Last month, the San Jose Sharks acquired forward Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks. With the Sharks being in the playoff race and in need of a gritty forward who can score, it made sense that they brought in Sherwood. Yet, Sherwood has now found himself right back in the rumor mill with the 2026 NHL trade deadline just about here. According to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun [https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7074080/2026/02/26/nhl-trade-deadline-stamkos-oreilly-kadri/?source=emp_shared_article], he heard from a source that the Sharks are not against the idea of trading Sherwood if they do not agree to a contract extension with him ahead of the deadline. "A league source told me this week that the Sharks are open to the possibility of flipping Sherwood if they can’t get him signed. Given his low cap hit ($1.5 million), there should be a robust market for him as a rental player," LeBrun wrote. When noting that Sherwood generated a lot of interest around the NHL before he was traded to the Sharks, it would not be surprising if several contenders expressed interest in him if San Jose makes him available. He is exactly the kind of hard-nosed forward that playoff teams love to add, so the Sharks would have the potential to get a nice return for him. Yet, LeBrun also noted that he believes Sherwood wants to stay with the Sharks, so a contract extension should not be ruled out. "So I do think an extension and Sherwood staying put in San Jose is the best-case scenario for everyone involved. And I think Sherwood wants to stay," LeBrun wrote. Nevertheless, it is going to be very interesting to see what happens between the Sharks and Sherwood from here. In two games with the Sharks since being acquired, he has recorded zero points and 12 hits.
