The latest Shark rumors we heard at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas Originally appeared in Sports NBC Bay Area
Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage at San Jose Hockey Nowlisten to it in the San Jose Hockey Now Podcastand follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
LAS VEGAS – Do the Sharks have a super-sized surprise in store for the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night?
Joe Thornton is in Las Vegas to help celebrate the Sharks landing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
San Jose Hockey Now had dinner Thursday night with the family of a 2024 draft-eligible player who was on the same Las Vegas-bound plane as Thornton.
Will the first general election of 1997 herald the first general election of 2024? Pay attention. …
We know the Sharks will select Celebrini No. 1, and yes, according to SJHN sources, it is strongly believed that he will turn pro for the 2024-25 campaign. But Who will the Sharks pick at No. 11?the selection purchased on Thursday for selections No. 14 and No. 42?
Two league sources believe the Sharks have moved on to pursue a high-end defenseman, though one admitted that “(Cole) Eiserman could be real.”
There are rumors that the Sharks are crossing the polarizing sniper line. who was Celebrini’s partner in Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota. …
Speaking of polarization, SJHN learned a fascinating tidbit about the Sharks’ No. 1 defenseman, Mario Ferraro, who is viewed around the league as either a second-pair defenseman stuck in a terrible situation in San Jose or simply a last-pair defenseman on a legitimate playoff team.
Ferraro was available at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, and the Sharks wanted a first-round pick and a prospect in return… and they almost got it.
Elliotte Friedman has already reported previously that the Carolina Hurricanes made a strong offer for Ferraro in 2022-23. A league source confirmed that the offer was a second-round pick and Left-handed center Jack Drury.
After a historically poor season for the Sharks, the source mused, “If they do trade (Ferraro), it will be for a lot less than what they had on the table two years ago at the trade deadline.” …
Speaking of heavy-handed, the Sharks Traded defender Kyle Burroughs to the Los Angeles Kings for winger Carl Grundstrom.
“Grundstrom is pretty easy,” one NHL scout told SJHN. “North-south winger, pretty good shot actually, he just doesn’t hit the net much or make many plays. He can get hot from time to time and score something. Physical in the previous checkup.
“He’s a baseline, third-line forward at his best. He’s got an athletic mentality. He skates, he hits, he switches.”
Over the past three seasons, Grundstrom has scored at a pace of 15 goals in 82 games, so he should provide secondary scoring for the Sharks’ bottom six. He also fits the “tough-to-play” player profile that Sharks general manager Mike Grier has focused on so far this offseason, like Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea. …
Finally, why did Grier fire David Quinn?
That surprise firing in April was still a topic of conversation this week. It may be a thing of the past with Ryan Warsofsky announced as head coach last weekbut SJHN learned from multiple sources that there was little communication between Grier and Quinn over the past two seasons, basically for the duration of their GM-head coach partnership.
The reason for this is unclear – it could simply be Grier’s management style – but it certainly paints a different picture of what was believed to be a strong relationship with roots at Boston University.