SAN JOSE – Newly activated center Nico Sturm boarded a charter flight on Saturday afternoon, eager to begin a seven-game road trip with his San Jose Sharks teammates.
Whether Sturm returns home with all those same Sharks players less than two weeks from now is another matter.
The Sharks face the Calgary Flames on Sunday to start a 12-day road trip that takes them through four more Canadian cities before it ends with stops in Buffalo and Denver. By the time the trip wraps up in Colorado on March 6, a day before the NHL trade deadline, a few Sharks players, including Sturm, could be with another team.
“I anticipate that something’s going to happen in those two weeks that we’re on the road realistically,” said Sturm, a pending unrestricted free agent who was activated off injured reserve on Saturday. “But it’s not something that I’m really worried about. … I’m going to play 100% for the crest until they tell me otherwise.”
The Sharks’ other pending UFAs are forwards Luke Kunin and Walker Duehr, defenseman Jan Rutta, and goalies Vitek Vanecek and Alexandar Georgiev. Sharks general manager Mike Grier is not necessarily opposed to bringing some of those players back for next season but wants to see if some other NHL teams in the playoff picture are willing to meet his price.
Grier and the Sharks on Feb. 1 got two 2025 draft picks, a first-rounder and a conditional third-rounder, from the Dallas Stars for forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci.
“I’m open to anything, really,” Grier said last month about what he wants in trade returns. “It’s just how you line up the value. If it’s picks, it’s picks. But I think we’re also open to getting players that can help us right now, whether that’s maybe someone in their mid-20s, or if that’s someone who’s in their early 20s or a young prospect that maybe just needs a year or two.”
Sturm has won a Stanley Cup, is an effective penalty killer, and is first among 157 NHL players — who have taken at least 200 draws — in faceoff percentage (63.7). His cap hit is $2 million.
Kunin ($2.75 million cap hit) is a hard-nosed depth forward who can kill penalties and play a north-south game. Rutta is a two-time Cup champion capable of playing in a bottom-pair role for a contending team. Georgiev and Vanecek can be backup options for teams looking for goalie depth.
Grier will probably not be able to trade all five players but would like something in return for a pending UFA rather than potentially letting them walk for nothing on July 1, the first day of free agency.
“I’m focused on today,” said Kunin, a Sharks alternate captain. “I’m focused on getting better in practice and having a good day here, and whatever tomorrow brings, it brings, and we’ll deal with it then.”
Defenseman Mario Ferraro is a year away from unrestricted free agency but might be the most sought-after player on the Sharks’ roster by contending teams.
Ferraro, 26, has 11 points in 57 games this season and is averaging 20:38 in ice time. He kills penalties, blocks shots, has a boisterous personality, and comes with a modest $3.25 million salary cap hit that most contending teams should be able to absorb.
Ferraro knows his name is out there but, like Kunin and Sturm, is trying to ignore the noise.
“Definitely aware of it. Moves are going to happen,” Ferraro said of the deadline. “It’s part of the process for us, the situation that we’re in. So it is what it is. But I don’t think anybody’s really thought about it too much. Ready for a road trip here.”
If Ferraro is traded, he could bring the biggest return.
“I think everything’s on the table for us,” Grier added about potential returns. “It’s not in the mode of just gathering picks for the sake of gathering picks. It’s always looking to kind of push this thing forward a little bit and improve our team now, if we can, or improve our team sooner (rather than later).”
Grier also said last month that he hadn’t had any substantial contract talks with any of his pending UFAs, and at this point, there’s no reason to believe that approach has changed.
With so much uncertainty, the Sharks might be unable to avoid trade deadline talk for the rest of the road trip, which continues in hockey-mad markets like Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto before stopping in Buffalo and Colorado.
Sturm has averaged just 9:51 in ice time per game this season but will start Sunday’s game as the Sharks’ third-line center, giving him a chance to play a bit more – and perhaps showcase to contending teams that he’s capable of filling that role.
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Less than two weeks before the deadline, how Sturm plays is about the only thing he can control.
“My relationship with this team, with the coaching staff, with Grier, especially, has always been very good, very open,” Sturm said. “There’s always an open-door policy for both of us, and we’ve talked open and honest about where we’re at, and that (the Sharks) might be able to get a good return for me.
“(Grier) has to do what’s best for us as an organization, and I understand that. And if I get the chance in return to play playoff hockey, then so be it. It doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no possibility of me coming back here in the summer. Really, anything’s on the table right now, and there’s always been great communication between me, Grier and my agent. It’s all very positive.”
