Sheng Peng
We talked with Mike Grier for 40-plus minutes on Saturday.
The San Jose Sharks GM said plenty — from his summer plans for the team to a Will Smith update to not ruling out new Sharks and Barracuda coaching staffs:
That might have been the best of Grier’s availability, but the rest of it was very insightful too.
Grier discussed why there wasn’t enough buy-in on the Sharks this season, what he could’ve done better, whether he’s counting on Couture’s return or not next year, why he’s excited about San Jose’s top prospects, empty seats at SAP Center, more details about his free agency plans, and where the Sharks’ rebuild is.
Mike Grier, on how the San Jose Sharks will get “harder to play against” this off-season:
It’s definitely something like you’ve said–I’ve wanted to add and have this be the big part of the identity of the Sharks. We definitely need to get faster, be harder to play against. On my side, I think that’s through free agency or trades–looking to add players that kind of fit the bill. We have roster space and cap flexibility to be able to try and add and target some guys. Hopefully whether that’s through free agency or through trade, we’ll maybe add some guys that fit that profile.
Grier, on if there will be a particular focus on improving the defense:
It’s the whole lineup, really.
Guys worked hard, they competed, but in our own zone, we definitely could have been harder to play against. More physical.
Up front, same thing on the forecheck.
In both net fronts, we could have been definitely harder to play against. It’s not just the D, I think it’s up front as well.
Grier, on if there’s a greater focus this off-season on bringing in higher-compete players than there was last off-season:
I just think now there’s more flexibility with the cap and roster flexibility. There’s holes to fill, we have room where we can really target and zero in on guys and hopefully get a few of them. Where last year, there wasn’t quite as many open spots on the roster.
Grier, on if there are plans for the San Jose Sharks to be buyers this off-season:
I think we’ll go after the players we think fit the mold of what we want and the identity we want. It’s nice to have that ability to have some money to spend to go do that, and have the space where they can see where they could fit in the line-up. That’s all been part of some of the moves we made in the last couple of years to have some financial flexibility. Whether that’s this off-season or next off-season, I think we’ll have the ability to hopefully get in on some players that we want.
Grier, on how he would assess the team post-Trade Deadline:
As I told the group, I don’t think the season was good enough.
It was probably a little bit–not just post-Deadline, but overall–it was, you know, not what I expected, I’m sure what they expected in the room, for various different reasons. I give the group credit, I told him they came in here and they were positive. They got along, and the coaches deserve credit for that too, keeping the guys on track and staying positive and motivating them.
You’ve seen situations–in not just hockey, but all sports–where teams in this situation, where it kind of goes off the rails, and things get bad and you hear guys bickering and not getting along, but the guys came here and worked everyday.
Grier, on the Sharks’ many injuries:
I think that was a big part of it all. Everyone’s got a job to do, and you don’t want to just blame too many things on injuries, but I don’t think we had a game where we had our four centers together. Coming into the season, we thought down the middle was going to be a strength of ours.
Not to have Cooch basically all year, I think we were maybe 4-1-1 when he played, so you see the impact he made. Tomas getting hurt, Granny starting off the season hurt. It was difficult especially, in such as important position like that.
We had to be better and play better and things like that, but I think the injuries definitely impacted the group.
I’ll put [Matt Benning] in there too on the back end, he’s kind of a stabilizing force, a real positive guy who plays hard and competes every night, and he’s got some real good leadership qualities, so losing him on the back was big too.
Grier, on the kind of term that he wants to give to free agents:
We’re probably still in that phase where we’re not looking to get into six, seven, eight-year deals.
If it’s someone we really liked and felt confident that the deal would age well, maybe we’d think about a five-year deal. Other than that, I think we’ll probably be anywhere from the one to four-year deals for most guys.
I don’t think we’re quite at that phase, we’re still growing and building this thing where we [don’t] want to get ourselves into long-term deals and have guys who are 38, 39 at the end of those deals.
