The San Jose Sharks needed a 1A or 1B goalie to pair with starter-in-waiting Yaroslav Askarov
Grier says that Alex Nedeljkovic, acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2028 third-round pick, was a top goaltending target. The 29-year-old is signed for one more year at $2.5 million AAV.
“[Ryan Warsofsky] spent some time with him [with the Charlotte Checkers]. [Thomas Speer, Evgeni Nabokov, and Ryan Miller] watched a lot of video on him as we went through the goalie group,” Grier said.
On the ice, Nedeljkovic is a good fit.
While results have varied — per Evolving Hockey, his -7.23 Goals Saved Above Expected is 10th-worst in the NHL from 2020 to 2025 (of 48 goalies) — he’s also surpassed 35-plus games three times in the last four years.
If Nedeljkovic can do that, that should mean that Askarov is playing a solid 45-plus, which is what the Sharks want.
Grier added, perhaps mischievously, “Another thing that he does well is play the puck. As you guys know, Asky likes to come out and play the puck, and I think that’s something that Ned can help Asky with and Asky can learn from.”
Perhaps most importantly, his fit off the ice with Askarov should be perfect.
“For us, it was important, really, to have someone who can push Asky and also competes and has a strong work ethic. He’s going to be someone that Asky can learn from, but also compete with and push him,” Grier said. “He’s a good person, good teammate, and he’s competitive…Talking to him, I think he’s someone who enjoys a challenge and doesn’t want things to come easy to him, so I think these are all traits that are important, not only in life, but to be a professional athlete, so I think Asky will be able to learn a lot.”
For this reason, the Nedeljkovic acquisition was my favorite Sharks’ addition from Day 1 of free agency.
John Klingberg
From his rookie season in 2014 to 2022, Klingberg was one of the most dangerous offensive defenseman in the league: His 374 points in 552 games was eighth-most among all blueliners.
Hip injuries, however, have derailed his career. Over the last two years, he’s played just 25 regular season contests.
The 32-year-old Swede, coming off hip resurfacing surgery, started showing some of that old skating pop in the playoffs, helping the Edmonton Oilers reach the Stanley Cup Final.
“As we watched the playoffs, not only are myself and the guys here in the office, but we assigned scouts to watch the playoff series, and the reports came back very well,” Grier said. “When you watch him on TV, you can see him — he was moving more, moving better and better.”
While the San Jose Sharks don’t expect the 6-foot-2 right-hander to match his career-high 67 points in 2017-18, they do believe he’s got a lot of upside, which is why they signed him to a one-year, $4 million AAV pact. He’s the definition of low-risk, high-reward.
“The playmaking has always been there,” Grier said, then cited another star who’s come back from the same surgery, “Even if you look at Patrick Kane his first year back from that similar surgery, he did okay. Then this past year, he was even better and had a really solid year.”
Klingberg will also receive a starring role on the Sharks.
“In Edmonton, they have such a good power play, and he didn’t really get much power play time there,” Grier said. “Here, he will get the opportunity to do that, and I think it’ll be really good for our group.”
Grier added: “We think that the potential is there with another summer of rehab and strengthening and conditioning, and not having to baby it and really get after the training, he’s got a chance to get back to close to what he was before.”
That said, Klingberg’s injury history makes him perhaps high-risk, high-reward.
Philipp Kurashev
Like Klingberg, Kurashev is a reclamation project.
The 6-foot-0 center-winger had a breakout 2023-24, notching a career-high 18 goals and 54 points, averaging 19:01 a night. But he struggled last year with seven goals and 14 assists averaging 13:43 a night.
How did Grier see it?
“Last season — this is just me from the outside looking at it — Chicago brought in some new guys, some vets, and I think he kind of got pushed down the line-up a little bit, and never really got his feet up underneath him. Not on the line and playing with the guys he was playing with the year before,” Grier said. “Sometimes, as a player, when things don’t start off well, you kind of feel like you’re going uphill for the whole season, and from the outside, that’s kind of what it looked like to us.”
So what the San Jose Sharks see from Kurashev at his best?
“The year before, we saw a really complete 200-foot player who can make plays with good players, and is responsible defensively as well,” Grier said.
At just 25, Kurashev is a good gamble at one year and $1.25 million AAV.
“We thought it was worth a shot to bring him in here, see if we can kind of get his game going back in the right direction,” Grier said. “Like he’s shown before, he can play with good players. He [will have] a lot of opportunities to right the ship.”
Mikael Granlund
I have no issues with the San Jose Sharks’ signings, but I have some questions about a couple things that they didn’t do.
The Sharks were never really in the bidding for UFA Granlund.
“We talked a little bit, not too much. We talked before the trade a little bit, and I had kind of an idea of what the ballpark would be then. We circled back a little bit today and stuff like that,” Grier said. “We’re happy for Granny, we really liked him here, he was great for our group, we just felt like it didn’t match up right now.”
