When the Sharks acquired Mikael Granlund in the Erik Karlsson trade, he was primarily viewed as a negative asset and cap dump. Coming off a disastrous albeit brief tenure with the Penguins, his 2-year term and five-million-dollar cap hit were not attractive. Taking it on allowed the Sharks to limit the retention required on Karlsson's contract while maintaining as much of his value as possible.
Fast-forward two years, and Granlund has rehabilitated all of his value and then some. He put up 105 points in 121 games for the Sharks and could take on tough minutes on a pair of horrible Sharks teams. The Sharks were able to Granlund to Dallas at the deadline, along with Cody Ceci, for a 2025 first and third. This was an excellent trade from an asset management perspective, as the Sharks were able to turn a negative asset into a first-round pick.
Looking ahead to the offseason, Granlund is a pending UFA for the Stars. Given Dallas has limited cap space, it’s unlikely that Granlund will be in their long-term plans going forward. So, does a Sharks reunion make sense?
It's uncommon for players to resign with a team that just traded them months earlier, but it's not impossible; the Sharks did something similar when they traded Marleau to the Penguins before resigning him that same offseason. Granlund enjoyed his time in San Jose and had positive things to say about the organization. In addition, San Jose is probably the best fit financially for Granlund.
At 33, Granlund, despite his production, will probably not get a lot of term on his next contract. Daily Faceoff has him projected to get 4.6 million on a 2-year deal. Granlund will likely overshoot this from an AAV perspective, but a 2-year term is probably within his market. The Sharks have loads of cap space with 41 million in projected space this offseason, they need to reach the cap floor and could offer Granlund a lot of money on a short term deal. A deal around 7 million over 2 or 3 years would fit their cap structure and come off the books when they need to pay their young guys. Granlund is a known commodity and leader in their dressing room and could continue to help mentor their young core. And it could make sense for both sides going into the offseason.
The Sharks are going to have to spend some money this offseason, and it will be interesting to see how Mike Grier and company opt to utilize that excess space in the coming weeks.