"Pavelski doesn't age" And to this day as a Sharks fan, I miss Pav's.

They said to Grier at his hiring "Take the team to the top, here's a shovel"

As a sharks Fan, i think he is doing a great job drafting and cleaning up Doug Wilsons mess.

I love these types of videos, just analyzing past trades and gm histories

Just going to sit back, cross my fingers, and hope the Sharks will be respectable in 3-5 years...

In two years, Mike Grier has moved multiple contracts that people called immovable, improved our prospect pool from #14 on The Athletic to #4, given the team the best looking jerseys since their inaugural ones, and has finally come out and called it what it is: a rebuild. The Hertl deal only truly hurt because he went to their most recent rival - but it was a much needed move and they technically got two firsts from it. They have three first round drafts in their current lineup (eklund, kunin, zadina), two of which fit the timeline of the rebuild, and a few more 1st round picks marinating in the AHL that look poised for promotion. They should draft top 3 this year, and with any luck it'll be Celebrini which would be huge, and they'll have 3 1st round picks in a deeper draft next year. If you really think GMMG is doing a shit job, you're not really paying attention. Great video Shannon, I hope this wins some of the lesser-informed fans over on Grier.

I would say that he went into the worst situation possible. There was no GM in the last 10 years who came into a worse team when it comes to contracts and assets.

Moving that 11.5 million Karlsson contract was a huge win and some of those albatross deals off the books.

Thank you for the most levelheaded analysis of the Sharks situation and Mike Grier's moves so far. Content you are not going to find on the NHL Network. This is why your channel is the best.

Mike Grier has been quietly doing gods work in San Jose. He inherited a Sharks team drowning in aging, overpaid, and underperforming stars on 8 year contracts (just like the current Penguins) No GM was in a tougher position than Grier when he first started. He took as season to assess the team, the talent, and created a plan. The Meier trade got the ball rolling. He has taken the emotion out, and is doing what needs to be done. A complete rebuild while selling off what needs to go. He hasn’t made exciting trades but it’s been good business while also doing right by the players by sending them to contenders. Players take notice of that. Burns, Meier, Karlsson, and now Hertl. The old guard is gone. Couture may never play again, and Vlasic has been checked out for years so we’re riding those out. In less than two years Grier has massively overhauled our prospect pool, traded Karlsson who we all thought would be impossible to move without serious retention. He’s had to pay some prices for getting rid of those contracts. Hertl would have fetched more two years ago on an expiring contract but he’s 30, had multiple knee surgeries, and the latter part of that contract won’t age well. He had to give up a little more draft capital and retain to do good on Hertl and the Sharks. Good move. Vegas is going too hard and I think they’re gonna be paying for it sooner than people think, and might not make the playoffs this year. That 1st next year could be higher than you think. Smart move. Meier trade - Good move. Muk looks good, Musty is destroying the OHL, and Zetterlund has been so good. Karlsson trade - good move. Granlund has been our MVP, and has been more valuable than Hertl this season..both as a pro example for the young players and on the Ice with the way he plays the game. Ruuta is a vet, and D has been bad this year but he’s a good mentor and still decent. Hoffman is trash but you gotta make that move. Don’t forget about that 1st that is currently top 10 protected with how bad the Pens are…they could choose to surrender the top 10 but that means the 2025 1st is unprotected and the Penguins could potentially be even worse next season. Don’t think Grier didn’t know what he was doing. The Klim Kostin trade was a sneaky good depth addition. I loved the Blackwood trade, and Kahk for Vanecek is also a quietly good trade as he has more proven upside. Zadina is having a strong second half of the season. Zetterlund has looked great. We just need some proper defense this draft, and a future goaltender in there somewhere. As hard as it has been watching a bad team us Sharks fans know it’s going to be darkest before the dawn. There is a LOT to be excited about and the future looks very bright for San Jose. Thank You Shannon for this video. People love crapping on Grier, but I don’t think they understand the depth of the workings of what he is doing. People love quick fixes, this man isn’t doing a remodel he’s stripping it down to its foundation and demolition is hard, ugly, painful work. In 5-10 years people will be talking about Mike Grier very differently.

The problem with Grier is that he stepped into a tough situation. San Jose needs a complete rebuild, similar to Detroit.

Awesome work as always! Thanks for showing love to the Sharks, it’s these types of videos that keep us entertained through the rebuild. Take care!

It's worth mentioning Quentin Musty as a major piece of the Timo trade with how he's performed as a younger guy in his D+1 year, leading the OHL in points per game with 1.78 (35g, 49a, 84p in 47gp). That trade has aged into a major win for SJ and Grier.

As a sharks fan since their inaugural season I will never say I'm not watching this team, but I'd be delusional to say to myself we're anywhere close. Just got to hope the prospects pan out and that we are smart with how we spend our cap space. Thanks for the well thought out break down on my team!

I am huge Miami Dolphins fan, Mike's brother Chris is the GM, and if Mike is just as a good a GM as his brother the Sharks will be fine. The on thing I think the Griers do well is getting good contracts for players that give the team excellent exit options at the right time.

The Pavelski situation is point on. I remember there was a lot talk from sharks fans not resigning him and he is to old. What a disaster this decision was. He brought us to the finals as the captain. He is a real leader

I feel for Mike Grier in terms of the mess that he has to clean up, but I'm actually also sympathetic to Doug Wilson, the decaying contracts that he handed out, and what happened to his Sharks. It's a dumpster fire that was directly caused by nearly-psychotic levels of ambition. So many damned years where San Jose would be one of the best teams in the league, only to fall just short of the hardware for over a decade, must've ate into his rational state of mind. I think it would've for just about anyone, including myself.

Amazing insight! Always love your videos. Keep up the good work!

Grier has done well, dude had an impossible job and has done a good job getting us out of the majority of bad contracts and improving our prospect pool. He also has acquired a lot of 1st and 2nd round draft picks.

Excellent analysis. Top notch research. Thank you for your hard work! Love your channel.

Thanks dude! Life long sharks fan, this has helped me process my suffering and trauma 💙

This was a really good breakdown of why the wild criticism of Grier has been ridiculous. He came into a horrible situation and is doing his best to rectify it while rebuilding and doing right by the vets that didn’t sign up for this situation. That said, there are three key things I think it would have been good to consider that you didn’t mention: 1. Of all the brutal contracts that Wilson handed out in the three years before he left, low-key the worst was Evander Kane. Why? Because by re-signing Kane, the Sharks fulfilled the trade requirements to send their 2019 1st to Buffalo. That punted the 2020 1st, which ended up 3rd overall, to Ottawa in the Karlsson deal. If the Sharks hadn’t re-signed Kane, then the 2019 1st would have gone to Ottawa and then the Sharks have their 2020 1st and end up with Stutzle. 2. It’s looking like Logan Couture might sadly end up on the LITR. It’s not looking good for him coming back from his injury that’s kept him out all year, and he’s 34 years old. As a fan, I feel horrible for Logan and want him to get healthy again. But if he can’t, that’s a huge amount of cap space freed up. 3. For those criticizing the value that Grier has gotten back in his trades so far, I feel like there are two factors people are neglecting to mention. First, I think there’s a bit of a “new guy” tax for new GMs that are not part of the old boys club (Yzerman, for example). Secondly, Grier has really moved heaven and earth to get guys like Burns, Meier, Karlsson, and Hertl to destinations that they actually want to be in. The restrictive NTCs/NMCs that all those guys had meant that he couldn’t just open it up to 31 teams and say “best offer wins”. I think he’s putting in some effort to get a rep as a player’s GM, in that he’s all for giving guys fresh chances who want them and treating big names with respect. All in all, as a Sharks fan, I like Mike Grier and think the franchise is in good hands so far.

You actually missed how Grier flipped Lorentz to Florida for Duclair after acquiring the former player in the Brent Burns trade. After flipping Duclair this TDL, the man basically flipped Burns and a 2026 7th for a 2023 3rd, 2024 3rd and Makiniemi.

Great analysis and explanation as always, Shannon. Thanks!

