New trade information revealed regarding San Jose Sharks and the 2nd pick
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Daniel Lucente
May 31, 2026 (12:13)
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Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Pierre LeBrun reported this week that San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier is open to moving the second overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The hockey world treated it as breaking news. It shouldn't have been.
Grier did the exact same thing twelve months ago. Last summer the Sharks held the second overall pick and entertained calls from interested teams.
Re 2nd overall pick: "I think the Sharks genuinely are listening, like for real; they feel they're at a place in their rebuild where they're ready to take the next step; if they can get an impact player...I think they would look at it."
- Pierre LeBrun
- Pierre LeBrun
The front office publicly acknowledged its willingness to listen. Then draft day arrived and Grier selected Michael Misa without hesitation.
The front office used three weeks of trade speculation as a free scouting exercise. That pattern matters more than any rumor about Vancouver or Calgary moving up.
Why this year feels different but probably isn't
San Jose's forward pipeline is legitimately stacked now. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Misa, Igor Chernyshov, and William Eklund give Grier a young core that most franchises would need a decade to assemble.
The defensive need is real and urgent, which makes the trade talk sound perfectly logical on the surface.
But the last time a top-five pick moved after the draft lottery was 2008.
That is not a coincidence. Teams that hold premium picks almost always keep them because the return rarely matches the asset's perceived value.
Grier knows this, and his track record proves it.
The leverage play hiding in plain sight
What LeBrun's report actually signals is that Grier wants every GM in the league calling him over the next month.
Not because he plans to say yes, but because those conversations reveal what established players might be available and at what price.
A GM who refuses to listen learns nothing about the market. The Sharks will almost certainly draft Ivar Stenberg or whichever prospect they have ranked behind Gavin McKenna.
The phone calls between now and Buffalo are the real asset. Grier is collecting intel on the trade market while holding a pick he almost certainly plans to use.
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