Sharks Busy At NHL Trade Deadline

Team Teal was as active participant at the NHL Trade Deadline

Despite posting a challenging season with a record of 17 wins, 38 losses, and 9 overtime losses, the San Jose Sharks have been quite busy in the days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline.

To help everyone stay updated on the whirlwind of activity, I want to start the breakdown with a trade that occurred a few days ago. The San Jose Sharks traded goaltender Vitek Vanecek to the Florida Panthers. In return, the Sharks acquired forward Patrick Giles, who has performed well in the AHL this season, recording five goals and seven assists in 39 games. Additionally, he has played in nine NHL games with the Panthers.

On the same day, the Sharks acquired defenseman Vincent Desharnais from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the 2028 NHL Draft.

Desharnais, 28, has played for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks during the 2024-25 season. He began the season with Vancouver, where he recorded three assists and accumulated 34 penalty minutes over 34 games.

Yesterday, in another deal with the Florida Panthers, the Sharks acquired a 2026 fourth-round selection from Florida in exchange for center Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round selection.

Sturm, 29, has played 47 games for the San Jose Sharks this season, scoring 13 points with seven goals and six assists. He leads the league with a faceoff win percentage of 62.7% and ranks eighth on the Sharks in hits with 70. Sturm has also logged 48 minutes and 27 seconds in shorthanded time on ice, placing him seventh among the team forwards. He reached his 300th NHL game on December 21 against Edmonton.

Then, Jake Walman was traded to the Edmonton Oilers by the San Jose Sharks for a conditional first-round pick in 2026 and prospect Carl Berglund. If the 2026 pick is in the top 12, the Oilers can send their 2027 pick instead. If they trade the 2027 pick before the 2026 deadline, the 2026 pick goes to the Sharks.

Walman, 29, has an NHL career-high 32 points (six goals, 26 assists) in 50 games this season, his first with San Jose. The defenseman has one season remaining on a three-year, $10.2 million contract.

Berglund,25, has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 45 games with Bakersfield of the American Hockey League this season.

On NHL Trade Deadline day, the Sharks traded forward Luke Kunin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. San Jose now holds nine picks in the 2025 draft, including seven in the first four rounds.

Kunin, 27, has appeared in 63 games for San Jose this season, recording 18 points (11 goals, seven assists), and reached the double-digit goal threshold for the fifth time in his career. Kunin leads the team in hits (163) and ranks ninth among NHL forwards in blocked shots (64).

Finally, at the last possible minute, the Sharks traded forwards Fabian Zetterlund, Tristen Robins, and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the Ottawa Senators for forwards Zack Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor, and a 2025 second-round draft pick.

Zetterlund, 25, has recorded 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 64 games this season, ranking third on the Sharks in goals and fifth in points. He set career highs in 2023-24, leading the team with 24 goals and finishing with 44 points in 82 games. Over his Sharks career, he has played 168 games and scored 83 points (41 goals, 42 assists).

Robins, 23, recorded 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 41 games with the San Jose Barracuda this season. In his AHL career, he has played 149 games, totaling 74 points (31 goals, 43 assists).

Ostapchuk, 21, has played for Ottawa (NHL) and Belleville (AHL) this season. He has four points (one goal, three assists) and 26 penalty minutes in 43 NHL games. In the AHL he’s scored 11 points (two goals, nine assists) with 10 penalty minutes in Belleville. Selected by Ottawa in the second round (39th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft, he has 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 84 AHL games. The six-foot-four, 212-pound native of St. Albert, Alberta, won consecutive gold medals with Canada at the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Championships.

Gregor, 26, a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, returns to San Jose after two seasons with Toronto and Ottawa. This season, he played 40 games with the Senators, scoring six points (four goals, two assists) and accumulating 17 penalty minutes. In 281 career NHL games, he has 69 points (36 goals, 33 assists) and 105 penalty minutes.

A couple of quotes from Mike Grier’s press conference as reported on by Curtis Pashelka on X.

With a lot of draft capital and cap room, the Sharks need to start turning this around and making the choices that will help this team return to the playoff picture in the next few years rather than undergo an extended rebuild.