After trading Hertl, what questions face the Sharks?
It might longtime followers of the San Jose Sharks some time to get used to seeing Tomas Hertl in a Vegas Golden Knights jersey.
The white gloves, the gold sparkles on the jerseys, perhaps the reflective golden dome helmet at some point — it'll all be a bit jarring and a radical departure from the teal jersey Hertl wore for 10-plus seasons in San Jose.
One month after the Sharks traded him to the Golden Knights in a shocking deadlineday deal, Hertl made his debut for San Jose's once-fierce rival on Monday and collected an assist as Vegas lost 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks.
Hertl last played on Jan. 27 when the Sharks lost 5-2 to the Buffalo Sabres. He missed the Sharks' final two games in January with a knee ailment before representing the team at the NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.
By that time, the wheels for a trade were already in motion. San Jose would send Hertl and third-round draft picks in 2025 and 2027 to Vegas for prospect forward David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round pick. The Sharks also retained 17% of Hertl's $8.14 million annual salary.
Everybody would get involved from the Sharks standpoint — owner Hasso Plattner, team president Jonathan Becher, and Hertl himself, as he owns a full nomovement clause in his contract.
“It was tough to leave San Jose, but I couldn't say no because I'm now in my 30s,” Hertl said on March 12.
Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said last month that of the three deadline deals the team made, “this was the one that definitely took the longest in terms of the commitment of time and different areas that had to be addressed.”
A month later, here are five things to note about the trade. THE BEST DEAL? >> Sharks general manager Mike Grier was asked on March 8 whether a bigger return might have been out there if he had held onto Hertl until the offseason, when more teams might have shown interest, and the price tag for the centerman could have potentially been driven up.
Grier flatly rejected that notion.
“One, I don't think there's a better return out there than what we got,” Grier said. “Two, there were some feelers put out about it. You look at the term and the money involved, it's not an easy contract. Even with the cap going up, it's not an easy contract for teams to take on.
“We felt like this was a good time, and I think Tomas himself thought that it was a good opportunity for him.”
It's never a good idea to judge a trade right away. Sometimes deals take years to fully evaluate. From the Sharks' perspective, a lot will depend on how Edstrom develops.
If he can become a steady and productive top- six center for the Sharks in a few years, when Hertl is well into his 30s and perhaps on the decline, then the trade will look good. But top-line centers are hard to come by.
As for the draft pick, it's possible the Sharks only moved up 40 or so spots in the 2025 draft. The team expects to improve next season, but a playoff appearance is probably unlikely. If the Sharks finish sixth from the bottom, and the Golden Knights make the second round of the playoffs and are 25th in the draft order, then the Sharks would have moved up 45 spots in the draft.
But that's just speculation. It's difficult to give the trade a passing or failing grade right now. Time will tell.
As for dealing Hertl to Vegas? “That crossed my mind and was brought up in our discussions internally with our group here and the management group,” Grier said. “It definitely came up, and I tried to see if I could get a clause in there where he wasn't allowed to play against us for six years.”
ARE FUTURE DEALS HAMPERED? >>
Retaining some of Hertl's cap hit means the Sharks cannot keep another player's salary on their books in a trade before July 2025. We'll see how that complicates things at next year's trade deadline should the Sharks decide to move on from then-pending UFAs like Mikael Granlund, Jan Rutta, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Nico Sturm.
The Sharks and their potential trade partner could also involve a third team to reduce a player's cap hit. That could come in handy with someone like Granlund, whose contract carries an average annual value of $5 million. Might that also lessen the return for Granlund, who will turn 33 next February? We'll see.
LEADERSHIP VOID? >> If the Sharks trade Granlund, Rutta, and Sturm next season, might that leave a lack of leaders in the room? Certainly, the Sharks hope captain Logan Couture can return to full health, but even Couture has said he's unsure what the future might hold.