Sharks add 8 veterans to support young core, eye more competitive season

The San Jose Sharks scratched off, perhaps, the last item on their offseason to-do list when they signed forward Jeff Skinner to a one-year, $3 million contract on Friday.

Skinner was the latest veteran added to complement and help guide the Sharks’ promising young core through the pivotal next phase of their rebuild. After stripping down the roster and basically starting over from scratch with high draft picks such as forwards Macklin Celebrini (No. 1 in the 2024 NHL Draft), Will Smith (No. 4 in 2023 draft) and William Eklund (No. 7 in 2021 draft) and defenseman Sam Dickinson (No. 11 in the 2024 draft), San Jose went into the offseason with a plan to reinforce that group with experienced players to assist with their development and, hopefully, become more competitive.

The Sharks have a lot of room for improvement after they went 20-50-12 last season to finish last in the NHL for the second straight season and miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth season in a row.

“I think we need to start pushing this forward,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said Friday. “We’ve got a lot of ground to make up to climb up the standings, but we’ve kind of done what we’ve had to do the last three years. Now, it’s definitely important (to win more) because losing is hard on everyone, it can wear on people.

“And winning and winning habits and playing winning hockey and go through those little things that it takes to win night in and night out in the NHL is important. For us to be a better team and win more games and be more competitive I think is definitely going to help the growth of these young guys and something that was important for us to try and help them out with.”

The signing of Skinner, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons with 699 points (373 goals, 326 assists) in 1,078 regular-season games, followed a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Ryan Reaves on Thursday. Skinner, who will likely play on the first or second line, and Reaves, who will likely play on the fourth line, join a strengthened forward group that previously added Adam Gaudette (two-year, $4 million contract) and Philipp Kurashev (one-year, $1.2 million contract).

San Jose also bolstered its defense by signing John Klingberg (one-year, $4 million contract) and Dmitry Orlov (two-year, $13 million contract) and claiming Nick Leddy off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. Include goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins to complement 23-year-old rookie Yaroslav Askarov, and the Sharks have added eight experienced players since July 1.

Grier envisions them, along with veteran returnees such as forwards Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg and Barclay Goodrow, providing an important support group for Celebrini, Eklund, Smith and company.

Celebrini, 19, was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of year after leading San Jose with 63 points (25 goals, 38 assists) in 70 games last season. Eklund, 22, was second on the Sharks with 58 points (17 goals, 41 assists in 77 games) and Smith, 20, tied for fourth with 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 74 games as a rookie last season. But they can only do so much.

“It was definitely important for us to try and insulate them as much as possible,” Grier said. “They contributed a ton to our numbers and our production last year, but we didn’t want those guys to feel like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders and whether we win or lose was going to be all on them.”

Grier, who is heading into his fourth season as GM after being hired July 5, 2022, said Sharks owner Hasso Plattner has been “super supportive” through the process, and, like everyone else, is hopeful better days are coming soon.

Grier understands the importance of that after some trying seasons not only to create a winning environment for their young players to grow in, but also to provide hope for the rest of the players and the fans.

“You could even say it’s even more important to the vets, the guys who maybe don’t have another 10 years in front of them like Mack and Will and ‘Ekie’,” Grier said. “I think it was important for us to show those guys that we’re trying to win, that this is not just tear it down every year and sell off every year and start over. I think now it’s time to start building on this thing and taking steps forward and winning more hockey games.

“I think it was important for all the players in the room, the coaching staff, and even our fans. I think the fans have been great. They've been patient. I think it’s important for them to see progress as well.”

What, ideally, would that progress look like?

The Sharks didn’t get the results they hoped for last season, but they began to lay a foundation toward winning in their first season under Ryan Warsofsky, who was the NHL’s youngest coach at 37 years old. Contending for a playoff spot this season would probably be an unrealistic leap.

To be within striking distance into the latter stages of the season would be nice, though.

“The last couple years we’ve basically been out of it by New Year,” Grier said. “So, if we’re into March and we’re still kind of hanging around, then that would be a good thing. But I’ve never really wanted to put expectations on a number of wins and losses. I just think us being a better, more competitive team night in and night out and learning from some of the experiences we went through last year will be a step in the right direction.”