San Jose Sharks will likely have the option of choosing between Matvei Michkov and Will Smith, but GM Mike Grier is staying flexible.
San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier said he’s open to moving down in the first round of the NHL Draft on Wednesday but obviously doesn’t want to drop so far that the team misses out on selecting a player they feel can make a significant impact.
The Sharks own the No. 4 overall selection, their highest in 25 years, and will likely have the option of choosing between Matvei Michkov and Will Smith, two elite forwards who would almost certainly be considered the team’s top prospect if taken.
The Sharks could also choose to slide down a spot or two and still pick up a player they like, perhaps along the lines of forward Ryan Leonard or defenseman David Reinbacher, and acquire another draft pick for this year. Leonard has drawn comparisons to Matthew and Brady Tkachuk with his competitive, tenacious style and Reinbacher is widely considered the top defenseman available.
“For the most part, we’ll have kind of our cut-offs of where we don’t want to move — down past our list where we think there are some impact players on, especially at the top of the draft,” Grier said in an interview posted on the Sharks’ website Monday, “and we want to make sure we get one of those guys.
“You’ve got to kind of weigh the value and what you’re giving up and what you’re possibly getting.”
The Sharks had the No. 11 pick at last year’s draft but opted to trade that selection to Arizona for picks Nos. 27, 34, and 45. The Coyotes took forward Conor Geekie, who had a strong season in the WHL for the Winnipeg Ice, and the Sharks selected forwards Filip Bystedt and Cameron Lund and defenseman Mattias Hävelid – three players the team feels have progressed nicely.
“We kind of thought there wasn’t a player (at No. 11) that we were in love with, so we figured we could slide back and gain some assets and still get a good player, and luckily for us, it worked out that way,” Grier said. “We were able to move back, get Bystedt, and also get Lund and Hävelid at the top of the second round.”
Grier pointed to two deals the New York Rangers made in recent years that led to acquiring two impact defensemen.
At the 2018 draft, the Rangers dealt the Nos. 26 and 48 picks to Ottawa for the No. 22 selection, with which they chose K’Andre Miller, who was New York’s second-highest-scoring defenseman this past season. Two years later, the Rangers traded picks Nos. 22 and 72 to Calgary for the No. 19 pick and took Braden Schneider, now entering his third NHL season.
“You’ve just got to see how the draft is flowing, see how it shakes out with your own board and if it makes sense to move back, we’ll move back,” said Grier, who served as a hockey operations advisor with the Rangers during the 2021-2022 season before joining the Sharks. “But if someone starts sliding, then we’ll definitely look at trying to move up as well.
“You’ve just got to be ready to react. It never goes the way you think it’s going to go, however the mock drafts say they’re going to go, there’s always twists and turns and things are always a little bit different.”
The Sharks also own picks at Nos. 26 and 36 and feel they can add quality players at those spots if they keep them. The Sharks also have one pick in the third and sixth rounds, two in both the fourth and fifth rounds, and three in the seventh.
“We feel like we’re going to walk away from there with three really good players at the top of the draft,” Grier said. “We’ve got a lot of picks but it also gives us the flexibility to kind of move around the draft as we see fit, whether that’s moving up or sliding back, we can kind of maneuver and get around if players are sliding or falling, or the draft is is going a certain way.
“We have some flexibility there but … with those first three picks, we think we’re going to get three really good players who have a chance to be part of our core as we build this thing.”
