{"id":423088,"date":"2026-01-23T06:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T06:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/423088\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T06:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T06:15:10","slug":"mike-grier-talks-sharks-trade-deadline-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/423088\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Grier Talks Sharks Trade Deadline Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHL Trade Deadline<\/a> is March 6th, and San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier might have the hardest decision to make of any NHL GM.<\/p>\n

Grier spoke to members of the media following a state-of-the-Sharks season ticket holder event. Grier was honest about what he wants to accomplish at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.<\/p>\n

Here is everything Mike Grier said:<\/p>\n

How do you approach the deadline, especially on the blue line?<\/p>\n

Like I said out there, I\u2019m not going to do anything that\u2019s short-sighted. It\u2019s all about continuing to grow and build the group. It might not be the most glamorous group of defensemen, but they\u2019ve played well. They\u2019ve played hard [and] produced. I think [John Klingberg<\/a> has] produced. [Dmitry Orlov<\/a> has] produced. We\u2019re starting to get a little bit from Sam[Dickinson], and Vincent Desharnais has been great on the PK. Iorio, when he got a chance to play, was really good at helping us get pucks out of our end. Then you have Mario [Ferraro] back there blocking shots and playing his tail off every night. Like I said, it\u2019s not a group that probably gets talked about a lot, but, you know, they\u2019re doing their job out there and helping us win hockey games.<\/p>\n

Despite the success, there will be hard conversations to be had. How do you assess where to buy and where to sell?<\/p>\n

This time of year, there are always tough conversations where you have to figure out what road to go down and what\u2019s best for the organization, short-term, medium-term, and long-term. These are not easy times for players or management.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re doing well and playing well, then you\u2019ve got the other side of it, where you\u2019re maybe moving players that have been a big part of things. And even when you\u2019re not playing well, it\u2019s, you\u2019re taking someone like [Mackenzie Blackwood] out of your team or [Mikael Granlund] out of your team. Those aren\u2019t easy conversations. It\u2019s just a difficult time of year for everyone, but you know, we\u2019ll try and make the best decisions we can.<\/p>\n

Grier on the deadline plan: \u201cIt’s not being too short sighted and not doing something that maybe sets us back two or three years. So trying to be a targeted acquisition.\u201d #SJSharks<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Are you taking calls on the San Jose Sharks UFAs? Would it be tough to replace them if a deal does come along?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little bit of a balancing act. It\u2019s the time of year where teams are definitely kind of kicking tires and seeing what\u2019s out there, what\u2019s possibly available. So yeah, teams have called on guys. Whenever someone calls, I listen. Doesn\u2019t matter who the player is, I\u2019ll always listen to what they have to say. But it\u2019s, yeah, it\u2019s kind of a delicate balance right now.<\/p>\n

If you fall out of the playoff race or feel like an extension with Kiefer Sherwood can\u2019t be done, could you flip him?<\/p>\n

Like I said, if someone calls, maybe I\u2019ll listen and see what they have to say or what they want to make an offer. His acquisition was a targeted acquisition. He\u2019s what this team needs, as far as someone who plays with some sandpaper, some grit, some speed, some physicality. He fits the identity of what we want to be as a team. It\u2019s someone we\u2019ve gone after with the idea of him not being a rental.<\/p>\n

Why was now the right time to move draft picks?<\/p>\n

The picks are something the markets spoke a little bit about with the Marchment and Chinakhov, what it would take to get a player like Kiefer. For us, it\u2019s a little bit getting out ahead of free agency. He\u2019s someone who would have been high on our list if he had made it to free agency. We\u2019ve made a lot of picks the last couple of years. We got a lot of prospects. We still have a lot of picks this year. We\u2019ve kind of felt like we\u2019d be okay to move a little bit of draft capital to get a player that we think can help us, not only now, but into the future as well.<\/p>\n

Are you interested in moving a first-round pick?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see us moving our first-rounder for a rental-type player.<\/p>\n

Why was Kiefer a targeted acquisition? What do you look for when approaching San Jose Sharks trade interests?<\/p>\n

He fits right now, but it\u2019s just something, like I said from day one when I got this job, he\u2019s the type of player I was speaking about that we need to have in here to be hard to play against. It\u2019s similar when we got [Zack Ostapchuk<\/a>] last year at the deadline. People were kind of wondering why we would trade<\/a> and established scorer like [Fabian Zetterlund] who had scored for us.<\/p>\n

But you have to build a team. It takes all different types of parts, and all different parts of character, and not just kind of fantasy football, where you\u2019re just accumulating stats. You need guys who can be physical, can skate, who can be hard to play against, because, at the end of the day, that\u2019s what wins in the playoffs. And that\u2019s the goal for us, to get into the playoffs and win the whole thing. You need players, like Kiefer, players like Chucky, you need those style of players to help supplement your group.<\/p>\n

On defense, what does a targeted trade acquisition look like for the San Jose Sharks?<\/p>\n

I think everyone\u2019s looking for a D that can defend hard and defend the rush, be hard around the net. If you talk to every team in the league, I think that\u2019s what they\u2019re looking for because you have to defend, you have to be hard on around your net, and then you have to be able to exit your zone. Those are things we\u2019re looking at. That\u2019s probably no different than anyone else.<\/p>\n

How do you view when the time is right to go for it and when not to?<\/p>\n

I got to try and be honest with myself, and honest with what I\u2019m seeing and evaluating every day with the team, is how they\u2019re doing, how they\u2019re growing, how they\u2019re getting along. But you know, for me, the goal isn\u2019t just to sneak into the playoffs. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup here. So when we get to a point where I feel like we have a group that can do that and can go on a long playoff run and try and compete for the cup, then that\u2019s probably when you guys see it fast forward it a little bit.<\/p>\n

Are you okay with just standing pat and running out the rest of the contracts as UFAs, with no trades?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably the toughest decision I\u2019ll probably have to make in the next, whenever we got to the deadline, is trying to figure that out. Where the group is at, where the team\u2019s at, and what\u2019s the best decision for the group, short term, but also long term. <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a deal out there that gets presented to me that makes sense, then it\u2019s something that our group up top is going to have to really think about and consider. If we\u2019re going well and things are good, and we decide that, you know, we just kind of roll through it and see what happens. It\u2019s something we\u2019re prepared to do.<\/p>\n