Sharks are generating some buzz

Grier kept saying to be patient, that the cuts, while painful to fans, were necessary to move the organization forward from the heyday of the mid- to late 2010s.

But there now appears to be light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time in years, the Sharks are generating some positive buzz.

Whether this year or next, the Sharks are poised to return from the dead of the National Hockey League. The one good thing about finishing near the bottom of the standings is that a team gets to draft near the top. Bad organizations whiff on high draft picks. It’s looking like the Sharks may have nailed their last several drafts.

The evolution actually began during Wilson’s final season in charge with the drafting of Swedish left wing William Eklund, at No. 7, in 2021. It took Eklund a couple years to crack the Sharks’ roster, but last year, at the age of 21, he appeared in 80 of the Sharks’ 82 games, finishing with 45 points (16 goals, 29 assists).

And he’ll be getting some help shortly. Sharks’ fans were livid ahead of the 2023 draft as the team had the worst record, but lost the lottery draw to draft Conor Bedard, who is supposed to be a generational talent and was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Sharks had to settle for the No. 2 pick, which they used to draft Will Smith, who was 18 and just out of high school. He spent last season playing his freshman year at Boston College, where he led the nation in points (71) and was sixth in goals scored, potting 25 goals in 41 games.

He signed a rookie deal this past May and made his Sharks’ preseason debut Tuesday night. He’s just 19 years old.

The Sharks were still horrible last year but, this time, they did get the No. 1 pick in the draft and selected the highly-touted Macklin Celebrini. He, too, was a freshman phenom across town from Smith at Boston University. Celebrini won the Hobey Baker award this past season, college hockey’s Heisman Trophy.

He signed with the Sharks and scored his first professional goal during the Sharks’ preseason opener Monday. Celebrini is only 18 years old.

But Grier and the Sharks weren’t done. In August, they swung a deal with Nashville to acquire goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, who many consider to be the top goalie prospect in the world.

He’s just 22.

Of those four, Eklund appears to already have a roster spot secured. The other three have a ways to go to assure their spots. But if these guys are as good as people say they are, they should be starring in the Shark Tank sooner rather than later.

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As a Bay Area native, I’ve always supported the region’s professional sports teams. I like some teams more than others and while I’m a life-long San Francisco Giants-49ers fans, I’ve never been one to hate the Oakland A’s or Oakland Raiders. They just weren’t my favorites.

I say this as I started really thinking about the A’s leaving Oakland. When I was younger, none of my friends wanted to go to Candlestick, so if I wanted to watch baseball with them, I spent many a night — and the occasional afternoon — at the Oakland Coliseum.

And while I don’t have a lot of in-person sports history, I do have one significant one: I was at the Coliseum when Rickey “Today, I am the greatest of all time” Henderson broke the stolen base record.

(As an aside, many people think he stole second base. He didn’t. He stole third off New York Yankees catcher Matt Nokes, who was also the catcher when Henderson broke the single-season mark of 118 nearly 10 years earlier.)

Henderson was stuck on 938 for several games and I knew many people who went to games, hoping he would set the record.

I finally got a chance, so I skipped class that day and got to the Coliseum early — by myself. It’s the only time I attended pre-game batting practice and was this close to grabbing a Jose Canseco moonshot halfway up the bleachers in center field.

I held on to that ticket stub for a long time. I might still have it, one last reminder of the A’s tradition-rich history in Oakland. Can’t believe they’re really leaving.

Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.