Free Agency (7/1): Grier

Free Agency (7/1): Grier

um you got take us through the process of both uh both signings today how early did you guys maybe reach out to the representatives and what was the selling point in terms of trying to bring both players to to San Jose yeah I mean we didn’t really get into discussions with these guys until early this morning uh you know once the um free agency started um you know uh then we things kind of snowballed pretty quick there from you know morning time here you know um in the free agency open things went moved pretty quickly I think you guys probably saw how how much uh activity was there so for us it’s Pro as you know it’s early in the morning and so these are um couple guys that we targeted that we we thought would really help our group um Tyler um as you know I’ve talked about trying to add some scoring and Wing help for for our young centers here and he’s a veteran who’s won and uh you know he’s always produced he’s been good in the room he’s been in you know situations like this in Montreal and to a a lesser degree and and Vancouver playing with young players there with Peterson and Quinn ues and kind of helping those guys grow and I Know Jack Jack use speaks the world of him about him helping his growth so um so um the opportunity at him was really exciting for us with with what we have here as young players and be able to help them uh come along and and um help their game offensively and and help them kind of stay even killed through the grind you know there’s going to be ups and downs and someone who’s won a cup knows that so um you know his leadership was uh in goal scoring and all that stuff was really important to us and you know Alex is a good player you don’t find too many um two-way centers like him who can also play the wing um so you know it also helps insulate our our not only young guys but our team in general someone you can put out there in the power play and PK and play in every situation and be responsible then contribute offensively too so um you know we feel real really fortunate to be able to land both these guys um it was a competitive market as you guys could see um but I think the players themselves uh I think we’re intrigued by what we’re doing here and the opportunity to maybe maybe play with some of these young talented uh players that we have and and um you know the challenge of getting us back to where we’re going and to play in front of our great fans I think uh players around the league kind of respect you know um the city of living here and the fans and things that have been done here before and and um you know I think uh you know we’re kind of heading towards an exciting ex being an exciting place and as you can see I think some of these vets are are uh kind of curious and intrigued by trying to join us and help us get there is it fair to say maybe that you know by winning the draft lottery that allowed you to get a a good chance at signing a player like Tyler obviously they got the same agent and uh you know he heard good things as he said he could heard good things about Mack I mean when you look at it does that does that help you know just winning the lottery getting a guy like Macklin in here yeah I think it helped for sure it kind of got some excitement in the franchise and um but Macklin and will I think um you know I think they’re two highly skilled players and I think um you know the players in the league are paying paying attention to this stuff and and um you know watching and seeing what these players are doing and and kind of following along so um getting mlin and winning the lottery definitely got a little bit of Buzz around the franchise but you know signing will and getting him out too and and players knowing his ability I think if you’re a veteran uh Winger um the opportunity to play with these types of players is um you know I think it’s pretty intriguing does does wiberg’s contract have any trade protection I know I know uh Tyler’s got a full no move but um what about uh Alex has he got a no trade or no move at all um yeah he’s got some he’s got some protection in it and uh um some more than others uh year one is more than year two okay um you know with with Alex you know obviously has he has experience as a as a top six centerman um is it partially some insurance on your part to to have a player like that in here just in case you know Logan um you know can’t go next year or isn’t able to start the season on time yeah I think that comes went into the thinking a little bit but you know we’re we’re very hopeful that coo will be able to play and contribute and um you know I think him it’s a little Insurance sure but you know hopefully cooch can play and I think cooch and Granny and and Alex all have the ability to play on the wing too so um you know that’s a little bit of a luxury and and kind of what it makes him a unique player too so all three of them are they’re centers by trade but I think I don’t think either any of them would have Pro problem playing on the wing okay all right thanks Mike thanks ma hey Mike uh obviously you brought in the the two players here but it looks like you know just recently coming out there’s some moves here in the in the minor leagues here with Jimmy Schult and and Lucas Carlson obviously you know the Cuda had the year that they had last year what went into thinking of kind of bring those guys into kind of help obviously Jimmy SCH was one of the more top AHL free agent guys to try and insulate that that part of your program yeah all I mean it all ties together um you know we want to be better down there and we want to be better up here and we want to have the right people around our young players so um as as important it is for us um up here with the big Club to have the right veterans and and good players