Sharks' GM Mike Grier Discusses Offseason Plans

With the San Jose Sharks finding out that they would draft 4th overall in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, GM Mike Grier met with the media to discuss what his offseason looks like.

Grier's thoughts on Chicago winning the lottery:

"I mean, you can't really control any of that stuff.[I] probably didn't want to see him in Anaheim with the young talent they have and them being right down the street and having to face him all the time. Anywhere in the first 5,6, 7 picks, there are lots of good players."

Grier on the late season three-game win streak:

"The guys go out there and play hard. It was a difficult season for them. So, it was nice for them to get rewarded, playing some good teams and playing hard and getting some results. So I was happy for the group. You got to do things and play as hard as you can and then see how things shake out."

Grier on if picking fourth affects his "timeline" and if picking Matvei Michkov is an option:

"No, it didn't affect it. It didn't affect it at all."

"We'll take in all that information and consider all the options. The good and bad and the pluses and minuses of all the players that will be options for us. I think it's something that we'll definitely discuss, but it's not anything that's going to take anyone off the table."

Grier's thoughts on Will Smith:

"He had a great tournament. He's really a talented offensive player. He made a lot of high-end plays over there, and kind of drove the offense. His line, in general, was probably the best line over there. He's had a really good year. This whole season, but the U18s were a good showing for him, along with some of the other players over there. He's a very talented offensive player."

"Yeah, he's a Boston kid. He was at high school with my oldest son for a year before he left for the program. I know Will fairly well. He's going to [Boston College], which isn't great." 

Grier on Leo Carlsson:

"Leo's another guy who's a good player. He played well in the World Juniors as a younger player, and he had a pretty good season in the Swedish Elite League for a guy who's 18 years old as well. He's another talented offensive player. Big, strong, and can make plays."

Grier on getting the 4th pick:

"We're excited, and we're happy. We're going to get a good player that can hopefully be a building block here for this franchise for a long time and a core piece of the team for a long time."

Grier's thoughts on the prospect pool:

"I think we're happy with them. I think we've raised the bar of the prospect pool and the direction that it is heading our development team, Todd Marchant and Tommy Wingels, Luca Sbisa, and Niklas Sundstrom, have done a good job with these guys. we feel like we've added depth, especially on the back end. We've gotten bigger, and more athletic back there."

"We added you know, [Georgy] Romanov, another goalie, along with [Eetu] Makiniemi. So we feel like we've added some young goalies that hopefully turn out to play and help the sharks out soon. Up front Cam Lund and Filip Bystedt, both had really good years as post-drafts. Hopefully, these players we can add with our first two picks, and our first pick in the second round can kind of add to this."