Mike Grier has a firm idea of what the Sharks’ identity should be moving forward.
Following a dreadful 2023-24 season, San Jose’s future looks brighter, with Macklin Celebrini officially signed to an NHL contract and 2023's No. 4 overall pick Will Smith having transitioned to the pros in May.
In addition to their existing young core, the Sharks will have their two top prospects next season, prompting those around the franchise to ask San Jose’s general manager when he sees his team making a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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Reluctant to give a timeline on when the team will make the postseason, Grier instead shared with reporters the identity he wishes to see from new coach Ryan Warsofsky and the players.
“We just need to keep getting better and keep growing as a team and improving individually,” Grier told reporters. “As far as next year goes, the main thing I’d like to see, and I know Ryan would like to see, is us just being more competitive, a harder team to play against.”
The Sharks, who fired former bench boss David Quinn in April, ended the regular season with the worst record in the NHL (19-54-9) and with the second-fewest points in the salary cap era.
As the Sharks transition into a Warsofsky era, Grier doesn’t want those trends to repeat, but for San Jose to construct an identity centered around hard work and competitiveness.
San Jose Sharks
“Where other teams aren’t coming here and having easy nights,” Grier added. “I think that’s going to be the foundation of everything that we are a hardworking, competitive team. I think that with the players we’ve added they all have a history of playing a certain way and contributing a certain way.
“It goes to some of the other pieces that are already here. I think you can kind of start to see it coming together as [we] start to take that identity.”
But Grier understands it’s going to take an entire team to turn around the fortunes of the franchise, including NHL-ready prospects like William Eklund and more established youngsters like Fabian Zetterlund.
"Hopefully with the talent that we have, not only the guys that are coming in, but [Eklund] and [Zetterlund] and those guys, it will be another year of experience in the league under their belts,” Grier said. “Hopefully, those guys can keep growing and taking steps as well.
“If everyone gets a little bit better and takes a little step forward, we should be a better team. At the core and the foundation of everything is us being a more competitive and a harder-to-play-against team.”
Clinching playoffs next season might be a reach, but establishing a new identity appears to be underway in San Jose.