Changes are coming to the San Jose Sharks. How drastic will they be?

Letting UFAs and RFAs walk, buying out contracts, and seismic-type trades could all be on the table for San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier after a historically bad season.

Longtime NHL goalie Kelly Hrudey won just 16 of the 48 games he played in his first season with the San Jose Sharks in 1996-1997, as the team finished next-to-last in the overall standings. But he knew the direction the organization was taking under then-first-year general manager Dean Lombardi.

“It wasn’t a fun year because of the losing,” Hrudey told this news organization in February. “But there was a plan in place that we all recognized.”

Now, 26 years later, today’s Sharks players are expressing a similar sentiment.

Finishing with a record of 22-44-16, the Sharks just endured one of the worst seasons in franchise history, with five fewer wins than that 1996-97 team. But players also acknowledge that their first-year GM, Mike Grier, has a blueprint for how he wants to turn the franchise around as Lombardi did a generation ago.

“I’m sure once the season ends, everything will be digested,” Sharks captain Logan Couture last week. “I know the front office has a plan that they’re sticking to here.”

Hrudey welcomed then-17-year-old Patrick Marleau to the Sharks in 1997 after he was selected second overall in that year’s draft, helping to begin the turnaround. The Sharks will add another young prodigy to the organization this summer, perhaps even NHL-ready forward Connor Bedard, another 17-year-old.

But a successful draft remains just one part of the process the Sharks need to complete to get back to where they were just a few years ago when they were regular playoff participants capable of making deep postseason runs.

“Am I looking forward to next year?” Sharks coach David Quinn rhetorically asked recently. “Absolutely.”

Here’s a look at what changes might be on the horizon for the Sharks.

Fixing the NHL roster

Of the 40 players who dressed for at least one Sharks game during the 2021-2022 season, 22 are no longer with the organization (Sasha Chmelevski’s rights are still owned by San Jose). The biggest departures under Grier’s watch were Timo Meier and Brent Burns, both traded to teams in a win-now mode.

More changes are on the way.

Without question, Grier and the Sharks’ front office want the team to get bigger and faster, particularly up front. But improving the goaltending is also a necessary component, as the Sharks entered Thursday with a league-worst .881 save percentage. James Reimer, 35, is a pending unrestricted free agent and may not be a fit with the Sharks going forward.

Grier and his staff likely already have a good handle on what they have in-house but will no doubt continue their delve into their numerous issues in the coming weeks.

“When you’re in our situation, you address everything,” Quinn said. “From goaltending to defense to the forwards, you take a deep dive into all three positions.”

The weeks since the March 3 trade deadline has also been used to evaluate who could be part of the solution going forward, with mixed results from those under the microscope. The Sharks went 4-12-4 after the deadline.

“Every guy should understand that,” Quinn said last week. “We’ve got a laundry list of guys that are fighting for their careers and everybody’s evaluating you, not just us. There are probably 31 teams in the stands, making an evaluation and you’ve got to make a decision, you’ve got to make a choice. If you want to be an NHLer, you’ve got to play better than that.”

Managing the salary cap

The NHL’s salary cap, at the moment, is only expected to rise by $1 million to $83.5 million next season. The Sharks, per CapFriendly, have roughly $61 million already tied up in 15 one-way contracts and approximately another $6 million in three dead-money contracts.

The Sharks do not have any pending restricted free agents that will require a big financial commitment, and it’s debatable whether they re-sign any of their pending UFAs.

Although it’s much preferable for the Sharks to save additional money by making trades, buying out some players’ contracts will also likely be on the table.

Buying out the final three years of defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract will save the Sharks, per CapFriendly, $5.55 million in cap space next season. Buying out the final year of Radim Simek’s and Kevin Labanc’s contracts will save a combined $5.2 million.

Freeing up cap space here and there could help the Sharks acquire a proven goal-scorer to help replace Meier, or just give the organization the ability to weaponize that cap space next season.

The question then becomes: how do you replace those players?

The Erik Karlsson situation

Will Erik Karlsson be back with the Sharks in the fall? That’s probably the biggest question of the offseason.

Grier is open to trade discussions regarding most of his players but it’ll probably take a lot to pry Karlsson away from San Jose, particularly after the historic-type season he just had. The ask will be high, especially if the Sharks retain a significant portion of Karlsson’s $11.5 million annual cap hit for the next four years.

What Karlsson wants to do is also important. With a high draft pick coming in, other top prospects gradually maturing, and potentially more upgrades made via trade or free agency, would that give Karlsson optimism that the Sharks can be competitive sooner rather than later?

The one thing we know is that Karlsson, who will be 33 next month, wants to win. Perhaps that means agreeing to be traded elsewhere, although any deal will also need to be in the Sharks’ best interests. A Karlsson departure would leave a massive void.

The prospect pool

The Sharks’ prospect pool isn’t the deepest in the NHL but it’s better than it was a year or two ago.

William Eklund will likely be a full-time NHL player next season, and Thomas Bordeleau and Danil Gushchin will also be fighting for roster spots. The defense corps has been replenished with the additions of Shakir Mukhamadullin, Nikita Okhotiuk, and Henry Thrun.

The Sharks’ extra first-round pick this year, acquired from the New Jersey Devils in the Meier trade, could be of service in two or three years. Forward Filip Bystedt and defenseman Mattias Havelid, both drafted last year out of Sweden, might be ready to make the full-time jump to North American pro hockey next season.

Of course, winning the draft lottery and selecting Bedard would be a franchise-changing development. It is impossible to win a Stanley Cup without elite players.

Sharks development coach Mike Ricci will be working with these prospects. He played for the Sharks when they began to turn things around in the late 1990s under Lombardi, and sees the same type of plan being implemented now under Grier.

“Nothing’s easy, right? It takes time and a lot of hard work,” Ricci told this news organization in February. “As long as we stick together and we’re all pulling on the same rope, we’re going to get through this.”