Grier, on if Sharks are over the initial phase of the rebuild, the “demolition” phase:
I would say so. We’ve had to kind of peel it back a bit, make some hard decisions, move on from some good players. Some guys’ contracts have kind of run their course. I think you’re right on the initial phase of it, and probably the most painful part of it is over with. Now, we got to build it up. We’re excited about the young players we’ve added. We have to support them with some of the right type of veteran and experienced players.
Grier, on if the Sharks will be a cap team:
Where we finished, we should not be a cap team. We’re fortunate enough to have a great owner owner in Hasso who’s willing to spend money, but at the same time, we’re not going to try and rush it. Like I said, I don’t want to skip steps here and just throw money at guys. We’ll identify some targets we think are the right people, and spend some money there, but we’re not going to go crazy here. We’re not at the point where we should be a cap team.
Grier, on the balance of not skipping rebuild steps, but also filling more of the empty SAP Center seats:
For sure, there is.
For our fans, we had good fans all season. For those fans that showed up, I’d just like to really thank them for their support through the good and bad. I know some of those games weren’t easy to watch, but we had good support. Especially a lot of the weekend games, even as the season went on, we had close to sell-outs, so really like to thank those fans first for coming out.
Like you said, it’s a balance, wanting to be more competitive. Take a step forward as a group and as organization. We need to do that, we need to spend some money and get some players to do that and identify the right people, but it’s also the fine balance of not getting too carried away or get excited about “I can have this All-Star and overpay them”.
But then we look down the road three or four years where hopefully some of these young guys, we got to pay them and then we’re looking at we can’t play them because we got too anxious and kind of stepped out of balance and added too soon. It’s definitely a balance that we need to be cognizant of.
Grier, on if he’s trying to emulate a quicker reset like the Los Angeles Kings pulled off, or a longer rebuild in the model of the Detroit Red Wings or Ottawa Senators:
I mean, it’s hard to say. Ideally, it would be more of the Kings’ model.
The first big thing we did there with Timo, I think that was a big part of it. Getting Zetts, who was already an NHL player, and Shakir, who was not far off from being a regular NHL player.
Through a lot of these things, I’ve been trying to add–even going after someone like Klim, we’ve been trying to kind of add these 20-somethings who have potential upside, and not just completely tear it down and rely on the draft. That being said, the draft is going to be a big part of it, our player development.
We’re fortunate to have these three high picks my first year. Then last year, we had three more high picks. Then this year, we should have four in the top 50 or so. These players, hopefully we hit on, we’re right on drafting-wise and our development staff is gonna have to really do a good job, because they’re gonna be a big core, or end up being the core of what this team is.
Grier, on if San Jose has had any trouble attracting free agents:
It’s hard to say–we haven’t really gone after any big free agents.
I think what is attractive is this is a franchise that has a history of winning. California is a good place to live, and there’s opportunity. A lot of these guys, when they’re free agents, knowing myself, when I was a player, opportunity means a lot to them. Everyone’s at different phases, there’ll be some older guys, who are looking to win, and I understand that they won’t be interested. For some players, it’s an opportunity to maybe continue playing on the first power play or second power play or whatever ice time or situation they might be looking for.
Personally, I think we have that, and that’s something that’s attractive to players.
Grier, on discussions with Will Smith:
I’ve talked to Will, talked to his agent. We’ve had some discussions, but we’ll probably have more in the next coming days, but it was good. It was a good discussion with him. We’ll see, it’s a big decision for him life-wise and everything, so we’ll see where it goes. We’ll probably have more from him in the coming days on that.
No decision has been made yet. We’re just continuing to talk to him. He’s a 19-year-old kid in college, enjoying life, with not too many cares in the world. We’ll continue to talk to him and see where it goes.
Grier, on if he thinks Smith is ready for the NHL:
I think he’s ready for the NHL. He had a historic season–I think matching the record for 18, 19-year-old freshman, 71 points. He’s got the brain, he’s got the talent. He’s already maturing physically, and so from my standpoint, I think he can play in the league. Like I said, we’ll continue to have discussions and try and make the best decision for him.