Grier is doing what must be done.

as a sharks fan thank you for this video:) i don’t feel it’s the sharks get coverage toooo often

Love these deep dive videos on specific teams

Being able to move out Burns, Karlsson, and Hertl is almost magic. If they manage to move out Vlasic somehow, that would be true magic.

Great Video. I saw a post today describing the Hertl deal as a cheaper buy out that the got assets for.

Very insightful video, well done

My fav type of videos

Excellent summary of the Sharks' rebuild, THG!

I miss Pavs in San Jose. Glad he’s doing well in Dallas.

Very good analysis. Thanks, THG!!!

Yay my team is mentioned in a video!

Thanks for the break down , this is a lot of info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of the people giving him a hard time have zero understanding of the management and financial side of the NHL.

Great vid bud

I can see this turning in to a series through every team. A review of their latest trades.

Great job

Excellent analysis. You only get that here @ THG!

give it time, good outlook

Hey Hockey Guy, I am so glad I found your channel. Most fans tend to be very emotional and knee jerkish-ish when they react to their teams and I am not saying that you don't get upset over moves from your team from time to time. Your a fan. That said, really agree with you. Fans are often quick to criticize without considering the bigger picture. It's somewhat like politics in that often times we are reacting to situations without full information. All we have regarding the Sharks is the result of the trades made by Grier and the players acquired. We don't know what teams were offering in any given trade or how many teams were even willing to entertain a given trade. Given that lack of information from behind the curtain it is pretty foolish to second guess the Wizard of Oz behind his curtain pulling levers! I also completely agree that former GM Doug Wilson was totally committed to the core he built even when it was reaching the point of it being not a great idea long term. That was probably the hall mark of DW's tenure. He was always willing to make a deal to help the Sharks push for another run to the detriment of our prospects pool. Personally, (I made this point during the trade talks rumored between Pittsburgh and the Sharks in the off season) if you believe in your core then make whatever trades you can to give those guys the best shot to win a cup for you. If you don't believe in your core anymore than start breaking it up and begin the arduous process of rebuilding a new core. It sounds simple but, those of us who have been watching hockey for a bit have witnessed how tough it is to tear your hockey club down to the foundation and start rebuilding everything from the ground up. I also agree about how attached we become to certain players. It's tough to be a fan because at the end of the day it is still a business and moves will be made that are upsetting. while I was excited to get Joe Thornton I was crushed by the loss of Marco Sturm and Brad Stuart. It's a business and you can't get something for nothing usually. If you make mostly good moves it will be a great decision for the franchise. If you make about as many bad moves as you do good ones...well that process will cost several people their jobs and probably turn into a bit of a nightmare for the franchise before you finally realize enough quality players to rebuild a new core (Edmonton comes to mind). Its a tough world professional sports. It's performance based/outcomes based so if you fail to perform well...there are a lot of scalps hanging up around the league in ownership offices of front office personnel, coaching staffs and players who couldn't make a franchise go. Still as somebody recently remarked on the Sharks (I think it was Vlassic) the worst day in the NHL is still better than doing something else for a living. Thanks again Hockey Guy and I hope this finds you well man. Cheers, Peter St. John Clovis, CA

He did a good job with the teardown, lets see the rebuild.

For the Brent Burns trade there are some interesting additional details: The Sharks received a 3rd round pick from Carolina (#94) but ended up trading them back the pick and a 4th rounder (#100) for an earlier 3rd rounder. They used that pick on Brandon Svoboda (#71). The Sharks also traded Lorentz and a 5th round pick to Florida for Anthony Duclair, who they flipped at the deadline for a 2024 3rd and Jack Thompson. So the Sharks end up trading: Brent Burns ($2.72M retained over 3 years) Lane Pedersen 4th round pick 2023 (#100) 5th round pick 2025 And they received: Eetu Makiniemi Jack Thompson Brandon Svoboda 3rd round pick 2023 (#71) 3rd round pick 2024

I think Granlund been strongest and most consist SJ player this year. Zetterlund been good too, but i think Granlund been bit stronger. Ofc as Granlund fan i am bit biased. I hope Granlund and Kunin can stay in SJ long and be one of your leaders when SJ return to playoffs. Was so happy to see SJ giving them Alternate Captains jobs.