around or young players it’s it’s equally as important down there obviously you know Tyler’s won a lot when went far with the Rangers there is that part of the thinking I know you touched on a little bit but like just the fact that they’ve had deep playoff runs and just such a an inexperienced team playoff wise you know other than a couple of guys in the forer is just their playoff experience specifically like is that one of their main polls that why you were just first interested in these guys yeah they’re good veterans um you know the playoff experience helps and you know with Tyler especially um when you go through and can win a Stanley Cup I think that’s that type of winning rubs off on players um and it’s a lot of like I said we’re gonna have some ups and downs in here um as a group individually some of our players are going to have ups and downs and it’s I think it’s um it’s invaluable to have someone who’s who’s won and done well and and Tyler and um Alex have and they’ll be able to kind of write the ship and make sure guys aren’t getting too high or too low and let them know that it’s okay that it’s a it’s a tough League it’s okay if it’s not going well right now just keep working through it so guys that can help these young players kind of navigate the league and navigate the season or um will be extremely valuable for us per obviously you’ve brought in wenberg you have grantlin curf healthy and I mean for guys like Smith CBR and even William Eckland you know what is the plan I mean do you plan to kind of keep eckan on the wing here I mean that’s if ker is healthy that’s three centers what are you thinking that maybe maybe Smith or mlin if he does choose to come out like are you planning to kind of play them all at the center move some of them to the wing what is your what is your thinking behind that uh we’ll just see how we’ll see how it goes you guys saw last year we were chasing Center depth um and um you know like I I said a little bit earlier I think we we have a lot of guys who can play center and we have a lot of guys who can play Wing too so um we’ll we’ll s figure that out as we go and there’s always injuries and things like that that’ll pop up so um you know I think we get we feel good about our Center our Center depth then um you know Devin Coy signed in Calgary just is there any in maybe bringing in another goalie for depth and then just to add on top of that do we know the status of VC and do you expect him to be ready for training camp um I think we we we expect VC to be ready but with as anything goes with um surgery and Rehab um you never know he feel he’s in a good spot right now he’s working hard he’s got himself on the ice so um the expectation is that he’s he’ll be ready but you never know um and uh yeah you know we’ll keep looking for looking around and we’ll address the um probably address the number three spot at some at some point here in the offseason awesome thanks Mike yeah Eric Mike um teams have coveted uh Tyler uh throughout his career for for obvious reasons uh how much did he maybe Express or to you if he you know craves some stability at this point in his career and the fact that you could offer that help in landing him yeah I think I’m sure it had a part in it um you know like all players you know it’s it’s kind of nice to have a little bit of security where you can kind of you know put some Roots down a little bit um you know he’s someone that you know obviously is a very good player and and a lot of teams wanted him and after him and um you know he’s he’s bounced around a little bit over the last few years so um you know with us being allow offer him a little bit more more term I’m sure was was pretty appealing to him and then to just ask a broader qu question regarding all the moves that you’ve made here over the last uh you know week or two or so um I know you watched last year’s games May maybe through a different lens you know say than us or fans or whatsoever but um how tough was it to watch you know you guys play uh you know you know in games across last season because certainly these moves that you’ve made speak to you not wanted to see many of those tough nights uh like a year ago where you know things games would get out of hand yeah know uh it was a difficult season for sure um to uh set through um not only for myself but it was difficult on uh you know the players and the coaches and um you know I’m a extremely competitive person and you know going sitting through some of those games were tough so um you know I’ve you know taken some time and when I when I got the job I knew it was going to take some take some time to kind of move some pieces around and and and shape things and and we’re starting to move toward more towards a team that I would like to be um you know so um you know a little bit more competitive and harder to play against um you know there was too many nights last year where I thought we were non-competitive so um you know sometimes it takes some time to to do things and there’s still a lot of work to be done but I think now you know we’re starting at least um head towards being towards the type of team I would like to be yeah lastly off of that how much do you think you’ve upped that competitive level over these last couple of weeks with these moves yeah quite a bit um you know I think uh you know goody and Ty and grundstrom and and wiberg and Tyler are all they’re all competitive players competitive in their own ways when you talk about Tyler and Alex but um you know they win Puck battles they’re on the inside they’re you know they’re going to the hard areas and then you know brunstrom and Dandrea um and goody then you add you know where able to resign Connie um you know there’s definitely a lot more hardness to our group um so whether we’re you know winning