How will the Sharks improve this offseason?
No doubt, the hockey hot stove is percolating with trade and free agency rumors right now.
The 2025 NHL Draft is on June 27, and free agency begins on July 1, so the market is about to explode.
But not every possible acquisition fits the Sharks and their timeline.
So, what are five possible (and realistic) ways for the Sharks to take another step?
Before we get to that, let’s talk about how the Sharks probably aren’t going to improve themselves this offseason.
Big Free Agency Swing?
One hundred-point winger Mitch Marner is the prize of this free agency class. But even if he’d consider the last-place Sharks, it doesn’t seem like San Jose is ready to offer maximum seven or eight-year contracts to a UFA.
“It’s still not something I’m excited to do — to hand out, you know, seven- or eight-year deals or anything like that,” general manager Mike Grier said at the end of the season. “I’d still like to keep it more in the short to mid-term range, if possible.”
Grier could just be being coy, but he seems the cautious type, sources indicate the same thing, and there’s no indication that he’s being pressured from above to make a big splash.
So my guess is the Sharks stay out of the high end of free agency this summer.
If so, that could rule out San Jose from the chase for UFA forwards Marner, Nikolaj Ehlers and Sam Bennett. Same goes for defensemen Aaron Ekblad, Vladislav Gavrikov and Ivan Provorov.
It doesn’t mean that the Sharks won’t invest significantly in free agency, but probably more in the range of last summer’s four-year, $24 million pact with Tyler Toffoli.
What Can Sharks Offer in Trade?
A trade takes two to tango, and what the Sharks have to offer might not be enticing to other teams.
Specifically, San Jose does have an absolute war chest of futures to offer, extra first-round picks and high-end prospect depth.
But as of now, it feels like the most active teams on the market are looking to win now, not looking for futures.
So while futures could be a part of any deal, it’s hard to see them forming the core of potential trades for top-notch acquisitions like 40-goal winger Jason Robertson, almost point-per-game winger J.J. Peterka and top-pairing caliber defensemen like Noah Dobson, Bowen Byram and Samuel Girard.
At the moment, there isn’t a franchise out there a la the 2022-23 Sharks, looking to rebuild and dangling a star like Timo Meier….