Pashelka: After NHL draft lottery, one key ingredient remains for GM Mike Grier’s plan to work
San Jose Sharks GM will have the No. 4 overall pick at the NHL Draft next month, but there are no quick fixes for this team.
It was four years ago this week that the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, leading them to what was then their fourth Western Conference Final in 10 seasons.
After a gruesome head injury two weeks earlier, Joe Pavelski made a dramatic return to SAP Center, collecting a goal and an assist to give what would be that era of Sharks teams, that special and unique group of players, one final unforgettable moment.
The Sharks then would lose to the St. Louis Blues in the next round, Pavelski would be allowed to walk as a free agent, and nothing’s been the same since.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier knows it won’t be easy for his team to get back to where it was a few years ago, competing in playoff games in front of delirious, sold-out crowds. The best way to do it, at least from his vantage point, is to build from the ground up.
Truthfully, that might mean being one of the NHL’s worst teams again next season and collecting another top-five pick in 2024. After all, when you finish fourth-to-last in the NHL standings, there are no easy fixes.
That’s why Grier’s long-term plan remained intact Tuesday morning after he and the rest of the Sharks’ front office learned that they’ll have the fourth overall selection at the NHL Draft next month in Nashville, Tenn. They didn’t land the right to select Connor Bedard, but they’ll draft a player, likely a forward, who will instantly become the team’s top prospect.
That in and of itself gives the Sharks some newfound hope for the future.
But for Grier’s plan to work, there needs to be patience — and lots of it.
Whoever the Sharks’ select at No. 4 – whether it’s Swedish center Leo Carlsson, Russian winger Matvei Michkov, American forward William Smith, or someone else entirely – likely won’t be a part of the big club’s 23-man roster at least for another year or two, or maybe three.
Michkov’s contract with SKA St. Petersburg runs through the 2025-26 season, meaning he won’t be coming to North America anytime soon. Carlsson probably needs another year in the Swedish League, like William Eklund did after the Sharks took him seventh overall in 2021, before he comes to North America full-time. Smith will just be starting his freshman season at Boston College in the fall and might not be ready to turn pro for a couple more years.
All of that would be fine with Grier if the Sharks end up taking one of the three, which seems the most likely outcome of all of this.
“It’s a man’s league,” Grier said Monday night. “It’s difficult. It’s difficult to expect an 18-year-old to come in and have success and do the things they’ve done their whole life.”
What are the key components of Grier’s plan, you ask?
Part of it is already underway.
The Sharks wanted their defense corps to get bigger and more mobile and acquired Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk from New Jersey in the Timo Meier trade. Mukhamadullin could be a top-four defenseman if all goes well, and Okhotiuk plays a simple, no-nonsense style that coaches can appreciate.
They also acquired Henry Thrun, who didn’t look out of place when he played the final eight games of the season in the NHL. Finnish defenseman Valtteri Pulli was also signed to a two-year deal, although his ability to play in the NHL remains a bit of a question mark. Mattias Hävelid could also be in the mix in another year or two.
“You see in the playoffs, I believe you need length on the back end,” Grier said. “You need guys who can make it difficult for the opponent to score goals. So I think we’ve gotten better on the defensive side of the prospect pool.”
The goalie situation remains in flux. Magnus Chrona? Eetu Makiniemi? Georgi Romanov? Is there an NHL-caliber goalie there? Time will tell. But they’re getting a shot.
Up front, Eklund, assuming his recovery from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder goes well, figures to be a full-time NHL player next season. Grier said Cam Lund and (Filip) Bystedt “both had really good years post-draft.” Thomas Bordeleau and Ozzy Wiesblatt just finished their first full seasons as professionals in a critical development year.
When will it all pay off in terms of more Sharks wins? No one knows for sure. That’s the toughest part of this whole deal. But at least there’s a plan.
“I think we’re happy with the direction and the progress we’ve made in kind of building up the prospect pool,” Grier said, “and what’s to come here over the next couple of months when we add a few more players to it.”
If the Sharks ever want to be considered one of the NHL’s best teams again, Grier’s plan is the only way to go. Every Stanley Cup contender has elite players, and the Sharks need a few more to build around.
And that requires patience.
“We’re going to get a good a good player who is going to be, hopefully, a building block here for this franchise for a long time and a core piece of the team for a long time,” Grier said. “So we’re pretty happy with where we are (at No. 4).”