This week on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, we welcome ESPN senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski! Greg recently made the case for Mike Grier for GM of the Year, and we had to dive into that, given some of the criticism we’ve heard recently about Grier (48:15).
But before we get to Greg, we start our show with just how important it is that the San Jose Sharks have finished dead-last in the NHL, securing the best odds at the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft (2:27).
We cover some of the Will Smith ELC signing scenarios (7:40).
Sheng and Keegan discuss some of the San Jose Sharks games this past week, including a shellacking by the Oilers, a win for Devin Cooley, and much more (14:18). We also go into why Danil Gushchin, Jack Thompson, and Georgi Romanov were able to get call-ups this late in the year.
Luke Kunin has been maligned by the analytics folks all year, but Sheng wanted to share some of the league-wide sentiment regarding Kunin’s analytics (23:45).
The San Jose Sharks and Barracuda came out with their 2023-24 awards. Who did Sheng choose for the Sharks/Cuda, and who does Keegan think should have won? (34:30)
Finally, Sheng shares some of his observations from watching Filip Bystedt live. (43:05)
And now, Greg Wyshynski! (48:15)
We recorded this in early April, by the way, before everything happened with the Arizona Coyotes and their move to Salt Lake City.
Greg’s praise for Mike Grier as GM of Year on the Mar. 27 episode of “The Jeff Marek Show” really turned some heads around the NHL (49:00).
So what happens if the San Jose Sharks don’t win No. 1? Would Greg still think of Grier as GM of the Year? (54:20)
Keegan asks the question, what is Sharks’ deserve-o-meter for the No. 1 pick? (57:13)
There’s lots of Arizona Coyotes’ talk here that is outdated…so listen if you want, but understand that a lot of the speculation did not end up accurate.
Sheng wonders about the national perception of the San Jose Sharks’ rebuild and the Tomas Hertl trade. (1:06:10)
Greg is a famous New Jersey Devils fan, so what does he think of the Timo Meier trade, and Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek in goal? (1:13:35)
How can the San Jose Sharks avoid protracted rebuilds like the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are dealing with now, and the Edmonton Oilers dealt with before 2015? (1:19:10)
When does Greg think the Sharks will make the playoffs again? (1:24:15)
7 Comments
Another banger!!!
Regarding Blackwood, 27 is still on the young side for goalies. As a SF Giants fan, Madison Baumgartner was that same inconsistent player. He tuned his game and became dominant.
Very enjoyable episode.
The knowledge level difference about the Sharks situation between Wyshynski and Pierre Maguire is night and day. Awesome content boys, thanks!
It was great to hear Greg's perspective on the Sharks – New Jersey connection (mainly via the Timo trade but also the goaltenders).
Another observation on avoiding the infinity-rebuild: the Sharks need to find a solution in net otherwise they'll be in the same situation as Buffalo, Ottawa, and Detroit. Goaltending may be second order to securing generational talents via the lottery, but it's still a key component to building a serial contender.
What dictates QO value? Is it due to Kunin's NHL time that calculates a 3.0M QO? I'd like him under that number, but this team has no contracts and giving him $6M for 2 years is really not going to effect this team long term.
Overall great interview with Wyshynski (damn I miss him on Puck Soup).
BUT…. Regarding asking Greg about the Hertl trade…. I agree with everything you said there Sheng, but I think in an interview it would be better to ask the question, then discuss your own thoughts in relation to what he offers. I felt myself shouting "objection leading the witness!" and I'm not even a lawyer!