San Jose Sharks’ Mike Grier sends message with plethora of offseason moves

SAN JOSE Whatever happens this season with the Sharks no one will be able to accuse general manager Mike Grier of being inactive The Sharks continued a dizzying two-week period by trading defenseman Henry Thrun to the Toronto Maple Leafs for enforcer Ryan Reaves on Thursday night and signing fellow forward Jeff Skinner to a one-year million contract on Friday During an extreme offseason makeover following a second straight last-place finish in the NHL standings the Sharks added four veteran forwards including three who can provide selected offensive punch addressed specific defensive deficiencies by bringing in three seasoned blueliners and traded for an experienced goalie to pair with their highly regarded rookie netminder The moves no doubt heighten expectations for the Sharks who haven t sniffed a playoff spot since and needed to take strategies toward being relevant again The last couple of years we ve basically been out of the playoff race by New Year s Grier mentioned Friday If we re into March and we re still kind of hanging around then that would be a good thing But I ve never really yearned to put expectations on a number of wins and losses I just think us being a more competitive band night and night out and learning from last year will be a step in the right direction Since July and with over million in salary cap space available the Sharks have added forwards Skinner Reaves Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev defensemen Dmitry Orlov John Klingberg and Nick Leddy and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic who will tandem with Yaroslav Askarov During that time the Sharks have evolved from being the third-youngest group in the NHL to the th-oldest with an average age of years Whether that means the Sharks can get into a playoff hunt and play meaningful games when next year s contract deadline approaches is unknown But clearly Grier wants the days of the Sharks being bottom feeders to be over both for the sake of their younger stars like Macklin Celebrini Will Smith and William Eklund and veteran holdovers like Mario Ferraro and Tyler Toffoli I think that s key for everyone Grier disclosed You could even say it s even more pivotal for the vets the guys who maybe don t have another years in front of them like Celebrini Smith and Eklund I think it was major to show those guys that this is not just a tear down every year sell off every year and start over It s time to start building up this thing and taking strategies forward and winning more Grier revealed last week after signing Orlov and claiming Leddy off waivers that he was interested in acquiring a top-nine forward to add to his already revamped group He might have located one in Skinner a -year NHL veteran who has points in career NHL games with stops in Carolina and Buffalo before spending last season with the Edmonton Oilers Skinner had points goals assists in games with the Oilers as he made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his career He became a free agent on July just weeks after the Oilers lost the Cup final to the Florida Panthers in six games Skinner had goals and points the last two seasons and could give the Sharks power play which ranked th in the NHL last season with the man advantage at percent a needed boost The Sharks also hope the additions of Klingberg Orlov and Gaudette will make a difference and put players in more natural roles The power play had to improve Grier mentioned At times last year we were trying to put square pegs into round holes The Sharks were expected to transaction one of their defenseman after earlier moves left them with eight defensemen including Thrun who would need to go through waivers to be sent to the AHL Thrun had mainly been used as a second- or third-pair defenseman by the Sharks since he was acquired from Anaheim in Feb In games over three seasons he had points and averaged in ice time This past season Thrun a Harvard alum appeared in games had points and averaged of ice time Reaves has been known as one of hockey s premier fighters and bigger personalities during his NHL career In a combined games with the Blues Pittsburgh Penguins Vegas Golden Knights New York Rangers Minnesota Wild and Maple Leafs Reaves has points goals assists and penalty minutes The Sharks might have felt like they needed a veteran enforcer like Reaves to help ensure other teams do not take liberties with their young smaller players Barclay Goodrow mostly played that role for the Sharks last season collecting seven fighting majors but also averaged nearly minutes in ice time and was the company s top penalty killing forward Reaves listed at -foot- and pounds requested a change of scenery after he played in just games with the Leafs last season averaging in ice time and was placed on waivers He is entering the final year of a three-year million contract that carries a million cap hit Related Articles San Jose Sharks sign veteran forward to continue busy offseason Predicting the Sharks -man roster Can the prospects push for NHL jobs San Jose Sharks arrangement defenseman to Toronto Maple Leafs for enforcer Reaves San Jose Sharks sign veteran AHL goalie to one-year contract New Sharks defenseman discusses demanding exit from Carolina Hurricanes Reaves was an unpopular contestant amongst Sharks fans when he was with the rival Golden Knights from to His battles verbal and otherwise with ex-Sharks forward Evander Kane took on a life of their own especially when the two teams met in the playoffs in and I think that it s good that there was a little buffer in between to let that animosity cool off a little Reaves explained with a smile on Friday There s a meager teams over the years that I apparently would have revealed I never would have gone to Grier would not necessarily rule out other moves but after remaking over one-third of the -man roster preponderance of the heavy lifting appears over I would say we re apparently finished but I guess you never know Grier stated If there s a deal scenario that pops up as we go here and it s enticing then we ll definitely look into it