The San Jose Sharks made a lot of moves in 2023. General Manager Mike Grier traded top-tier players like Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson and role players like Jaycob Megna and Steven Lorentz. Grier also accumulated draft picks, found himself a goaltender and added depth players to the roster. He was busy working the phones and rebuilding the Sharks. So, as we prepare for 2024, let’s look back and take a look at the top ten Sharks trades of 2023.
10. March 1 & March 3 Mikey Eyssimont to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Vladislav Namestnikov; Namestnikov to the Winnipeg Jets for 2025 fourth-round pick
This trade is really about how Grier took nothing and turned it into something. Eyssimont was a waiver wire pickup that added energy to the Sharks. He was a strong bottom-six forward, which is why the Tampa Bay Lightning traded for him on March 1. The Sharks received Vladislav Namestnikov in return, but there was never an intention to keep the forward. He never even traveled to San Jose after the trade.
Low and behold, the center was traded to the Winnipeg Jets a few days later for a 2025 fourth-round pick.
Grier took a waiver wire pickup and turned it into an asset in the form of a draft pick, which is why this trade comes in as number 10 on our list.
9. Feb. 28 third-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Henry Thrun
Defenseman Henry Thrun is back with the Sharks in the past few weeks and has shown some growth as a defenseman. While he’s not elite, he’s still a great defensive prospect. The Sharks traded a third-round pick for Thrun in February and inserted him into the lineup when the college hockey season was over. Thrun played eight games and had two assists.
He’s played 11 games with the Sharks this season and has two points. He’s also learned with the Barracuda, where he has six points in 18 games. While it’s easy to write Thrun off, Sharks fans would do well to remember that he’s only 22 years old and in his first season as a professional. There’s still time for him to develop his game.
8. Jan. 25 Matt Nieto & Ryan Merkley to the Colorado Avalanche for Martin Kaut & Jacob MacDonald
If someone had told me in January the most productive piece of this deal would be Jacob MacDonald, I would have laughed. But looking at it now, it looks like MacDonald was the gem in it all. Once lauded prospects Merkley and Kaut are both playing in Europe this season. Meanwhile, Nieto left the Avalanche in free agency and signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the offseason.
MacDonald was the only piece with term and he’s more than earned his $762,500 cap hit playing as both a forward and defenseman for the Sharks. In 17 games, he has six goals and an assist making him a potential trade target as we get closer to the deadline.
7. Nov. 8 Adam Raska & a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Wild for Calen Addison
Whether Addison becomes a piece of the future for the Sharks is yet to be seen, but as an RFA with offensive upside and an easy to swallow $825,000 cap hit, Addison gives Grier a lot of options come the trade deadline.
Addison has helped steady a blueline that had difficulty feeding the offensive rush at the start of the season. His ability to play the point on the power play has been a huge asset. What’s more, he’s able to feed that offense while remaining relatively defensively sound.
Grier didn’t give up much to acquire Addison. Raska was falling further down the Sharks’ forward depth chart. The 2026 fifth-round pick was not likely to develop into an NHL player. That’s not to mention that if Grier trades Addison, he’s likely to get a pick or prospect in return that will help the Sharks in the future.
All in all, it was a sound trade.
6. Dec. 15 Nick Cicek & a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Jack Studnicka
Grier continued offloading assets earlier this month, when he traded another player that had fallen out of favor with the organization. San Jose has added so many young defensemen in the past six months that Nick Cicek barely got time with the Barracuda. He’d been jumped on the depth chart by guys like Thrun, Addison and Ty Emberson, so it made sense for Grier to trade Cieck.
By adding a 2024 sixth-round pick to the mix, Grier acquired a center that may need a change of scenery in Jack Studnicka. Studnicka is a versatile player and potential two-way forward who has played previously on teams blessed with good forwards (Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks).
5. Feb. 5 Jaycob Megna to the Seattle Kraken for a 2023 fourth-round pick
The trade itself seemed like nothing. After all, a depth defenseman for a mid-round pick is nothing to write home about. However, it’s the prospect that was selected by the pick that places this trade in our top ten. With a little luck and a lot of good scouting, the Sharks drafted Luca Cagnoni with the draft pick the team received from the Seattle Kraken.
Cagnoni was number three on our Sharks’ prospect power rankings for December. He’s smaller in stature, but a dynamo defenseman with huge offensive upside. As of Dec. 30, Cagnoni has 41 points (7 G, 34 A) in 32 games and is a plus-21 with the Portland Winterhawks in the CHL. Not bad for a fourth-round pick.
Obviously, it’s going to take a few years to decide how well this trade went, but so far, so good.
