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Sharks trade Granlund, Ceci to Stars

The San Jose Sharks have moved some key pieces ahead of the Four Nations Tournament. On Saturday, the team announced that it had traded forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Dallas’ 2025 first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick. The Sharks will only receive the third-round pick if the Stars advance to the Stanley Cup Final. If Dallas does not make it that far, then the Sharks will receive a 2025 fourth-round pick (Winnipeg’s) instead.

The trade adds some more picks to the Sharks’ holdings for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. San Jose now has eight picks, including two in the first round.

According to General Manager Mike Grier in his media availability, the Sharks had an asking price and Dallas was willing to meet that asking price, which is why the trade happened now.

“The market kind of dictates how things go. It’s not too dissimilar than Blacky [Mackenzie Blackwood]. I think in a perfect world, maybe would have held on to Granny [Granlund] and Cease [Ceci] closer to the deadline, so our group could have them for a little bit longer,” said Grier. “But it doesn’t always work out that way. The market just kind of heated up over the last week, and so we took advantage of the opportunity that came our way.”

Granlund was the Sharks’ best asset. The 32-year-old had 45 points in 52 games this season.

The team also moved a veteran defenseman, albeit the one with the worst underlying numbers on the team. 31-year-old Ceci played in 54 games for the Sharks this season. He had 15 points and led the team in total ice time with 1,175:41. He had 100 blocked shots. But he was also the worst defenseman on the team in goals above replacement.

The Sharks acquired Ceci in August and traded Ty Emberson and a third-round pick to acquire the veteran defenseman.

Both Ceci and Granlund were on expiring contracts.

Impact on the younger Sharks forwards

Both Granlund and Ceci were veteran players who helped guide the younger players. While trading both of them was likely, now that it’s a reality, San Jose has to figure out how to help the younger players.

Granlund, specifically, was invaluable in his work with the Sharks’ younger forwards. Last season, he was on the “Lund Line” with William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund, and both players had career seasons. This season, he has spent time on a line with Will Smith.

While Grier understands the worries, he hopes that some of the habits that Granlund had will stay with the younger players now that he’s gone.

“I don’t know if we can replace it for the rest of the season,” said Grier. “You got to hope that some of the lessons and the things that … and how he carried himself, and how hard he played in practice, kind of rubbed off on these guys, and they can continue to move forward with it. [It’s] up to the leadership group that is still here to continue to lead the group and do things the right way and play hard and practice hard and carry forward that way.”

With the Sharks already light on centers (Nico Sturm is injured), Granlund’s departure could put Smith in the center role, something that he has not done to date. Grier would not commit to moving Smith into the second-line center role left open by Granlund and said instead that he believes Alex Wennberg has the skills to fill that role. Just the same, the team hasn’t ruled out Smith at center.

Impact on the Sharks defense

On the backend, with Ceci gone, there are some new opportunities for some of the younger Sharks defensemen. Ceci is a right-shot defenseman, so Jack Thompson would be a logical choice to fill the role. To date, Thompson has been moving back and forth between the Sharks and Barracuda.

While not ideal, the Sharks might also opt for Marc-Edouard Vlasic to step in. He’s been relegated to the seventh-defenseman role and has not been healthy for the majority of the season. If he’s healthy, Vlasic might be the most likely to fill Ceci’s role.

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