Macklin Celebrini, left, hugs Mike Grier after being selected by the the San Jose Sharks with the first overall pick during the first round of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere on June 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE – With the San Jose Sharks upgrading their roster for the upcoming season and enjoying a newfound excitement around the team, it’s natural to wonder when they might start to become legitimate playoff contenders again.
But Mike Grier, who has taken a methodical approach to rebuilding the Sharks since he was named the team’s general manager just over two years ago, isn’t making any firm declarations.
While there’s been more buzz around the Sharks since the team won the draft lottery two months ago, then drafted and signed Macklin Celebrini and added other pieces, Grier reiterated that he does not want to predict when the team might be able to end its five-year postseason drought.
“I don’t really want to put exact timelines on things here. I think we just need to keep getting better and keep moving forward,” Grier said Saturday after the Celebrini signing was announced. “That’s what I’d like to see with the group that we have here, is getting better and pushing things forward.
“Hopefully, in the next couple of years, we can push for the playoffs and be there. But I don’t want to give you a timeline saying next year, this is what we’re going to do. We just need to keep getting better and keep growing as a team and improving individually.”
New to the Sharks this year are Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg, Ty Dellandrea, Barclay Goodrow, Carl Grundstrom, and defenseman Jake Walman. Center Will Smith, signed to an entry-level deal in May, could also play a prominent role this upcoming season.
There’s also plenty of flexibility within the salary cap to make more moves next season.
With several players set to become unrestricted free agents next summer, including goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and forward Mikael Granlund, the Sharks, per CapFriendly, right now have about $42 million in cap space for the 2025-26 season.
Enough to perhaps do some big game hunting if that’s what the Sharks want to do.
For now, Grier wants the Sharks to play with a certain identity and pride after experiencing so many lopsided losses last season – 11 by five goals or more, to be exact. The low point was the 10 goals the Sharks allowed in back-to-back home games in November 2023 to the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Sharks’ additions, and perhaps the subtractions, should help with that endeavor.
“The main thing I’d like to see, and I know (coach) Ryan (Warsofsky) would like to see, is us just being a more competitive, harder team to play against, where teams aren’t coming in here and having easy nights,” Grier said. “That’s going to be the foundation of everything — that we’re a hardworking, competitive team. With the players we’ve added, they all have a history of playing a certain way and contributing a certain way.”
Grier would also like to see forwards Fabian Zetterlund and William Eklund take a step in their growth this upcoming season. Playing almost exclusively in a top-six role, Zetterlund had a career-high 24 goals and 44 points last season, and Eklund, in his first full NHL season, had 45 points.
“They’ll have another year of experience in the league under their belts. So hopefully, those guys can keep growing and taking steps as well,” Grier said. “So if everyone gets a little bit better, and everyone takes a little step forward, we should be a better team. But at the core and the foundation of everything is us being a more competitive and harder to play against team.”
COACHING CHANGES: Grier was asked about the Sharks’ coaching staff changes, with Doug Houda and Jeff Ulmer joining Ryan Warsofsky’s staff as assistants. The Sharks also brought back Brian Wiseman as an assistant coach, Thomas Speer as NHL goaltending coach and Nick Gialdini and Cody Ward as video coach and assistant video coach, respectively.
Grier felt Wiseman, hired by the Sharks in 2022, did a good job orchestrating the power play, which improved from 18.4% last season to 20.2% this season despite losing Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson.
“Guys had very positive things to say about (Wiseman),” said Grier, describing his exit meetings with players in April. “He grew over the two years where in year one, he was kind of the third assistant. In year two, he kind of bumped up to more of a number two.”
Grier said Houda, with his 19 years of experience as an NHL assistant coach, “kind of balances out our staff in general.”
“We’re going to have some young defensemen coming up, and I think (Houda’s) a great teacher for those players. It’ll be a good ear for Ryan, and kind of help them navigate the ups and downs of the season. I don’t think there’s anything that (Houda) hasn’t seen.”
Ulmer had a 19-year career as a player but was an assistant coach with Abbotsford in the AHL for the last three seasons. Grier said Ulmer has “kind of blended the skill work and player development work with coaching, and that’s a good mix for us with where we are, and the young players we’re going to have around here, that we have someone who’s got that player development and skill development background.”
VANECEK’S HEALTH: Grier said at the NHL Draft last week that the Sharks expect goalie Vitek Vanecek to be fully ready for training camp but also added that with any surgery and rehab, “you never know.”
Vanecek had surgery in the spring after he missed the final two months of the regular season with an unspecified lower-body injury. He and a 2025 seventh-round pick were acquired by the Sharks in March from the New Jersey Devils for fellow goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
“He feels in a good spot right now. He’s working hard. He’s got himself on the ice, so the expectation that he’s healthy and ready, but you never know. “
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka