Actions speak louder than words.
So while newly-hired Sharks general manager Mike Grier isn’t calling his plan for the team a “rebuild”, his first few days on the job tell a different story.
Grier has wasted no time — he’s tearing down a roster that was going nowhere.
And what do you do after you tear it down? You build it back up, again. Some people might call that a rebuild.
Yes, this is going to stink for a while. Currently, more NHL-caliber talent is heading out of town than coming in. But be enthused Sharks fans, right or wrong, Grier obviously has a plan in place, and it’s been a while since that has been the case in San Jose.
So on with the demolition.
There had been a few, smaller, ultimately minor moves that showed that Grier was not going to waste time in molding his team. The NHL Draft last week showed that Grier was going to mold the Sharks into a squad that played the kind of hockey he played during his NHL career — heavy, direct, team-centered.
It’s not a bad place to start while you wait for franchise-changing talent to arrive.
But escalation like Wednesday’s was inevitable.
The Sharks had to trade defenseman Brent Burns.
He didn’t fit the mold of the team Grier is trying to build in the present or future, and his salary and play style would have proven to be a serious hindrance to success in both time frames.
Trading him to Carolina on Wednesday made all the sense in the world. The return in the trade doesn’t matter — you should only care about what was retained. The Sharks reportedly kept only 34 percent of Burns’ salary. (There was some debate over if it was, in fact, 33 percent.)
Given the defenseman’s no-movement clause and the not-exactly robust market for an offensive defenseman whose best days are behind him, this trade — and that 34 percent — should be considered both a win and a statement of intent by Grier.
Let’s be clear: Burns is still a hell of a player. At age 37, he’s certainly lost a step since his Norris Trophy-winning and Hart Trophy-contending heyday, but Carolina is still adding a rare blue line playmaker.
But Burns’ time in San Jose expired well before Wednesday.
The defenseman’s buccaneering style — more forward than defenseman (to the point where he was, for a stretch, a forward) — worked when the Sharks were loaded with talent and had the best three-man combo of defensive centers in the NHL in Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. Those guys could cover for Burns when he decided to abandon his post and push forward. The combination and understanding made the Sharks one of the best teams in the NHL.
But with Burns showing his age but still pushing ahead, and the Sharks relying more on system than skill to defend, the magic was lost.
Perhaps a change of scenery and a chance to compete for a title will energize Burns. Maybe he can create that magic with his new teammates in Carolina and win that long-sought Stanley Cup. Heaven knows the future Hockey Hall of Famer is deserving of raising it at least once.
But it’s been clear for years that the best of Burns in teal was in the rearview window.
Let’s be honest: The best for most of the Sharks’ veterans is in the past.
So this team is going to keep getting younger. It’s a necessity. And things will get worse before they get better, but the promise of the latter makes the pain of the former worthwhile.
For decades, the Sharks didn’t have to consider a rebuild. But even when they did, the previous regime refused to use the actual word.
No, the Sharks under Doug Wilson would instead “reload” or “reset.” What they really did was hold onto the past while denying the reality of the present. It took a tough situation and it made it worse.
Grier just took arguably the toughest job in the NHL — a team with no clear future upside and almost no financial flexibility to create it.
In his first few days on the job, Grier has managed to find a bit of flexibility and, in turn, perhaps create a smidgen of upside, too.
There’s still some talent remaining on this team, and they added a bit more on Wednesday when Grier signed sound, two-way winger Oskar Lindblom to a two-year, $5 million deal in the hours after the Burns trade.
Lindblom is Grier’s kind of player.
But we know Burns — as talented and professional as he is — is not.
Not at a combined cap hit of $24 million over the next three years. Not with the infrastructure around him. Not with his play over the last two seasons.
Burns won’t be the last established member of the Sharks roster to exit town in favor of a younger, more Grier-friendly replacement. But the next few moves of this size won’t be as come fast as the Burns trade. This whole process will take time. Rebuilds aren’t supposed to be easy, or fast. That’s probably why the term was avoided around these parts for so long.
But Grier has some time because he clearly has a plan, and that’s a nice change of pace in Teal Land.
And the plan — and it’s ok to say it aloud — is to rebuild. It’s already well underway.