We want to do what’s best for his development. I don’t think there’s an easy answer or right or wrong answer. I don’t think anyone’s been really hurt by going back to school if that’s what he decides to do. Like I said, I think he’s ready to play in the NHL.
Grier, on free agents Devin Cooley and Filip Zadina:
It’s a little bit far out–I haven’t really had discussions with them or their agents, but I thought both of them handled the opportunity pretty well. I think this was Devon’s real first taste of it. Had some ups and downs, but had some good moments and showed that he’s got some real talent in there to play in this league. It was good for him.
[Zadina], I think everyone can see the talent there–he competes and he’s a good kid. I think there’s even more there, he’s just got to keep believing in himself and not being so hard on himself and, and also not purely put his value into scoring goals. If he’s not scoring goals, I think he gets real down on himself, and he’s just got to learn to value the little things of the game of being good defensively and managing pucks and things like that. It’s something he’s working on, and I think when that really clicks, I think there’s a player in there.
If he can continue to work on that–I know he is–not being so hard on himself and not just valuing himself on whether he got a point that night or scored that night. When you’re in the NHL, going home even, managing the puck and and playing well defensively, a lot of times that’s a pretty good night.
Grier, on the San Jose Barracuda’s season:
It was a disappointing season down there.
Like I said earlier, our injury situation up here affected their situation down there. When you have [Carpenter] and Bailey up here for basically the whole season, those guys were basically first-line players down there.
That being said, we have to get a better all-around mix of players down there to help our young players. We’ll have some young players down there next year, so we got to get maybe a different type of mix. Not too dissimilar from up here, we have to get harder to play against. We gotta get more speed down there and more size, more hardness down there. If we can get that and get an injection of the young players, hopefully that group can take a step, because like I said, it was disappointing.
Hopefully, they can play meaningful hockey down there–it’s just as important for a young player as it is for being up here playing NHL games. If they can get the feel of being in a playoff race or being in playoff games as a young player, it’s important.
Grier, on the Sharks’ veteran leadership:
The vets are great. I’m very appreciative of them. I tell them it’s a difficult situation, but I thought they did a really good job of not hanging their heads, being positive. I think they also took it upon themselves to help lead and grow these young players.
Granny spent a ton of time with Eky, not only on the bench, but during practice and after practice. During practice, doing skill work with him, telling him what he sees, what he can do. He’s been phenomenal there.
Cooch’s overall presence, the guys still go to him and ask him questions, even though he’s not playing. He’s been really good.
The guys in the battle, Vlasic and Rutta were good with Henry and even Shak when he was up here. Those veteran guys have done a good job of not letting this whole thing kind of crumble, but also taking on the leadership mantle of helping the young guys out.
Kunny is someone who exemplifies a lot of the things that we’re looking for here, he was someone who was in the battle every night. We needed more guys doing that. He played hurt, he fought much more than I would like him to fight, but he never thought twice about getting in there and protecting a teammate or sticking up for someone.
The veteran guys, I think they did a good job with that.
Grier, on if there was enough buy-in from the Sharks this year:
As far as the room, I don’t know if there was enough buy-in. I don’t know if there was complete buy-in. The buy-in, I don’t know if it was fully there from everyone. I give the guys credit, they did practice hard and were positive for the most part. After the way the season started, I think it was hard on some guys, and I think some guys actually probably knew they weren’t going to be here long-term. So I think that probably played into it a little bit, where you have some guys who maybe had a foot out the door or don’t feel a reason that they should put everything on the line every night. I think there was a little bit of that, so I think that probably played into the season a bit.
Grier, on if he’s letting UFAs Mike Hoffman, Kevin Labanc, and Alexander Barabanov hit the market:
I think that’s fair.
Grier, on the San Jose Sharks prospects:
They’re an exciting group, so we’re looking forward to adding more to it this year.
I think Shakir really is someone that I think is really exciting for us to look forward to. He’s on the cusp of the NHL.
