This week on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, we welcome ESPN senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski! Greg recently made the case for Mike Grier for GM of the Year, and we had to dive into that, given some of the criticism we've heard recently about Grier (48:15). 

But before we get to Greg, we start our show with just how important it is that the San Jose Sharks have finished dead-last in the NHL, securing the best odds at the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft (2:27).

We cover some of the Will Smith ELC signing scenarios (7:40).

Sheng and Keegan discuss some of the San Jose Sharks games this past week, including a shellacking by the Oilers, a win for Devin Cooley, and much more (14:18). We also go into why Danil Gushchin, Jack Thompson, and Georgi Romanov were able to get call-ups this late in the year.

Luke Kunin has been maligned by the analytics folks all year, but Sheng wanted to share some of the league-wide sentiment regarding Kunin's analytics (23:45).

The San Jose Sharks and Barracuda came out with their 2023-24 awards. Who did Sheng choose for the Sharks/Cuda, and who does Keegan think should have won? (34:30)

Finally, Sheng shares some of his observations from watching Filip Bystedt live. (43:05)

And now, Greg Wyshynski! (48:15)

We recorded this in early April, by the way, before everything happened with the Arizona Coyotes and their move to Salt Lake City.

Greg's praise for Mike Grier as GM of Year on the Mar. 27 episode of “The Jeff Marek Show” really turned some heads around the NHL (49:00). 

https://sanjosehockeynow.com/san-jose-sharks-grier-gm-year-links/

So what happens if the San Jose Sharks don’t win No. 1? Would Greg still think of Grier as GM of the Year? (54:20)

Keegan asks the question, what is Sharks’ deserve-o-meter for the No. 1 pick? (57:13)

There's lots of Arizona Coyotes' talk here that is outdated...so listen if you want, but understand that the speculation did not end up correct.

Sheng wonders about the national perception of the San Jose Sharks' rebuild and the Tomas Hertl trade. (1:06:10)

Greg is a famous New Jersey Devils fan, so what does he think of the Timo Meier trade, and Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek in goal? (1:13:35)

How can the San Jose Sharks avoid protracted rebuilds like the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are dealing with now, and the Edmonton Oilers dealt with before 2015? (1:19:10)

When does Greg think the Sharks will make the playoffs again? (1:24:15)