I thought the same thing about the seat lights when they showed up after the lock-down.

like youve said in past videos, its easy to tear things down but its hard to build them back up again

When you put it like this, maybe Grier isn’t so bad.

from a sharks fan perspective, your take is right. however, from our pov, were fed up with the team for many reasons and the shark tank is empty due to that. people in the area hate their decisions, some good and some bad. the main complaints that are raised in SJ are the loss of pavelski, and the resistance to a rebuild. people in san jose had been calling for a rebuild of the team since BEFORE the stanley cup run in 2016. remember how old jumbo and marleau already looked in 2016? imagine if the rebuild began far earlier? fans had been fed up with the team for the lack of playoff success with the same core over and over again, and we've gone from that to the last 5 seasons or so where these trades hurt in a bitter pill kind of way. the rebuild is necessary, but we all wanted it sooner in san jose.

I think we need to wait a few years before we can fairly judge Grier. At least he was able to trade the long contracts and get assets back. Yes retaining salary for several years looks rough getting out from these contracts (whether the return was good enough or not) is a crucial first step. Im excited to see what develops over the next few years. As a fan I think we should look at the positives and hope for the best.

Jayden Perron is struggling as a freshman at North Dakota, but still has high upside.

You nailed it. Wilson saddled the Sharks with huge contracts.

it’s like when you grow up and mom makes you throw away some toys. i’m gonna hate it but to grow i need to do it

The set up Wilson put in place with Karl, Goose etc. was genius however too many key players injured sunk that ship. Boughner was a 3 season chemistry killer. Pavs said he had many boxes to tick along with money/time and Dallas ticked those boxes. I loved Hertl but the trade makes sense. He wanted it and on paper he is a 30 year old, reoccurring knee issues, underscoring lately, this season and last heavy minus and the $contract. I have been on this Sharks rollercoaster since the early 90s I am really looking forward to who over the seasons will be my next favorite players

Great post, Shannon. Thank you for the deep dive. I totally agree with you about the trade perceptions. You hear that all the time on sports radio..."We ought to trade Player X to Team Y and get blah, blah, blah." Yeah, okay...what makes you think anybody is going to take that trade? That kind of thinking always presents unrealistic perceptions of what other COMPETING GMs are willing to accept. And being a long-time Sharks fan, I think the current team is even less talented than this team was in its first year. It's just bleak. I like what the team is doing: accepting the reality that a total tear-down is impossible to avoid if the team is to have ANY future at all. Your analysis is spot-on and fair. Well done.

Wow loving the sharks content from the hockey guy. Be careful people might start thinking you’re a Sharks fan Shannon.

Musty is looking like a hell of a pick.

i dont hate the moves hes made, but the EA franchise mode GM in me hates the idea of paying retention for multiple years, i understand sometimes it needs to be done tho

As a Sharks fan, I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. But it is a long tunnel and right now that light is looking pretty dim. I know we had to trade Hertl to get that contract off the books but I think a better deal could have been made in the offseason/ before the draft. Also anyone else but Vegas. It's going to be rough seeing him in that ugly gold helmet for the first time back at the Shark Tank.

Loved Hertl and Meier, but it made since to trade them. Probably will have to eat the Vlasic and Couture contracts, but once those are up hopefully (big hope) they will be pushing for playoffs again

Great analysis. Grier has done what had to be done. For this to work and build a quality team they need to draft and develop better. Have been poor at this the last 5 years. It’s been brutal at times but have enjoyed the season.

Awesome Video! Still miss Pavs and will cheer for Dallas as my second team so I can see him win!! I was not on the "Grier is terrible" bandwagon and this makes me like him more. I wish Hertl could have gone out of the conference but, as you say, that might have been the best offer. Here is hoping 5 years from now, that first round pick we got from Vegas scores the game winning goal against them in the conference finals.

would love for a review of brad treliving in Calgary in this style

Quinton Musty is looking like he could be a stud prospect as well.

