Latest Sharks buzz we’ve heard at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more about their coverage at Hockey in San Jose nowlisten to it on San Jose Hockey Podcast Nowand follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
LAS VEGAS – Do the Sharks have a huge surprise coming into the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night?
Joe Thornton is in Las Vegas to help celebrate the Sharks having the No. 1 overall draft pick.
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 1997 first overall pick announce the 2024 first overall pick? Stay tuned. …
We know the Sharks will select Celebrini No. 1, and yes, according to SJHN sources, the strong belief is that he will turn pro in the 2024-25 campaign. But who the Sharks will pick at 11ththe selection purchased Thursday for picks #14 and #42?
Two league sources believe the Sharks advanced to target a top defenseman, although one admitted: “[Cole] Eiserman could be real.”
Rumor has it that the Sharks are jumping the line for the polarizing shooter, who was Celebrini’s teammate in Shattuck-St. Mary is in Minnesota. …
Speaking of polarization, SJHN learned some fascinating information about Sharks No. 1 defenseman Mario Ferraro, who is viewed around the league as a second-pairing blueliner stuck in a dire situation in San Jose or just a bottom-pairing D in a legitimate playoff run. . team.
Ferraro was available during the 2023 NHL trade deadline, and the Sharks wanted a first-round pick and prospect in return… and they almost got it.
Elliotte Friedman previously reported that the Carolina Hurricanes made a strong offer for Ferraro in 2022-23. A league source confirmed the offer was a second-round pick and left-handed center Jack Drury.
After a historically bad season for the Sharks, the source reflected: “If they trade [Ferraro], it will cost much less than what they had on the table two years ago, at the negotiation deadline.” …
Speaking of die-hards, the Sharks traded defenseman Kyle Burroughs to the Los Angeles Kings for winger Carl Grundstrom.
“Grundstrom is pretty straightforward,” one NHL scout told SJHN. “The north-south winger, a very good shot, actually, he just doesn’t hit the net much or make many plays. It can get hot from time to time and score a few. Physical on verification.
“He’s a bottom-line, third-line winger at its best. A thinker for the floor. Skate, hit, changeup.”
Over the past three seasons, Grundstrom has scored at a clip of 15 goals in 82 games, so he should provide secondary scoring for the bottom-six Sharks. He also fits the “difficult to play against” player profile that Sharks general manager Mike Grier has focused on so far this offseason, like Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea. …
Finally, so why did Grier fire David Quinn?
This surprise dismissal in April was still a topic of conversation this week. It could be water under the bridge with Ryan Warsofsky announced as head coach last weekbut SJHN has learned from multiple sources that there has been little communication between Grier and Quinn over the past two seasons — essentially the length of their GM-head coach partnership.
The reason for this is unclear — it could just be Grier’s management style — but it certainly paints a different picture of what was believed to be a deep-rooted relationship at Boston University.
