Two years ago, Grier inherited long-term contracts with Burns, Karlsson, Kane, Vlasic, Couture, Hertl, and Timo Meier needing a big contract. $50M (60%, or 70% if Meier signed) with no young assets aside from Eklund, Ferraro, and the 11th overall (in a draft that was 10 deep lol). In addition, with those guys the team was likely good enough to stay out of the top 5-7 and the playoffs, if they invested even a little.
He's cleared $30M of that on an annual basis, and the top prospects include Smith, Musty, Muk, Enstrom, and have 5 top 35 picks in the next two years. I think Sturm, Ferraro, and Granlund will add top 60 picks next year too.
I absolutely love Hertl and I despise Vegas, but SJ is not going to be good for a while, moving Hertl likely assures top 5 picks for the next 3+ drafts. It also increases the likelihood we finish worse than Chicago, which could be meaningful for both not counting as a move up, and getting better odds when no 1 is way more valuable than 2-4.
I am going to miss Tomas immensely, but to move him with only 17% retention and get two good assets is the right move.
Also, my parents moved to Vegas and despite being lifelong sharks fans, are happy about it. This pisses me off immensely, but rather than point out what's wrong with this to them, I'll just tell you all about it. f*** them, f*** Vegas, go Hertl, tank Sharks!