Grier is definitely doing the best he can. Doug Wilson sunk this franchise with horrible contracts. So it’ll be fun to see how this rebuild plays out

Great video. I think you should've added a 1 min talk track about the effect of EK65's contract on the Sharks too. Not only did Vlasic, Thornton age poorly, Burns showing decline in SJ before going to CAR and rebooting, we also lost Pavs, Nyqvist, and Dillon, who all continue to be good producers. It was a tough decision at the time so I dont fault Doug Wilson per se, especially anyone here is nuts if they said "I knew for sure that Pavelski would continue to be a top NHL player as he nears 40". The decision was made though, didn't work out, and thus the painful two years of being bad but not admitting we are in a rebuild until we traded Meier, commenced.

Removed aging and expensive players ✅️ Draft solid prospects ✅️ So he's doing a solid job to rebuild the team but he's not done yet

Hertl underperformed because the team around him is wildly different than it was when he re-signed. Looking at that extension in hindsight isn't exactly fair

3 more years of Vlasic is BRUTAL

Imagine how much different things could have been if they kept Pavelski + cap space instead of signing Karlsson. Still probably nothing special, but in the 2019-2022 era Pavs, Hertl, Couture, Meier, Burns etc were all still very good players. But losing Pavs really hurt their top 6 forward group.

I would think another benefit of the cap space the have is if a young good player or one who has the potential to be is on the market they can get them and help speed up the rebuild.

Jayden Perron is not a sharks prospect, that pick was traded back to Carolina funny enough, and Carolina selected Jayden Perron. San Jose traded up to get Brandon Svoboda

Your comment that rebuilding teams should have lots of cap space made me think of Montreal, which does not. How did they get to a situation where they still have the questionable contracts of a team on the way down, while also having the extra draft picks and prospects of a team on the way up? What was Marc Bergevin doing?

Pavelski leaving ripped the heart out of that team

Given the circumstances, I think Grier is doing as well as he can. The team had few assets and a lot of bad contracts, and he’s turning that around.

Not just EK, also Evander Kane,s contract (7 million per year),signed by DW, affected Pavs ability to resign later.

I’ve been looking for a reason to cheer for the Sharks again, so maybe a rebuild will do.

the vocal fans on social media are often very out of touch with reality when they dogpile on a player/team/gm. Glad THG is here to ad some sanity and balance to the conversation.

GMMG has been doing amazing for us. So glad he became our GM and the future he’s building for us in SJ. DW was amazing for over 20 years but he definitely made some rough decisions towards the end in the hope to stay a contender forever

Great video! Everything really started to snowball after the 2016 Cup loss. Bad, long-term contracts started. Moves just to hold on to being relevant in the post season. Wilson tanked the Sharks. Grier has done a phenomenal job grabbing the shovel and start the process of digging San Jose out. Wilson had 20 years to mold the Sharks into "his" team, how about we give Mike Grier some time to clean house and show us the team he wants to put on the ice. Still a few years to go.

at 1:15 ... the interim GM that signed the Hertl deal, Joe Will, wasn't fired. He's still with the organization. Doug Wilson wasn't fired either. Usually, you're spot on, Shannon, but you were way off here.

Thank you for doing this. I agree with you on most part. SJ was not very attractive for free agents in the past. Thats a problem. I think we a have to built our team mostly through the draft. The addition of the 1st rounders will help. Now Grier has to hit on those.

Thanks for a great analysis on the state of the Sharks. Although the rebuild will continue to be painful, at least they have a clear direction moving forward. I just wish they would have won at least one Cup during the glory years.

San Jose has acquired a lot of prospects under Grier that have filled in a lot of what we didn't have from the 2017, 2018 and 2020 drafts. Maybe we didn't draft Ty Emberson or Jack Thompson, but they're here now. Not elite talent, but its filling out the depth for the future nicely.