are losing games I think teams will know that it’s not going to be an easy night against us anymore thanks Mike thanks Shang hey Mike uh you spoke uh before the draft about wanting to add scoring and now you’ve added one of the top scorers in the free agent market and also a guy that is said to be fantastic in the room just how you know just how good does it feel to add basically a guy that you know might have been your number one target yeah no we’re I’m excited I’m excited for uh you know the organization and the guys in the room um you know uh you never know how free agency is going to go um when you get in you know get into the office this morning you never know how it’s going to go and as you can see with all the activity today and you just hope you’re going to be able to you know get get a guy you really like and you know Tyler was at the top of our list and you know once he you know expressed some desire to come here you know we work to get the job done and uh you know it’s pretty exciting because like you said he’s good in the room and that checks the Box um he’s won before that checks the box and um you know he’s got the scoring ability to play with our young you know some of our young centers so you checked a lot of boxes and um you know we’re we’re thrilled to be able to get it done would you expect any more kind of significant signings or do you think that you might be done in that area um I would say yeah I would say for the most part we’re we’re probably done maybe if there’s something around the the edges maybe or something pops up you know in the next few days but for the you know this was probably uh most of the heavy lifting how much are you looking to add to your defense I know that a lot of defensemen went very quickly on the market uh this uh this re agency doesn’t me that you’re still looking to add if not through free agency because there’s not so many guys left but along the edges or via trade is that still kind of a puck moving defenseman is that still a priority for you guys yeah we’ll we’ll keep exploring but um like you said I think every team in the League’s looking for it and and they went off the board early and you know some of the you know some of the T or money were things that we weren’t comfortable with so um you know we got we got a group of D now that you know will be competitive and play hard and um you know Jake adds a nice submission of someone who can run a power play and um we’ll see how the development whatever our young guys go and um you know we’ll we’ll definitely keep an eye open on the trade market and maybe poke around on free agency and stuff but um you know it’s uh it’s hard to say but we’ll I’ll keep an eye on what’s going on for sure and just double checking just if it’s in front of you you know not asking you to look through a stack of papers but for wber you mentioned that the trade protections is greater in year one and year two can you be more specific you know no no no trade clause how many teams that sort of thing um I’m not sure on he’s got a he’s got a no trade in year one and then I’m not sure I’m not sure what it goes down in year two but I don’t I don’t have the exact number in front of me oh in year one is it a complete no trade yeah okay great thank you yeah Marco hi Mike it’s been an interesting last three days for you with the draft and now free agency as far as wber goes um obviously his versatility I’m sure is What attracted you the most to him but were you able to watch his uh run with the Rangers in the playoffs and does that kind of also maybe um make you a little more keen on getting someone like that as opposed to if they’re not playing in the playoffs like how much do you value a playoff run by a certain player with a certain team like that thanks yeah no I thought um you know we watched him in the playoffs and uh even down the stretch with with New York and and um you know he did a good job he played in uh those weren’t easy series they were heavy series um fast series and um you know we thought he was one of the better players so um you know to be able to come come away with someone has been through that um you know New York’s not always an easy place to play in but there was good players and he got traded there and handled it well and that’s that says a lot about his character it’s um you know as you guys know you go into New York sometimes there’s there’s some pressure there and I don’t think it ever phas him from day one he stepped in there and played his game and um you know we thought he was one of their most consistent forwards throughout their playoff run Curtis wa you know when you look at the forward group now it’s I I don’t want to say it’s a log Jam or it’s a glutz or anything but you know it there’s quite a few bodies there I mean is it just maybe part of this too uh you know a message to the young guys that you’re not necessarily going to be handed a handed a job here at out a camp um and then some guys are going to be unnoticed too about trying to make this team yeah for sure um you know I’ve talked about the importance of competitiveness within our group and trying to build that up and um we’ve slowly been doing it and now I think it’s it’s at the highest level it’s been since I’ve I’ve gotten here and um you know that’s the way you know talking to some of our vets and even myself going back to my playing day if you were going to make the team as a young player you had to earn your way um you weren’t going to be given a spot by default so um you know we want all the best from our players we want we want them to push each other we want the internal competition and we think we’ve done that so yeah the young guys should should be looking at this as an opportunity but also know that they’re going to have to raise their game in the gym this summer