'He Had A Job To Do & Did it': ESPN's Greg Wyshynski Says Mike Grier Deserves NHL GM Of The Year Recognition

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski went on the Jeff Marek show today and gave a scorching hot take, but it made sense. San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier should be in consideration for GM of the Year.

This take was so out of left field that THN contacted Wyshynski via text to confirm if he was serious. His response:

“100%. He had a job to do and did it.”

But what exactly are his reasons for this take?

“It’s not all about winning in this league. Mike Grier has pruned some fairly large contracts from his roster. Has gotten a decent return for those prospects,” Wyshynski told Merek. “But more importantly, has found a way to be seven points worse than the Chicago Blackhawks, which are terrible.”

Wyshynski has a point. Erik Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, and Brent Burns were traded away with minimal retainment.

Karlsson has a cap hit of $1.5 million. Hertl’s cap hit is $1.3875 million. Bruns’ cap hit is $2.72 million. Burns’ contract comes off the books after next season, the first of the three retained contracts.

Financial flexibility has been the name of the game for Grier. He’s wanted to rid the Sharks of long contracts for players who signed under the Doug Wilson regime.

Wyshynski did emphasize one point: if the Sharks don’t win the draft lottery, all of this losing and trading is for not.

“If we are going to do the first two rounds of the playoffs to determine who the best general manager is, shouldn’t we also use the draft lottery to determine who the best general manager is,” Wyshynski said. “Cause damn it, if he prunes the roster of big contracts, gets a bunch of pieces for a rebuild, and they get Macklin Celebrini, he should be a finalist, shouldn’t he?”

Timo Meier traded for now 20-goal scorer Fabian Zetterlund. The 2023 first-round pick in that trade with the New Jersey Devils turned into Quentin Musty, who just had a 100-point season in the OHL. Mikael Granlund has been found money, plus a chance at a top 15 pick in the 2024 or 2025 Draft from the Pittsburgh Penguins. All while having a bunch of cap flexibility in an offseason that is expected to have the salary cap raise. Don’t forget the Sharks get another first-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in 2025, along with David Edstrom.

While Grier most likely won’t win the award, Wyshynski makes a good point: Long-term plans should be recognized.

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