There are reportedly few untouchables on the San Jose Sharks roster in the eyes of general manager Mike Grier.
In talking with other NHL general managers, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Thursday that Grier has let other teams know he is willing to listen to trade offers for the vast majority of players on his team.
The one exception, LeBrun reported, would be center Tomas Hertl, who signed an eight-year, $65.1 million contract extension with the Sharks in March. Hertl’s contract carries a full no-movement clause for this season and the following two years before a modified no-trade clause begins in the 2025-26 season.
The Sharks, with a 2-7-0 record to start the season, already appear to be on track to miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.
No moves appear to be imminent. However, parting with some of the core players is Grier’s intention over the next couple of seasons, LeBrun said.
Grier did not respond Thursday night to a request for comment.
Trading some of the Sharks’ veteran players would appear to be a challenge for the management group given how expensive some of the team’s contracts are and how they are structured.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson, 32, is in the fourth year of an eight-year, $92 million contract that carries a full no-movement clause throughout. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 35, is in the fifth year of an eight-year, $56 million deal.
Vlasic’s deal has a full no-movement clause that turns into a modified no-trade clause after this season that says he would be willing to accept a trade to only one of three teams.
Sharks captain Logan Couture, 33, is in the fourth season of an eight-year, $64 million deal that also carries a modified no-trade clause in which he would agree to be traded to only one of three teams.
Couture, though, recently said Grier approached him this summer about possibly being traded to a win-now team like Brent Burns was to the Carolina Hurricanes in July. But Couture said he wants to remain a Shark and help the team get back on track.
The Sharks’ reported approach could affect whether they award a contract extension to winger Timo Meier at some point before next season. Meier is in the final season of a four-year, $24 million contract and is due to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Meier is making $10 million in salary this season and the Sharks would need to give him that much in a qualifying offer to retain his rights. Meier had a team-high 35 goals last season but did not score in the Sharks’ first nine games of the season before Thursday.
The Sharks have five players who are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer – forwards Nick Bonino and Matt Nieto, defenseman Scott Harrington and Markus Nutivaara, and goalie James Reimer.
Grier, who was hired as the Sharks GM in early July, awarded the contracts to 15 of the organization’s players, including defenseman Matt Benning (four years), Nico Sturm (three years), Luke Kunin, Steven Lorentz and Oskar Lindblom (two years each), and Evgeny Svechnikov and Nutivaara (one year each).