You mentioned Luca [Cagnoni], he’s had a historic season down there. Any time you put up numbers like he did, it makes you take notice. I think our development group, Todd Marchant, Luca Sbisa, have done a good job with him. He’s defending much better, which, for an offensive guy at his size, is going to be paramount.
David Edstrom is someone that we’re excited about, as an 18, 19- year-old kid, he’s been playing second line on his men’s team in Sweden. I think they just got knocked out in seven games in the second round, but he was playing power play, penalty kill, scored, I think, the game-winner, had maybe four points in those three games. For someone of his age to be able to make an impact in the men’s league is exciting for us.
Musty had a really, really good year. He missed some games, but he was almost at a two-point per game clip, which is obviously very good. We’re excited about his ability and to see where he’s at after–hopefully, he has a good summer training.
I’ll even put Halttunen in there, who’s come over, was willing to make the sacrifice and the jump to play in North America. He’s had over 30 goals in his first year and he’s still scoring in the playoffs there. We’re excited, but these guys also have a lot of work ahead of them to get up here and impact the Sharks.
Filip [Bystedt], we’re excited about him. He’s pretty much a point per game player since he’s come over here. It’s just really exciting to see the length and the skating and playmaking ability down the middle of the ice. He’s kind of taken right to the North American game, which he’s kind of mentioned to us before, to our development guys, that he likes playing over here.
A rare kind of combination of size, reach, skating, and playmaking ability. We’re excited about him, it’ll be a big summer for him.
He got kind of a taste of pro hockey over here. He’s got to get a little bit stronger, keep getting faster, keep working on his game. You guys see him, he still looks like a kid over there, but he’s got the frame to get stronger and put on some muscle and some weight. We’re excited about him, and there’s a bright future for him.
Grier, on UFAs Jacob MacDonald and Ryan Carpenter:
We’ve had a little bit of contact. We’ll see where it goes with those guys. Not too much, I’ll say there’s been some contact, but I think everyone probably needs a chance to take a breath and sit back and try to analyze where they want to go.
Grier, on if he plans on keeping the same Sharks and Barracuda coaching staff:
I think there’s still evaluation. All of that is part of my job–is to get as much information as I can from the players and exit meetings and staff and talk with Hasso and things like that. Our staff, the hockey office staff, will talk once we get all the information in. Talk with Hasso as well, we’ll kind of go from there.
Grier, on if David Quinn is coming back:
Like I said, I’m still kind of getting all the information I can, and we’ll go from there.
Grier, on UFA Justin Bailey:
I think Bails did a good job. He kind of took the opportunity and ran with it, and he’s got some of the qualities that we’re looking for. He’s got size, skating ability, he’s got some physicality, and he can kind of chip in some secondary offense. To his credit, he took the opportunity and ran with it, so good on him. We’ll keep talking with him and see where it goes.
Grier, on if this is rock-bottom of the San Jose Sharks’ rebuild:
I hope so. If this isn’t, I don’t know what it is. It was a difficult season. Like I said earlier, it was worse than I expected coming into the season. I didn’t think we were a playoff team, but thought we’d be better than we were. From the start, we had the injuries, everything just kind of snowballed. I would hope this is rock-bottom and we can kind of progress and take some steps forward next year.
Grier’s thoughts, based on the information that he does have, of the work done by Quinn and John McCarthy’s coaching staffs:
I think the staff up here did a good job, competing, communicating, and motivating the players throughout the year. I don’t think they ever–it would have been easy to just throw your hands up and not put the effort and to go through extra video sessions and talk with the players and try and get the players better. I think they did a really good job with that in this situation. It was something that was needed and that they should be proud of.
Johnny Mac and his staff…down there, it’s always a little bit different, but I think they kind of did a good job to try and steady the boat too. When things weren’t going well, they stuck with it–the development days and the coaching and the teaching that they continue to do and the time they continue to put in with the players to try and get our young guys better was good, because I think you can see that.
