SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks and general manager Mike Grier put a price tag on arguably their two most valuable trade assets in center Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci — and found a buyer in the Dallas Stars.
A full five weeks before the March 7 trade deadline, the Sharks sent pending unrestricted free agents Granlund and Ceci to the Stars on Saturday for Dallas’ 2025 first-round selection and a conditional 2025 third-round pick.
San Jose will receive Dallas’ 2025 third-round selection if Dallas advances to this year’s Stanley Cup Final. If Dallas does not reach the Cup Final, the Sharks will instead receive a 2025 fourth-round selection, originally owned by the Winnipeg Jets.
“We set our price out, and Dallas was ready to meet it,” Grier said Saturday. “So that’s really the main reason why we did it.”
Granlund, 32, was the Sharks’ leading scorer this season, and Ceci, 31, was used on San Jose’s top defense pair since the start of training camp. Both players were open to staying in San Jose past this season, but Grier said the rebuilding Sharks, who entered Saturday in last place in the NHL’s overall standings, still need to collect assets and focus on the future.
The Sharks right now have eight picks for this year’s draft, including what is on track to be three selections in the top 33 or 34.
Grier said the trade will “sting short term. Long term, it should be beneficial for the organization.”
Granlund, the Sharks’ No. 1 center used in all situations, led the team this season with 45 points in 52 games and all of the team’s forwards in average time on ice (20:51). Ceci was second among all Sharks skaters in average ice time (21:46) and led the team in penalty killing minutes and blocked shots (100).
Grier fielded several inquiries from other teams about Granlund and Ceci. With Granlund, Grier said that at one point, “11 or 12 teams had shown significant interest.”
Feeling they were getting what they wanted, Grier and the Sharks pulled the trigger on the deal, perhaps a bit earlier than originally planned, as the trade market around the NHL has heated up in recent days.
“You never know what the market is,” Grier said. “You set the price that you think (a player is) worth, and if someone’s willing to step up early and do it, then sometimes you’ve got to do things earlier than you wanted to.
“If someone’s willing to meet the price you have, then the longer you hold onto them, there’s always a little bit of extra risk of injury or the teams that are interested in moving on and going to another target. It’s always kind of the dance you have to play.”
Since being acquired by the Sharks in August 2023 as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh, Granlund has been San Jose’s leading scorer with 105 points in 121 games, with William Eklund in second with 82 points.
Granlund was also valuable to the Sharks off the ice, helping young forwards like Eklund, Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith become better NHL players.
“He practiced hard, played hard all the time, and tried to share his knowledge of the game,” Grier said of Granlund. “Hopefully (the younger players) learned from him, and they can kind of keep building on some of the lessons and things that (Granlund) shared with them.”
Ceci, a right-shot defenseman listed at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, figured to be a valuable trade commodity since the day he and a 2025 third-round pick were acquired from the Edmonton Oilers last August for defenseman Ty Emberson.
Ceci was second among all Sharks skaters in average ice time (21:46) and led the team in penalty-killing minutes and blocked shots (100). Ceci has also played in 88 playoff games in his 12-year NHL career, including 24 postseason games last year with the Oilers on their way to the Cup Final.
By going from the Sharks (15-33-6) to the Stars, Granlund and Ceci are going from a team in last place in the NHL’s overall standings to one that entered Saturday in second place in the Central Division with a 33-17-1 record.
Both players will return to San Jose soon. The Stars play the Sharks at SAP Center next Saturday.
“We see both players addressing immediate needs for our team. Mikael is a proven scorer who will bolster our forward group at both even strength and power play, and Cody will add a stabilizing and physical presence to our blueline,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Ceci said he would love to stay in San Jose, “but there’s also a business side of things where they have to move pieces around and think about the future, so I get that part as well.”
Still, Ceci said, “The playoffs are awesome. I mean, it’s just a whole different animal. So much more weight to all the games. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”
With this deal now complete, Grier has traded the Sharks’ top forward, Granlund, their leading defensive defenseman, Ceci, and their No. 1 goalie, Mackenzie Blackwood, in less than two months. The Sharks dealt Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche in early December.
The trade left the banged-up Sharks with 12 forwards, six defensemen, and three goalies on their active roster. However, winger Nikolai Kovalenko has an upper-body injury and is not expected to be available to play again until after the completion of the 4 Nations Face-Off in late February.
With three home games next week before the break, starting with Tuesday’s date against the Montreal Canadiens, Grier said the Sharks will be recalling players from the Barracuda to help fill out their roster. While younger players might be in the mix for a promotion, veterans will also be considered.
Several injured Sharks players are expected to be available to play again after the 4 Nations Face-Off, including Kovalenko, Nico Sturm, and Jan Rutta. Sturm and Rutta are also pending UFAs, as are forward Luke Kunin and goalies Alexandar Georgiev.
“It’ll be up to the leadership group that is still here to continue to lead the group and do things the right way,” Grier said. “Play hard, practice hard, and kind of carry forward that way.”
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02/02/2025 at 2:21 AM
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