Your points are well made, and I feel similar in most regards. My concern with the Hertl trade is largely that I feel you do want some 'glue' guys to help build the culture, connect with the fans, and help the young kids develop and Hertl ticked all these boxes. Also, by taking a 2025 pick, that indicates to me this rebuild is going to be longer - not 3 yrs, but more like 5+. My other concern is the Sharks development program. In the last 10 years, the sharks have developed exactly 8 players with careers longer than 100 games (Ferraro, Gregor, Gambrell, Meier, Balcers, Goldobin, Lebanc, Mueller). They've also missed on several first round picks (Wiesblatt, Merkley, Roy). Now that's something that Grier might already be remedying, but until I see evidence of change, I'm skeptical and concerned. Keep up the good videos, and it was great to see you on the sharks broadcast too!

The issue with Adin Hill at the time was also that they had three goalies under contract between him, Reimer, and Kahkonen. Considering the volatility of the position, there's no guarantee anyone wanted the other two guys at the time. Reimer was wildly inconsistent from one year to the next and getting older and Kahkonen was seemingly unlikely to be moved so soon after being acquired and performing well enough. As for Vlasic, he's likely a buyout candidate if they want to get rid of him. I don't think he had trade value even at 50%. They also have a logjam on defense where they need to move guys to open up spots to allow guys like Mukhamadullin and Thrun to get into the lineup and develop more consistently. Couture is at this point untradeable. Until and if he can actually heal from his injury, he's not going anywhere so they will be eating his contract. The absolute best case scenario is that he heals up this offseason (not a guarantee because he had this injury last offseason and it bled into this season, got aggravated, and is now causing him to miss the rest of it), plays all of next season and then becomes tradeable with a retention slot freeing up and Couture then only having two years to go. Those are very long odds so expect him to be here and probably injured for the rest of his deal. His injury is pretty gnarly.

As a Sharks fan, I think THG's analysis of the Sharks player moves by Grier was good. Sharks needed to rebuild back in 2020, when they missed the playoffs for 2 seasons in a row. Sports teams rarely become perennial contenders and almost all of them have to do a rebuild. There's another team in the Bay Area that's facing a rebuild too - the Warriors. They are now what the 2018 Sharks were, at the end of their contending window. Maybe THG should break down their bad contract situation too. 🙂

On the Hill trade we gave a second rounder for him 6 months earlier then trade him for a 4th. As a Sharks fan we had some faith in Grier until the Hertle Trade.

It would be nice to hear what do you think about Grier’s UFA signings as well.

Grier's dominating. Reading Sharks fans' takes after the Timo trade was scary though. Some takes so bad they could only really be explained by pretty extreme... biases... 😓Then after two months of Zetterlund/Okhotiuk/Mukhamadullin they'd forgotten all about it.

I think Grier has done a good job so far and should be able to see this thing through

What have we learned from the video? If you want a good deal trade with New Jersey

Hope SJ will be competitive in 4-5 years again. Just don’t make it an endless rebuild. If they were good rn trading the face of the franchise would be silly. Since they are doggo rn, it makes sense. About Grier: just let him cook.

I only found out yesterday (after this video was published) that Mike Grier is Rosey Grier's nephew.

Love this vid. Grier has been exceeding my expectations considering the mess hes had to work with. Everything started to fall apart when DW decided Karlsson was more important than Pavs (who will always be my captain) but Grier has embraced what he has and made the best of it. Super stoked on Musty too

While I agree with most of your points, and I haven't been too critical of Grier, I cannot understand your point about the Hertl trade. Given the cap situation and the moment when it happened, there was no reason to trade him now, given that there will be a huge cap spike in the summer. Even if the return would be similar or a bit worse, I can't see a world where hanging on to another retention spot would be worse for Sharks. Tomas was having a good season, he's mostly healthy since 2016, so it's impossible that there would be zero options in the summer or in a year. Sharks have a good prospect pool, there are way too many second or third-pairing potential defenceman as it is, so that's another thing to keep an eye on. I still believe that Grier is looking for too much floor and not enough ceiling (I love what Trotz is doing in this regard in Nashville), so I don't expect him to create nowhere near as good of a team as we had before even in 5-7 years.

At least their new jerseys look great with their rebuild 🤷🏼‍♂️

Mike grier for GM of the year 🤷‍♂️

Best move the team has made, Wilson out - Grier in. Now this summer he finally has some chips to play his cards, let the man cook