My Thoughts on Mike Grier, Free Agency & State of Sharks (+)

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.