Sharks’ Granlund & Sturm Can Be Team’s Next Veteran Leaders

Team leaders in the NHL certainly need to be vocal, but they should also make an impact with their play. Leading by example is crucial, and they can set the tone for the entire team for any given game or even an entire season. Granlund can do so by putting up stats, while Sturm can forge his own path of leadership through the skills that don’t show up in the box score. Together, their leadership could help guide the Sharks for many years to come.

Granlund and Sturm Have Crucial Experience

The Sharks haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, and likely won’t again for at least a couple more seasons. But when they do return, they should have some players who have a history of playoff runs and long, grinding campaigns. Sturm and Granlund both fit this category in different ways.

The 28-year-old Sturm has only been in the NHL on a full-time basis since 2020, but he has appeared in 22 playoff games and most importantly, won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. He understands the difficulty and the emotion that comes with playing for and winning a championship, which is the exact quality the Sharks should be looking for in their veterans. Given that they have one such player on their team, they would be wise to not let him go.

Granlund has yet to lift the Cup in his career, but he is 32 and has more than 10 years and 800 games of NHL service. He has also registered 32 points in 59 career playoff games. He holds the exact type of familiarity with the postseason that the Sharks could use.

Sharks playoff teams of the past included several veterans who had been through many playoff runs before. But those were often the result of longtime Sharks who had been through previous San Jose postseason appearances, and the team doesn’t have those players anymore. They’ll need to look elsewhere for playoff experience, and Sturm and Granlund should be the starting point.

Sharks Can Offer Unique Chance

Granlund and Sturm are set to become free agents in 2025, and it’s still too early to tell if they’ll be re-signed at that time, assuming they’re even on the team by that point. And of course, either player could choose to depart in order to pursue an opportunity to win more immediately.

However, the team could form a mutually beneficial relationship with the duo. The Sharks can lock down two players who would serve a variety of important roles for the franchise. At the same time, Granlund and Sturm would have a team on which they could serve as centerpieces, each in their own unique way. They might not get that opportunity on any other team in the league, and that might appeal to them.

Over the next year or so, the Sharks will be faced with a lot of decisions for the direction they want their rebuild to take. One element of that will be determining who fills the veteran roles, but they might already have their answer in Granlund and Sturm.