I’m not sure what was unappealing to the Sharks about the 33-year-old center-winger’s three-year, $21 million pact with the Anaheim Ducks, but this was a doable deal for San Jose, and I believe Granlund would’ve seriously considered a competing offer from Grier.
Going back to how hard it is for the last-place Sharks to attract top talent right now, why pass on Granlund? Granlund was also an excellent leader.
He’s 33, and there’s a fair chance that his game will decline over the course of this contract, but there’s also a decent chance that he’ll remain productive, and three years isn’t a massive risk.
The Sharks should have plenty of cap space over the next three years, and that term shouldn’t really get in the way of potential Celebrini, Smith, and Askarov extensions.
Granlund is also comfortable at both the center and the wing, so he would’ve provided insurance for another round of the Will Smith at center experiment. Right now, the Sharks’ top three centers are Celebrini, Smith, and Alex Wennberg.
Now don’t get me wrong — I’ve been banging the Granlund drum for months — he’s a terrific player, but he’s not irreplaceable. So let’s see what Grier does from now to opening night.
If the believed interest in Marner, Boeser, and Ehlers was real, perhaps Grier’s focus is to try to support his centermen with younger top-six wingers.
That could still be the case.
Nikolai Kovalenko
Understandably, RFA Nikolai Kovalenko, after publicly accusing head coach Ryan Warsofsky of a bias against Russians, had no future with the San Jose Sharks on the ice.
“Sometimes players don’t work out in certain situations. When that’s the case, I think it’s just best to move on. He’s a kid who’s got some talent, and hopefully finds a spot where he can play and develop a little bit more, but for us here, it just wasn’t a fit, and we thought it would be best for our group to move on,” Grier said. “I think we need to have everyone pulling on the rope the same way. I’ve been clear, and I think Warso has been clear that we’re not going to hand you anything, that you got to earn your ice time.”
Agree! Now should the Sharks have even made the 25-year-old winger, along with a 2026 second-round pick, an important part of the Blackwood trade? That’s another question, but hey, San Jose swung for talent, it happens.
But I wondered about not even bothering to qualify Kovalenko, just in case his talent has trade value.
“Well, we thought about it. We had a good discussion about it, but at the end of the day, we just thought it’d be best to move on because it wasn’t a great fit for our room. You could go down that path that you’re talking about, but then there’s also a chance that, if he’s an asset and you can’t move him, come September or October, if he doesn’t fit your room, that’s not a player you’re going to want in your room,” Grier said. “That’s not going to change between now and in September, if we weren’t able to move him.”
I’m sure the Sharks explored trade options for Kovalenko up to the qualifying offer deadline, so no problem with not executing a trade by then.
Ideally though, Kovalenko would’ve just gone back to the KHL next year, put up a point per game, which he’s done before in that league, and turned himself back into a viable, if unremarkable, trade asset.
And Kovalenko insisted on remaining in North America, as Grier suggested, just cut him before training camp if you can’t move him by then.
Admittedly, that’s just splitting hairs. The Sharks wanted to move on, Kovalenko wanted a fresh start, and the asset has basically no trade value right now.
But any time you choose to not qualify a talented skater who was a notable part of a significant trade, that brings questions.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Clearly now, after Day 1 of free agency, buying out Vlasic wasn’t about cap space.
“It was something we felt like we had to deal with some of our young guys coming up to possibly create a roster spot for those guys,” Grier said.
At the moment, the San Jose Sharks’ defense is comprised of left-handers Mario Ferraro, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Henry Thrun; and right-handers John Klingberg, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Desharnais.
Buying out Vlasic could open the door for prospects Sam Dickinson, Luca Cagnoni, and/or Jack Thompson. There’s probably also room for another veteran addition.
As for Sharks legend Vlasic?
“He handled it very well, very professionally,” Grier said. “I think he understood where we are as an organization, and the decisions that we have to make as far as roster construction and things like that.”
According to Grier, Vlasic is hoping to continue his playing career.
What Does Being Better Mean?
Being better than last place is a low bar, but should be a goal of the Sharks.
“I think we’ll be a better team, and I think a lot of that will come through some internal growth with our group,” Grier said. “Whether that’s Eky and Macklin and Will and Shakir, some internal growth of those guys along with [Collin Graf and others] taking little steps forward in their games.”
Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Mukhamadullin, Askarov, and company taking significant steps forward next season does matter more than the standings, and if they do, more wins should follow.
“Then hopefully in the net, we’ll have a solid tandem in there and have some more consistency. Another year in Warso’s system should help as well. Having Klingberg back there, somebody who can break pucks out, get the pucks up to our forwards, all that should help,” Grier said of his Jul. 1 additions.
“What we’re going to do is take a step forward,” he said.
That’s a fair standard for Grier. The Sharks aren’t in position to rush the rebuild — bringing in say a Marner isn’t going to win them a Cup immediately — so let’s see if San Jose can take some meaningful steps this coming year.
Let’s see how the Sharks look like on opening night, then the Trade Deadline, before passing judgment on Grier’s off-season.