Kurtenbach: After years of playing for the future, the Sharks bet on fun, the present in Kiefer Sherwood trade
What the San Jose Sharks did Monday, sending two second-round picks and an AHL defenseman to Vancouver for winger Kiefer Sherwood, is not strictly advisable.
In the cold, unfeeling spreadsheet of NHL asset management, it’s probably not a prudent move.
Sherwood is an unrestricted free agent this summer. He is currently making $1.5 million against the cap, a figure that will balloon significantly the moment he hits the open market in July. He’ll play less than half a season in teal, and his debut probably won’t come until after the Olympic break due to a hand injury.
And yet, you can’t help but smile at this move.
For the last half-decade, being a fan of this franchise has been an excruciating exercise in delayed gratification.
Rebuilds are hard, not just in acquiring the picks and players necessary to rise, but in waiting for those ascents as well.
The Sharks have been a savings account collecting meager interest.
On Monday, general manager Mike Grier looked at a team whose stock is pointing so vertically it’s overtaking the San Jose skyline, and decided it was time to make a withdrawal.
The Sharks aren’t in a position to go “all-in” for a Stanley Cup just yet. They’re still a bit too young, and there are still too many questions on the blue line — questions that need answers before the trade deadline if this team wants to survive a seven-game series.
But this trade isn’t about the next five years. It’s a vote on the here and now. It’s the front office looking at the roster and saying, “Let’s see what these kids have.”
Is it expensive? Sure. Let’s also not pretend that a second-round pick in the NHL is the same as one in the NFL. In the NFL, a second-round pick is a starter. In the NHL, once you leave the first round, you are throwing darts in a dark room.
The fact that Grier got the Canucks to come off their reported asking price of a first-round pick is just good business. The future has not been mortgaged here; the Sharks just decided to stop hoarding every single chip.
Think of it this way: The Sharks didn’t buy a house; they rented a car. And they didn’t go for the practical, mid-priced sedan with the good safety rating and the nice discount if you pay up front. No, they grabbed the convertible at the airport counter, declined the insurance, and peeled out of the lot.
Sherwood *plays* like a rental car. He treats his body and the boards with equal disregard. He is pedal-to-the-metal at all times: a hard forechecker, a big hitter, and a menace on the penalty kill who loves a shorthanded breakaway. He’s got some sweet mitts and cool open-ice moves, but really he just goes, goes, goes.
Does he have flaws? Of course. He can get lost because he’s going 100 mph while the game is being played at a school-zone pace.
But if you want to play up-tempo, as the Sharks certainly do? This is your dude.
There is no “off” button with him.
The possibilities for the Sharks’ lineup card are intoxicating. You can toss him on the third line, and he’ll immediately elevate their scoring chances while maintaining the line’s defensive integrity. You can play him with Michael Misa on the second line, and his chaotic energy through the neutral zone will carve out those clear passing lanes the rookie wants to see so badly.
And, if you’re feeling truly audacious, put him with Macklin Celebrini — a combination that would make the Sonoma drags look slow. If you blink, you might just miss the goal with those two.
Sherwood is a fun player. The Sharks are a fun team.
This is a wonderful match, even if it’s likely only going to be a fling.
The good news is that at some point, the cost of this trade will be forgotten. It might come up again this summer when Sherwood probably signs elsewhere for $4 million-plus a year, but we’ll deal with that then.
Because after years of oatmeal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Sharks fans deserve a treat.
Sherwood is that going to be just that.
It’s time to live a little.