How Sharks can improve for upcoming season after future-focused 2026 NHL Draft

How Sharks can improve for upcoming season after future-focused 2026 NHL Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

BUFFALO — And on the second day of the 2026 NHL Draft, Mike Grier rested.

That’s just a joke — after a whirlwind first round of the draft, the Nos. 2, 9, and 21 picks set up by three trades in 10 days, including a draft day deal on Friday — no doubt that the SHarks general manager was hard at work the next day. It just felt like a break with just three picks in six rounds (and a signing) on Saturday.

But Grier’s hardest work is at hand, the challenge of turning the Sharks, out the Stanley Cup playoffs for seven seasons and counting, into a contender this summer.

What can Grier do to get back — responsibly — to the postseason?

San Jose is on two timelines: In the present, Macklin Celebrini is a superstar and needs lots of help. And in the future, the Sharks’ enviable farm system lords over the league.

You can’t ask Celebrini to wait three years.

Grier did serve the future well with three picks in the first round and three to close the draft.

“He’s more hard skill, more F.U. skill than [Lucas] Raymond,” an NHL scout, not with the Sharks, said about No. 2 pick, winger Ivar Stenberg. Raymond is a point-per-game winger for the Detroit Red Wings.

“I had Verhoeff as the best [defenseman] in the draft,” the scout said about No. 9 pick Keaton Verhoeff.

“He’s just one of the best players in the draft, period,” the scout said about No. 21 pick, smaller defenseman Ryan Lin.

“Our goalie group with Ryan Miller really believes in Brady, and really likes the upside and potential,” Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse said about No. 127 pick, 6-foot-5 goaltender Brady Knowling. “The skating, the quick feet, the athleticism, those are all things that profile really well at the next level.”

“He’s a big kid, we like his development path,” Morehouse said about No. 174 pick, 6-foot-4 center Jake Gustafson, also the son of SAP Center vice president Jon Gustafson. “He’s going to fill out his frame, he’s a good athlete, and on top of that, he’s a fantastic kid…we liked the upside.”

“There’s athleticism there, untapped,” Morehouse said about No. 201 pick, 7-foot-1 defenseman Alexander Karmanov, the tallest player ever drafted, “Raw project…we just like the potential that could be here…it’s going to be a long-term project, but kid’s a great kid, he wants to work.”

Besides expected-to-be NHL-ready winger Stenberg, however, all this doesn’t help the Sharks today. And Stenberg’s addition, theoretically, is canceled out, at least in the short-term, by the subtraction of winger William Eklund for the No. 9 pick.

So how will Grier address his team’s needs today, up front and on defense? The goaltending appears set, between young Yaroslav Askarov and veteran Alex Nedeljkovic.

Here are some ideas, a few days before the beginning of NHL free agency on July 1.

Forwards

Grier did lock up fourth-line center Zack Ostapchuk on the second day of the draft, to a four-year, $9.4 million contract ($2.35 million AAV).

Celebrini, Michael Misa, Alex Wennberg and Ostapchuk should hold the fort down the middle for the Sharks.

Stenberg, Will Smith, Igor Chernyshov, Collin Graf, Tyler Toffoli, Kiefer Sherwood, Adam Gaudette and Barclay Goodrow project to be on the wing.

Ty Dellandrea can swing between center and wing.

That’s 13 forwards already.

It doesn’t mean that the Sharks can’t get better up front. Last summer, they were interested in adding an impact winger like Mitch Marner, Nikolai Ehlers or Brock Boeser. Last summer, however, the Sharks weren’t an attractive free-agency destination.

This summer, San Jose is far more attractive, but the UFA wingers, headed by inconsistent Anthony Mantha, aren’t as tempting.

The Sharks could use more size and finish up front.

Six-foot-5 Mason Marchment has potted 63 goals over the last three seasons and could be a more realistic and reliable UFA signing.

The Athletic’s most recent offseason trade board has a host of upgrades on the wing, but most seem far-fetched, like Jason Robertson or Kirill Marchenko or Owen Tippett. If San Jose brings in an established star via trade, it should be a defenseman.

So perhaps more realistic, 6-foot-1 Rickard Rakell isn’t the biggest winger, but he’s a 200-pound player who can absolutely finish, to the tune of 20-plus goals seven times. The 33-year-old is signed to a reasonable $5 million AAV for two more years, and while acquiring him might deplete assets needed for a blueliner, he’s also not going to be close to Robertson cost-wise.

Defense

Grier probably wouldn’t admit this, but I would bet money that his dream first round would’ve been coming out with Stenberg and 25-year-old defenseman Bo Byram, the two-way right-hander potentially coming to San Jose for the Nos. 9 and 27 picks that eventually became Verhoeff and Lin.

Instead, the Chicago Blackhawks overpaid for Byram, surrendering the No. 4 pick. I certainly wouldn’t have beat that by offering the No. 2 pick for Byram.

That said, the Sharks have just left-handers Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson signed. Lefty Shakir Mukhamadullin and right-hander Michael Kesselring are RFAs, both expected to be signed.

Best guess, they bring back pending UFA and right-handed PK stalwart Vinny Desharnais.

The Sharks still need a high-impact blueliner in the worst way, especially on the top power play unit.

Problem is, the UFA market appears bone-dry for top defensemen.

Twenty-two-goal scorer Darren Raddysh would’ve been the obvious play, but he’s already gone to the Toronto Maple Leafs. John Carlsson would’ve been ideal, but the veteran wants to return east.

Rasmus Andersson had an up-and-down post-NHL trade deadline stint with the Vegas Golden Knights, but he’s just 29 and can run a power play. But is the upside there with Andersson, as it was with Raddysh, to offer the right-hander a maximum-length contract?

The physical Jacob Trouba, 32, and late bloomer Ryan Shea, 29, can help, but again, how much term do you want to give them?

Meanwhile, the trade market is highlighted by reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, and the 28-year-old superstar would solve a lot of the Sharks’ blue line woes. But acquiring the left-hander would gut San Jose’s organization depth, and there’s no guarantee that the soon-to-be UFA is staying beyond 2028.

Left-hander Alexander Nikishin, just 24, is promising, but it’s concerning that the Carolina Hurricanes seem to want to move so quickly away from a rookie once trumpeted as the “best defenseman outside of the NHL.”

So, the Sharks might not be able to find high-impact defensive help this off-season? They already gave it a pretty good shot by trading Eklund away for a No. 9 believed to be earmarked for Byram.

Thirty-two-year-old Morgan Rielly, signed for $7.5 million AAV through 2030, could help the Sharks, as long as you think that his already declining skills won’t fall of a cliff. The same could be said for Darnell Nurse, but he doesn’t appear to want to go to San Jose, while Rielly is thought to be open to it.

Mason Lohrei, 25, is a gamble, and like Nikishin, why are the Boston Bruins in such a hurry to dump a young, productive defenseman?

But again, maybe the Sharks will have to wait in-season to really upgrade their defense? You never know what might become available then.

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