{"id":611318,"date":"2026-06-30T20:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/611318\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:21:15","slug":"nhl-free-agency-sharks-can-extend-mike-griers-heater-with-big-moves-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/611318\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL free agency: Sharks can extend Mike Grier’s heater with big moves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharks general manager Mike Grier is on a heater<\/a> of all heaters \u2014 the kind that usually gets you dragged into a Vegas backroom by men named Vinnie.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t just win the NHL draft<\/a>. He broke the grading curve over his knee.<\/p>\n

ESPN called it an A++ performance<\/a>, which is a grade normally reserved for fictional sports movies and first-graders. But I double-checked, and that was the grade \u2014 one of one.<\/p>\n

Add that to the pre-draft trade for right-handed defenseman Michael Kesselring<\/a>, and the Sharks\u2019 general manager is currently walking on water.<\/p>\n

But building a contender isn\u2019t just about drafting teenagers who still have curfews. Now, the real fun begins.<\/p>\n

Grier is entering a free agency period that requires adding effectual adults to a Sharks dressing room that suddenly has expectations of winning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a period of the offseason that requires serious, deft decisions. Creativity is non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

And he has a war chest and a half to use: The Sharks have a projected $39.4 million to play with in cap space this offseason, according to PuckPedia.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not just \u201cretooling\u201d money. That\u2019s \u201cbuy a small island nation and rename it after Jumbo Joe\u201d money.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the rub: The open market is far more limited than it was thought to be six months ago, and especially a year ago.<\/p>\n

The glittering unrestricted free agents of yesteryear signed extensions or found other homes before ever sniffing the open waters. Still, there\u2019s quality to be added and clever ways to play the game.<\/p>\n

What does clever look like? It could look like temporary, expensive brilliance.<\/p>\n

\"RasmusRasmus Andersson, right, of the Vegas Golden Knights will hit the free agent market on Wednesday. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could it be one year of Sergei Bobrovsky starting 40-something games and tutoring Yaroslav Askarov? It\u2019s a bizarre idea, but bizarre works when you have the cash to burn and a need to keep the puck out of your own net.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps it\u2019s finally addressing the blue line with a player who doesn\u2019t require a wing, a prayer and smelling salts. Enter Rasmus Andersson.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s exactly the veteran D \u2014 the quality one \u2014 the Sharks have wanted for years. Bringing in Andersson gives you immediate legitimacy. And oh, how sweet it would be to steal him from the Golden Knights. Sorry, Vinnie.<\/p>\n

Or they could find someone else from a market that, again, is not nearly as fun as it once was.<\/p>\n

The Sharks are a destination now \u2014 they can go hunting at any level they want.<\/p>\n

But wait. If you have the cap space, why not swing a trade of all trades?<\/p>\n

Zach Werenski? They can swing it.<\/p>\n

Columbus is perpetually reconfiguring, and Grier has the assets, the cap space, and the sheer audacity to absorb a massive ticket. He can land a bona fide No. 1 defenseman without having to move any cash around accounts, a move that would instantly transform the roster from a rebuilding project to one taking the next step into a Western Conference headache.<\/p>\n

Of course, all of this requires a healthy dollop of foresight.<\/p>\n

Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are on entry-level contracts, which is a cute way of saying they\u2019re criminally underpaid. That won\u2019t last forever.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll need extensions soon, and that means big bucks. Grier has to thread the needle.<\/p>\n

He has to spend now without completely nuking the salary cap when the kids come looking for their generational wealth. Fortunately, there\u2019s relief on the horizon \u2014 Logan Couture coming off the books at the end of the 26-27 season. That frees up a massive $8 million chunk of change to hand straight over to the franchise\u2019s new saviors.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hardly straightforward. Managing an NHL salary cap is like doing Sudoku while people yell numbers at you.<\/p>\n

\"SANSAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 19: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) controls the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski (8) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But landing Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin in the draft wasn\u2019t exactly straightforward either. Grier manipulated reality to match his desires.<\/p>\n

Can he do it again?<\/p>\n

You\u2019d be an absolute fool to bet against him at this point.<\/p>\n

He has shown the kind of aggression, ingenuity and negotiation skills needed. He took the worst roster in hockey and gave it a pulse, a future and a whole lot of swagger.<\/p>\n

Now, he just needs to buy the finishing pieces.<\/p>\n

The heater continues. Let\u2019s see what he rolls next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharks general manager Mike Grier is on a heater of all heaters \u2014 the kind that usually gets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[2616,2617,5,2614,1180,4,519,168,5306,5305,2618,1780,2619,43,350],"class_list":["post-611318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose-sharks","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-hockey","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nhl","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sanjose","tag-sanjosesharks","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-sharks","tag-south-bay","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116840922309542636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}