San Jose Sharks
TAKEAWAYS: Grier on How Sharks Have Improved, What They Still Need (+)
Everything’s coming up San Jose Sharks!
GM Mike Grier has been having a good summer: The Sharks won the first-overall pick in the Draft Lottery, top NCAA prospect Will Smith announced that he was going pro, San Jose picked consensus No. 1 Macklin Celebrini in the 2024 Draft, and arguable top-five prospect Sam Dickinson fell into Grier’s lap at No. 11.
That’s not even mentioning the Sharks adding established NHL’ers Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, Carl Grundstrom, and Jake Walman too.
The good vibes continued into free agency on Monday, where the Sharks landed one of the biggest fish on the market, sniper Tyler Toffoli, for four years and $24 million.
Only five UFAs commanded a higher AAV on the open market on Jul. 1, Steven Stamkos, Elias Lindholm, Brandon Montour, Brady Skjei, and Chandler Stephenson.
Toffoli wasn’t Grier’s only big catch, he also signed two-way center Alexander Wennberg to a two-year, $10 million contract. And for the San Jose Barracuda, he added two high-end defensemen, Lucas Carlsson and Jimmy Schuldt.
Here are some of my takeaways from Grier’s post-Day 1 press conference: