I don’t love what Mike Grier did with trading Mukh away for no retention on Nurse BUT can we talk about how it’s shaping up with the new roster that the expectation into this season is that they are making a playoffs run? AND everyone is expecting Mack to get the C this season, which means he’s leading the Sharks to their first playoffs appearance in 6 years!!
Objectively this new roster is better than what we had last season and what’s also important (and I do have to appreciate Mike Grier for his work in this) is keeping a good locker room at the same time
Yeah, I don’t love trading Mukh, and taking on Nurse with no retention is still the one move I’m struggling to justify. But if I zoom out and look at the roster as a whole, I can see what Grier is trying to build.
Objectively, this team is better than it was last season. We desperately needed legitimate NHL defencemen, and Trouba, Nurse and Kesselring immediately raise the floor of the blue line. Marchment also brings something we’ve been missing: size, physicality, and someone who can protect the baby forwards if called upon. Nurse has 100 games worth of playoff experience and would serve as a great mentor, and Trouba is exactly the kind of well-rounded veteran you want in a young locker room. As a former Captain himself, he’s respected, can hold teammates accountable, and is 100% certified woke. He’s going to absolutely rock Willmack’s world.
The cap situation also doesn’t worry me as much as it does some people. Most of the young core is still on ELCs, the salary cap is going up, and a lot of these veteran contracts line up with when Mack, Will, Misa, Graf, Dickie, Stenny and the rest will be due for bigger deals. Even if some of these contracts look like overpays today, they may not in two or three years. By the time the Sharks are hopefully legitimate Cup contenders, a lot of these vets will either be off the books naturally or could be moved if needed. They’re paying for stability now while the kids develop, not locking themselves into this exact roster forever. That’s also why adding seasoned defencemen makes sense, even if I don’t love every move. Lin and Verhoeff probably aren’t joining the Sharks until the end of the year or next season. So for now, we’re buying ourselves time to allow the young D to cook properly.
Mack is almost certainly getting the C, and the expectation is playoffs or bust. Even if they get bounced in the first round, they need that experience. And if there’s one person who’s not accepting “good enough” anymore, it’s Mack. The pressure is on, and it’s here to stay. He’s already running a military-style training camp in Vancouver, so clearly he took those losses at the Olympics and Worlds personally and is making sure it doesn’t happen again.
I’m also scared to see how Warso handles the lines. I fully expect the blender to be running for the first couple of months while he figures out what works. I don’t have any doubts that Willmack will ultimately stay together on the first line, and I think Will has pretty firmly established himself as a right winger. But I could easily see Cherny, Graf, Stenberg, and even Marchment rotating through their line until they settle on a combination that works best.
So overall, I’m nervous and excited. There are going to be a lot of new dynamics this season, and I’m very curious to see what the Wackles have added to their game together. Have they found a way to elevate their soulmate ping-pong passing sequences even further? We’ll find out once they start training together in Vancouver and Boston as planned.
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