Sharks Trade for Addison

Mike Grier said that the San Jose Sharks were looking for a puck-mover, and it looks like they got him.

As first reported by Kevin Weekes, the Sharks acquired Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild for San Jose’s 2026 fifth-round pick and prospect Adam Raska.

“Calen is a talented young defenseman who sees the ice well and moves the puck well,” the San Jose Sharks GM said in a team press release. “He is a very good player on the power play, and we are excited to add him to our group.”

Addison has recorded five goals and 33 assists in 92 NHL games. This season, he has five assists in 12 contests, playing 16:07 a night. He averaged 4:12 a game on the power play, almost four times more than any other Wild defensemen.

“It’s something that we’ve discussed for sure. It’s definitely been something that’s been a little bit of an issue for us,” Grier admitted about his puck-moving from the blueline on Monday. “It’s not anyone’s fault in the room down there—those guys are good pros, they play hard, but they’re not really offensive guys by nature. If something comes up where we can add someone who can move a puck or run a power play, then maybe we’ll look at it. I’m not gonna do anything rash, to try and fill that void.”

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Addison, 23, is an RFA after this year.

So his age and relatively-low acquisition cost certainly reflects Grier’s “big picture” vision. Like pending RFA Filip Zadina, consider this season an audition for the 2018 Pittsburgh Penguins’ second-round pick.

“The broader plan is what takes precedent here. We got to stay with it, stay with the vision and what we want to do,” he said.