The year Cardwell had, he kept getting better and better. Shakir and even Brandon Coe, who was in and out of the lineup, but if you watched in the last month, he’s played some really good hockey. Even Jack Thompson, I think the staff deserves a lot of credit there. When he got here, young kid, first time traded, was really struggling. I think Johnny and his staff did a good job of helping him feel comfortable there in the system–almost let him play freely and get his feet under him. Before he was called up, he was playing really good hockey for them down there.
The staff deserves credit for the development of some of our young guys.
Grier, on how Quinn and his staff developed the younger Sharks:
Eky and Zetts and Henry, they all took some steps, and the coaches did a good job with them.
Some of the development is just playing NHL games and playing NHL competition and learning how to deal with a season and the grind of playing every other night and things like that. Like we said earlier, the vets here–Granny and Kunny and Vlasic and Cooch, all those guys–deserve some credit for helping those young guys through as well.
Grier, on the work by goaltending coach Thomas Speer:
He’s done a really good job–even going back to last year with Kaapo, kind of breaking him down, I think Kaapo was little stubborn at first and not wanting to maybe make some of the changes that were suggested to him. Speersy’s got such a great personality and work ethic that he kind of stuck with it and eventually won Kaapo over. I think Kaapo had a really good year because of it this year.
Blacky and even Cooley have come up. I think Speersy’s put in a lot of work and put some time in with them, and I think he’s got the right mind-set to be a goalie coach. I think he sees the game well, but I think he also was able to communicate any changes or things that guys can work on or implement in their game.
Grier, on the state of the goaltending pipeline:
Up here, I think we’re in a pretty good spot with two NHL goaltenders. I think Blacky showed this year–and what he’s shown in the past–he’s a good, really solid NHL goalie. I think Vanecek, he’s been good throughout his NHL career, he’s won a lot, and he’s had a lot of success, so get those two guys healthy, I think we feel like we’re in a good spot with having two guys who can both go in and win games for us.
Georgi and Chrona are two young guys who are finding their way. With pro hockey, they had their ups and downs this year. I think both of them had stretches where they were hot and then they had stretches where they were struggling a little bit, so I think it’s been good for them. Overall, I think we’re in a decent spot. Could possibly look to add a No. 3 type to kind of help push those guys and mentor them a little bit. I think that’s a possibility.
Hopefully, we’ll see how the Draft shakes out, but I think we also need to bring in someone who’s a younger goalie as kind of the development guy who’s a few years younger than Chrona and Georgi.
Grier, on how he could’ve done a better job this year:
I think there’s probably a lot of things I could have done better.
For me, the main thing was trying to move on from some of the players we were able to, but I could probably have maybe done a better job in bringing in some players…Maybe there was a thing or two I could have done differently at the Trade Deadline or things like that too.
It’s like I told the group here, I think the season overall wasn’t good enough, and I think everyone–starting with me–has got to kind of self-assess and look in the mirror and see what you did wrong and what you can do better. It all starts with me.
Grier, on where the Sharks are with injuries over the summer:
I think we’re actually in decent shape.
[Benning is] skating already, so he should be good to go.
I think really, the big question is Cooch. We all feel for him as a person. It’s been a terrible, terrible year for him. I think it’s for him, kind of getting away, getting some rest, spending some time with his family and his little guy and then trying to reset, see where he’s at in a couple of months.
Grier, on if he’s approaching this off-season as if Couture is returning, or not:
I don’t think it’s kind of fair to Cooch, one way or the other. For him, it’s more about the person, for him to be able to have a quality of life. I’m kind of going in just with an open mind. I’ll talk more with him as the summer goes on and see how he’s feeling and see where he’s at. We saw what happened this year with the injury, so we’re gonna have to definitely be open to adding some center depth for the group if need be.
Grier, on if patience is the main thing that he’s learned about trying to avoid too long a rebuild:
It’s not easy. It’s not easy to know when to kind of jump in and really try and add to the group and make a difference. It’s not a one size fits all either. You do have to show some restraint and some patience when you can, but it’s not an easy thing. If someone had it figured out, then there wouldn’t be so many long rebuilds going on–and whatever sport it may be, not just hockey.
Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for her help transcribing.