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Mike Grier

Grier addresses Celebrini's impressive start, future of Sharks

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“Intermission Live” co-hosts Alan Hoshida and Ted Ramey break down the San Jose Sharks’ Quarter-Century First and Second Teams.

General manager Mike Grier spoke on the state of Sharks for over 45 minutes on Tuesday night.

Grier shared his approach to the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline, his thoughts on Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith’s rookie seasons, the Sharks’ last-place record, the franchise’s next step and consensus 2025 NHL Draft No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer.

Here are some of my takeaways from Grier’s mid-season availability.

Macklin Celebrini

Calder Trophy frontrunner Celebrini has been the talk of the NHL.

“Not to put too much pressure on him, but he’s had a heck of a first half of his pro career, he’s driving play, pushing his teammates," Grier said. "Driving practice. The competitiveness is off the charts. For an 18-year-old kid, the way he’s done defensively, defending on the puck and winning puck battles and things like that, it’s been super-impressive to watch.”

San Jose Sharks

Find the latest San Jose Sharks news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How Sharks rookie Celebrini showed maturity after ugly loss to Stars

Warsofsky frustrated after Sharks surrender eight goals vs. Stars

San Jose has to be thanking the lottery gods. What would the Sharks’ rebuild look like if they had ended up with the No. 2 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft?

Will Smith

2023 No. 4 overall draft pick Smith has had an up-and-down introduction to the NHL — and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“He’s doing what 19-year-old kids do in this league," Grier said. "They play well for a bit, then they slide and have a little dip, it’s hard for him, and things like that. It’s been up and down, it’s been a roller coaster. Just for me, it’s kind of like your typical 19-year-old season. What Mack’s doing isn’t your typical teenage season.”

Quietly, Smith is one of just six rookies with more than 20 points so far this season, along with Celebrini, Lane Hutson, Matvei Michkov, Logan Stankoven and Cutter Gauthier.

Logan Couture

There’s no sense that Couture is coming back this season, or at all.

Could the Sharks select a new captain over the summer?

“Cooch is the captain, and as long as he’s here, he’ll be the captain,” Grier said. “I’m not someone who’s going to go out and feel like there’s a need to name a new captain the next day.”

The company line is Couture is rehabbing, and hopefully for both parties, the 35-year-old can work his way back and finish his NHL career on his terms.

Couture’s contract expires after the 2026-27 NHL season, though. It’s hard to see the Sharks without a captain for that long.

Trade Deadline Approach

The Sharks have several pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs): Forwards Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin, Nico Sturm, defensemen Cody Ceci, Jan Rutta and goaltenders Alexandar Georgiev and Vitek Vanecek.

Grier is in no hurry to re-sign any of his UFAs to an extension.

“It’s important for me to have an open mind about where we’re going and what another team might be willing to offer for one of our players and weigh it against the value of keeping those players around and having them with our group,” Grier said.

It’s wise for Grier to keep a poker face and see what the trade market is for his pending UFAs.

I would predict the Sharks keep a couple of these players, though it will be interesting to see whom. Each skater leads, in different ways, and especially with the presence of more youngsters this year, they need to stay competitive on the ice and keep a positive environment in the room.

Grier did note too, in this same press conference, that he's not going to sell just to sell.

“We’re just not in the mode of just gathering picks for the sake of gathering picks,” Grier said.

That seemed to be more of what the franchise was doing in the first two years of Grier’s regime.

Just guessing, I think Grier gets too good a trade offer, at least in his mind, for Granlund, who should net at least a first- or second-round draft pick, to start.

Kunin and Ceci, once again just a guess, stay.

I think Sturm and Rutta, who play lesser roles and might be deemed more replaceable, are traded or walk in free agency.

Fabian Zetterlund

The Sharks’ only significant pending restricted free agent (RFA), Zetterlund looks to be part of the team's future.

“I’m very happy with his development and his play," Grier said. "He’s been fairly consistent last year and this year. He’s someone who could definitely be a part of this team long-term because I think he’s got the right mentality as far as work. He’s a tough kid, he plays hurt, plays through things, blocks shots, plays hard.”

Grier said contract negotiations haven’t really started yet.

The length of Zetterlund’s new contract will be interesting, perhaps a tell of how much the Sharks really believe in the 25-year-old winger.

Shouldn’t Be in Last Place?

The last-place Sharks aren’t quite where Grier thought they would be at this point of the season.

“At the end of the day, I figured we’d probably be in that No. 8 pick range or so, but it is what it is," Grier said. "I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, it’s just a situation where it’s a tough league."

But Grier firmly believes the product is better than the results.

“We’ve played better than our record is,” Grier said.

The St. Louis Blues currently are the eighth-worst team in the NHL with a .490 Points Percentage. The Sharks are last at .340.

That’s about a seven-win difference.

While I agree that the Sharks have been better than their record, they haven’t been that much better than their record.

Next Year?

In that sense, the jury is still out on Grier.

Credit to him, though. He has turned what was probably the worst general-manager environment in the NHL — look at the Sharks’ veteran contracts and prospects pool in the summer of 2022 — into a genuinely enviable situation.

But eventually, the Sharks have to start winning.

“Hopefully, we’re more in the mix next time next year,” Grier said. “If we can, as a management staff, add some pieces to it and things like that, then hopefully, this time next year, we’re talking more about -- maybe we’re not sellers. Not necessarily that we’ll be buyers. Maybe there’s more talk about us hanging around the race and seeing what happens down the stretch.”

Grier’s team-building skills will be more of a focus in the coming years.

No Rush?

But again, credit to Grier. He doesn’t appear to be rushing things, which can be the temptation.

There are rumors the equally bad Chicago Blackhawks want to make a splash to support wunderkind Connor Bedard. But rushing a rebuild is a recipe for mediocrity.

“I think we’re on track of what we hope to do,” Grier said. “When I say go too fast, it’s you go out and sign three guys for nine million bucks apiece, two of them don’t work out, then you’re on the hook five years from now when we have some young players and we need to pay them, or we’re stuck with some contracts we’re not thrilled about.”

I like Grier’s approach. Let’s see if he can pick the right players via trade, in the draft and in free agency to keep the Sharks’ momentum up in the coming seasons.

2025 NHL Draft

The Sharks have the best odds at getting the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft right now, but that selection might not have the impact that Celebrini projects to have on the franchise.

Defenseman Matthew Schaefer appears to be the consensus favorite to go No. 1 overall.

“Schaefer is good, he’s a good player, but I would say there’s nobody in this draft that’s like Macklin or Bedard,” Grier said.

Just something to keep in mind as we head into the stretch run of the season, where wins feel like losses and losses feel like wins if you’re draft lottery-bound.

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