and on Ice working on themselves working on their body and their nutrition and their game and and get better so um you know when time training camp comes around they’re they’re going to they’re going to be in in a battle and um you know these older guys aren’t going to be any rush to to give their their spot away to a young guy so it should make for a pretty competitive camp and uh you know may the best man win does that include a you know a Will Smith or or Macklin If he if he signs yeah I mean those guys are gonna have to earn their ice time um you know for sure they’re not going to be throwing on the first Power Play and and this and that they’re going to have to go out there and and and earn what they get and um and be ready to comp compete with the rest of the group um what when your in development Camp obious starts tomorrow what are your expectations of of the of the guys that that show up obviously you know I don’t know if everybody’s going to be in tiptop shape necessarily but what are your expectations for for the guys and and what do you want to see uh I want them just to work hard and have fun really like you said it’s you know some of these guys have been off for a little bit so no one’s going to be in Prime shape and uh I want them to enjoy being around each other um get to know each other a little bit there’s a a big group of them that are hopefully going to be a big part of our core for a long time so spend some time together be around each other um and when you’re in the gym or on the ice work as hard as you can but have some have some fun with it but um you know the on I stuff like you said some of the the kids that have just just gotten drafted it’s been a whirlwind for those guys they’ve been to the combine some of them just got playing so there hasn’t been a lot of a lot of training time um the guys who have been here before and it wasn’t their draft year you know we want to see some improvement in some of the testing and and um things like that compared to their prior years um I know don’t to keep harping on Barkley goodro situation here but if you had a chance to to speak with him at all about coming and you know and how he feels about coming to San Jose um I have you know we’ve played a little bit of phone tag but um you know we haven’t had a conversation I’ve talked to his agent a few times and I know some guys on the team have talked to him a little bit and uh you know equipment you know I think some guys on on uh you know I’ve reached out to him that knew him from before here I’ve talked to him you know um I’ll talk to him here soon enough um but you know I think it’s uh I think it’s all I think it’s all good I think like I said it’s a tough situation emotionally for him but um you know I think he’s uh coming uh coming around and I think he’s going to be he’s going to be excited to be back here in San Jose here um and uh I look forward to look forward to catching up with here here shortly and you don’t me anticipate any changes to your your Decor like he kind of said that you’re pretty happy with the group you have even though there might be another move or two out there this is this is pretty much the group you have as far as your defense core goes um I mean I it’s it’s hard to say for sure um you know I’ll keep as always I’ll I’ll keep trying to look if something that makes sense to make our team better or um improve things and you know I’ll do it but so uh I’ll keep looking around we’ll see what happens there’s the offseason’s really just beginning so I’m sure there’ll be some twists and turns as we go but right now these are the guys we have and uh you know they’re a competitive group and and um you know expect them to to be better with uh you know a little bit of a different system and things like that I think I think we’ll be we should be better in our our dzone and um you know the growth of our young players and adding Jake to it I think um you know we should we should uh be better better defensive team sorry to keep Haring on the the coaching staff situation but um you said last week obviously you’re very close I mean but can you say if Brian and Scott will will be back or are they uh kind of moved on at this point um I think we everything should be uh finishing up here sometime this week so I think waro still doing his due diligence and getting through everything and pushing through everything and uh you know I think we’ll we’ll by the end of the week I think we’ll we’ll have more definitive answers for you guys all right thank you Mike appreciate it y thanks Shang Mike I just wanted to ask you I believe that the tile to fulley contract is the largest that the shark’s ever handed out to an outside free agent uh total contract and also aav uh just what ises that say again about Tyler the player the kind of investment that you guys are making in him yeah I mean it’s the player and the person you know I think if you’re if you’re going to give someone um a decent amount of term and money you’re you’re betting on the person being the right person um on top of the player I think we know what he brings as a player and what he does on the ice but um when you start getting into a little bit of term and and a good chunk of change then it’s more about the person bettering on the person and that you’re sold on the person what he’s going to bring to to the team culture-wise and bring to the community and and and bring to the organization so um it’s more really about what he says about him as a person than it is about a player we know that he’s a really good hoey player and what he’ll do for us on the ice but um you know he’s going to bring a lot more of the the intangibles to the dressing room and and to the organization

Sharks General Manager Mike Grier speaks to the media after the first day of free agency.