4. July 1 Steven Lorentz & a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Florida Panthers for Anthony Duclair
I really like Duclair, and if he had more term on his contract, this deal might be ranked higher on the list. As it is, Duclair seems like a very good guy in the lockerroom; he has a great scoring touch and some speed. With a contract of $3 million AAV, the true value of this trade may shine through at the trade deadline when we see what, if anything, the Sharks receive for Duclair.
Giving up fourth-liner Steven Lorentz and a fifth-round pick still seems like a small price to pay for a guy who has previously scored 30 goals and might fetch a good return at the trade deadline.
3. June 27 sixth-round pick to the New Jersey Devils for Mackenzie Blackwood
While the jury is still out, especially with how poorly the Sharks have played this season, Blackwood could very well be the goalie of the future for the Sharks. Blackwood has a .889 save percentage and a 3.92 goals against average for a team that was struggling to score to start the season and played abysmal defense. The Sharks have regressed to similar play in the past few weeks and Blackwood’s numbers have suffered as a result.
Head Coach David Quinn has heaped praise on the netminder in the past, saying that Blackwood is something special and possibly elite. If he’s as special as Quinn believes, the sixth-round pick for signing rights to Blackwood was a steal.
2. Aug. 6 Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins
The complexity of this trade is insane, but we’ll boil it down to what the Sharks received and gave up to get the deal done. The Sharks dealt Erik Karlsson. Getting out from underneath a majority of the behemoth of a contract was a win in and of itself. Handing over Dillon Hamaliuk, a forward currently playing in the ECHL and a 2026 third-round pick was all that was needed to get the deal done.
San Jose received in return Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Jan Rutta and Pittsburgh’s 2024 first-round pick, top-ten protected.
Rutta has been a solid defenseman for the Sharks. Granlund started out December red hot. Meanwhile, Hoffman is near the top in goals for the Sharks, though there’s not much more to his game.
As it stands now, the Penguins are just outside the bottom ten in the league, so that first-round pick is still in 2024. That said, if everything stays the same, a good bounce of the lottery balls could give San Jose the 11th pick in this year’s draft or, even better, an unprotected first-round pick in 2025.
San Jose will likely trade Hoffman this deadline and possibly Rutta or Granlund, depending on the market. No matter what, in two years, all of that cap space, save the $1.5 million retained of Karlsson’s salary, will be off the books. Meanwhile, the Penguins will still have two more seasons of Karlsson’s adjusted cap hit of $10 million per year.
The cap savings alone makes this the second-best trade this year. Add to that the assets the Sharks picked up and could pick up in the next year and this deal was a good one for San Jose.
1. Feb. 26 Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils
The details of the trade are a lot to go through. The Sharks sent the following to the New Jersey Devils:
- Timo Meier
- Scott Harrington
- Zachary Emond
- Santeri Hatakka
- Timur Ibragimov
- 2024 5th round pick
The Sharks received in return:
- Andreas Johnsson
- Fabian Zetterlund
- Nikita Okhotiuk
- Shakir Mukhamadullin
- 2023 first-round pick
- 2024 conditional pick (second-round pick unless New Jersey makes the Eastern Conference Finals, then it becomes a first-round pick)
- 2024 seventh-round pick
For the Devils, Meier was the important piece. Fear the Fin will likely dive in deeper as we get closer to the “anniversary” of the trade, but here’s what we know. Aside from Meier, Hatakka is the only player still under contract with the Devils. Emond is playing in the QMJHL, while Ibragimov does not have a contract with the Devils and is playing with the Utica Comets.
As for the Sharks, the assets the team received in return are immense. Zetterlund appears to be shaping up to be a power forward like Meier, just three years younger. Okhotiuk is finding a place on the Sharks’ defense this season, while Mukhamadullin is developing with the Barracuda and shaping into what could be a quality defenseman with offensive upside. The first-round pick was used to select Quentin Musty, who has scored 40 points (16 G, 24 A) in 22 games with the Sudbury Wolves in the CHL.
And don’t forget, the Sharks still have two picks in 2024.
Rest of the San Jose Sharks trades of 2023
Jan. 18 – Jasper Weatherby to the Detroit Red Wings for Kyle Criscuolo
March 3 – Scott Reedy to the Dallas Stars for Jacob Peterson
June 27 – Andrew Agozzino to the Anaheim Ducks for Andrej Sustr
June 29 – Carolina’s 2023 third-round pick (#94 Jayden Perron) and San Jose’s 2023 fourth-round pick (#100 Alexander Rykov) to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2023 third-round pick (#71 Brandon Svoboda)
June 29 – Pittsburgh’s 2023 seventh-round pick (#206 Antoine Keller) to the Washington Capitals for a 2025 seventh-round pick
July 2 – Artemi Knaizev to the Winnipeg Jets for Leon Gawanke
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