- Daily Faceoff has the Sharks as the Western Conference’s biggest offseason winner
- Utah lands second after adding Vincent Trocheck, Anders Lee and Sebastian Cossa
- Read below for where the Blues and Predators landed on the list
San Jose had the best summer in the Western Conference.
That is the verdict from Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, who closed out his offseason winners series Wednesday by putting Mike Grier’s Sharks at No. 1 in the West, ahead of Utah and St. Louis. He handed the Eastern Conference title to Washington a week earlier.
Grier paid up to get there. Jacob Trouba signed a deal most of the industry called an overpay, and San Jose took on Darnell Nurse at full value from Edmonton. Di Marco’s read is that a shallow blue line market left Grier no cheap way to fix a group that badly needed help.
Mason Marchment gives a very young forward group some size, and second overall pick Ivar Stenberg pushes what Di Marco calls the deepest set of wingers in the Pacific Division. Macklin Celebrini sits on top of all of it after a 115-point sophomore season.
Goaltending is the hole. Di Marco noted that Yaroslav Askarov finished in the bottom 10 in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes among goalies who played at least 10 games last season.
Utah slots in second. Bill Armstrong added Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee up front, cut bait on JJ Peterka, and pulled Sebastian Cossa out of Detroit for a first-round pick to take some of the load off Karel Vejmelka.
St. Louis takes third on two trades. New general manager Alex Steen moved Jordan Kyrou to Washington for Connor McMichael, the 16th overall pick and a prospect, then sent two first-rounders to Anaheim for Mason McTavish.
McTavish walks into the second-line center job behind Robert Thomas, a spot that sat open once Kyrou settled in as a winger. Brandon Carlo is the only new face on the back end.
Nashville got the honorable mention, and the work was mostly done off the ice. Chris MacFarland came over from Colorado to run hockey operations, Rob Blake joined as an executive vice president, and Barry Trotz slid into an advisory role. Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Mavrik Bourque followed as roster additions.
The Sharks have not been to the playoffs since 2019. Di Marco’s list says the roster is finally built to end that, provided Askarov holds up his end.
