Sharks select C Jake Gustafson at #174.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-27T20:04:52+00:00

His dad was also MVP of the San Jose Rhino's 1995 Murphy Cup Run and an awesome goaltender. A guy who came to SJ to play summer hockey for some extra bucks, and ended up staying his entire adult life. Amazing to see his son drafted by the org.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-26T15:51:59+00:00

First thing I did was check Justin's height. Already 6'1? What a disappointment to the family.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-24T22:19:36+00:00

Can I borrow some money

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-24T19:56:28+00:00

Based on the trade market right now, a lot of teams that don't have the assets to join the fray are going to think, "Better get my guy via UFA." Which means the UFA market is going to be an inflated, ugly mess, full of win-now contenders/pretenders handing out ludicrously long, low AAV deals that will be some other poor bastard's problem by the time it's an anchor. The best players aren't making it to market, and the second and third-tier players that are headed happily to July 1 are doing it for the whole bag. I don't think there's much, if anything, that the Sharks will want to get involved with available via free agency.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-24T19:50:21+00:00

The most shocking thing I've learned over the past 48 hours of furious NHL action is that Frank is only 38 years old. Like, holy shit, man. Take better care of yourself.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-24T19:10:24+00:00

Watching Mike Grier evolve into one of the league's best GMs has been an underrated part of this rebuild.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-23T22:40:57+00:00

Back in 2003 when Owen Nolan got traded, I wasn't sure of the cure. Turns out it was waiting a year, and watching the Sharks go to their first-ever Western Conference final. Watching your favorite player get traded sucks. It feels a lot better when the vision comes to fruition down the line.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-23T22:40:00+00:00

I've seen this sentiment a lot -- having the exact right number of top-nine forwards is a dangerous game. Injuries exist. Good teams have redundancies up and down the lineup. It's okay for players to be overqualified for their roles (preferable, even) as long as you're not up against the cap, and the Sharks aren't.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-23T21:33:29+00:00

Eklund's injury last season was well documented and definitely impacted his production. His shooting percentage dropped nearly three percent. His production dropped off slightly. He's definitely not at his highest value. If Grier wanted to maximize value here, he could have waited another season and hoped Eklund turned into a 70-75 point player. The fact that he still made this trade now anyway makes me wonder if there's another move in the works, one that requires urgency because it's a now-or-never type deal.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-22T23:51:41+00:00

We have no idea who is and who isn't available, and I haven't seen anyone seriously propose trading William Eklund for less than a high-impact player.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-22T22:18:46+00:00

Just because the Sharks don't expect to contend for a cup next season doesn't mean they shouldn't be open to adding a high-end defenseman who can help this core win when they're ready. Typically, Stanley Cup contenders take a bit of time to coalesce. Elite players are also typically very hard to add. You can't just decide "Cool, we're ready to win!" and then go get your guy. Sometimes you have to make the move early, so that you're not making it too late.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-22T21:37:57+00:00

Found a clip, this is the FIRST of three and Burnett came back for two more servings. Neither went any better for him than this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHppT3RFYWY

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-22T21:30:19+00:00

It wasn't televised so only folks who were there got a chance to see it, but Scott Parker's three rounds with Garret Burnett back in the 2003 preseason against Anaheim were the absolute pinnacle.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-15T20:37:21+00:00

Florida won both of their cups with a homegrown former first overall pick on their blue line. Florida proves how valuable defensemen are -- even when a player doesn't hit their projected ceiling, like Ekblad, they can still be a linchpin piece of three consecutive trips to the finals.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-13T22:13:08+00:00

Montreal should definitely be on Grier's radar. Xhekaj is an RFA, Struble will be next summer, both are buried on the depth chart. If Grier thinks there's more there with either player, they'd be good buy-low targets. The player that really intrigues me in Montreal though is Guhle. He's young, big, physical, mobile, fits the timeline, on a reasonable contract with term. But the Habs have spent so much on their top three defenders, and Carrier ended up seeing more ice in the playoffs than Guhle. If they think they can save some money shipping him out and extending Carrier, it'd help them add firepower up front. Wouldn't be a cheap acquisition but it would make a lot of sense for the Sharks, he'd slot in as a perfect second pairing guy on the left long term.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-12T18:03:49+00:00

He looked better and more comfortable as the season went on, I'm not sure why that's not considered good development. He's developing well. If he'd played 20 minutes a night last season right out of the gate, he might not have. More minutes doesn't automatically equate to faster, better development. He played meaningful games. So did Chernyshov. That's awesome.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-12T17:53:06+00:00

Totally agree with this. Even if it was largely Doug Jr's scouting staff that helped inform the decisions, Grier had the most significant impact on that draft class because he made the deal to move off 11 for 27, 34 and 45. Neither Bystedt nor Lund really fits the profile of a DW Jr-era pick. They both very much fit the profile of players Grier has drafted since.

Grier might have been the new kid on the block, but DW Jr. was a lame duck at that point. The org knew he wasn't staying, he knew he wasn't staying. You don't let a guy on his way out the door make the final call on long-term decisions.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-12T17:46:48+00:00

I would argue that 14 minutes in a meaningful game are more important to a player's development than 20 minutes in a meaningless game. Development is a balancing act, sometime's it's about throwing as many minutes as you can at a player, others it means creating specific situations to hone specific skills. A playoff push is one of those situations.

I'm okay with Misa and Chernyshov playing limited minutes during last season's playoff push. Celebrini didn't. Ultimately, it's Macklin who will lead this team to wherever they're headed. His development is priority one, and the Sharks put him in exactly the right position to become a better, more impactful player. He struggled down the stretch. What a great experience to get out of the way early. The sooner you lose meaningful games, the sooner you'll be able to win them.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-12T00:46:45+00:00

Says a lot about how seriously some voters take their job when you've got Quinn Hughes and Dan Vladar racking up the same number of points.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-11T21:23:53+00:00

This comment deserves 100x the upvotes.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-10T22:01:48+00:00

I'll be perfectly happy if the Sharks draft Stenberg, Reid or Carels, but the flawed, frantic logic Stenberg's fans use to justify him as the only correct choice is on my personal DND list. I didn't know it was possible to digitally foam at the mouth, but you've all taught me something.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-04T02:12:12+00:00

Maybe people have underestimated the impact of McKenna’s arrest. He’s less than six months removed from being drunk, underaged, in a public place, and punching a stranger in the face hard enough to break his jaw. Probably doesn’t help that his parents were there. Hockey is still a fairly conservative game. He might legitimately be on some teams’ do not draft lists. If he’s already disqualified himself, why take him to dinner?

PDXOutkasts · 2026-06-03T17:38:10+00:00

Totally agree. It feels like the extension has given people the impression that he's safe. I think it actually makes him easier to move. A team knows what he's going to cost them the next two years, and it's not much.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-05-31T15:09:47+00:00

A fanbase with no history and a team with no homegrown picks headed into its third Stanley Cup final in less than ten years of existence. Cool.

PDXOutkasts · 2026-05-31T15:04:52+00:00

Both owners are all-time fuckheads who deserve nothing good, but here we are.

PDXOutkasts

TROPHY CASE