Quantity can't replace quality when trading for top players.

You need to include 1st round picks and top prospects to get a deal like this done, especially because you're asking for 7 years of retention.

7 years of retention and not only that Hertl as well just as a player for that return is awful for sharks. I’m not even sure the cost of Hertl but i’m assuming probably 1st+2nd+young player+prospect, and forget the retention it won’t happen.

Hertl’s contract is terrible. It’s time for the Sharks to move on from these deals.

They liked Beryl's contract when he signed it and the sentiment hasn't changed

Who?

A pile of literal turds for a top line center. Moronic posting. Though, not surprisingly a leafs fan made this, I could not expect anything less.

Not saying the Sharks do the trade, but is seven years of Hertl starting at almost 30- years of age just doesn't seem to age well even with retention.

Compare this to the Meier deal. Both team exchanged multiple players and the Sharks ate half of Meier's last year. Meier is three years younger and is an RFA when his contract is up.

The best prospect in the Meier deal was Mukhamadullin, who was 20th overall. Agreed, early returns look very good on him.

Zetterlund, after two years in the AHL had played 80 games and had 38 points (.475 PPG). Abruzzese has only played one year and in that time has 48 points in 69 games (.695 PPG). He was also point a game at 2022 Olympics. Zetterlund's AHL career spans 128 games over three years in which time he has amassed 90 points (.703 PPG). SDA has played 107 games over that same span of time and has totaled 76 (.710 PPG). They are all the same age but the last two have no been afforded the same opportunities as pros because the Leafs are a much deeper team up front than New Jersey.

Okhotiuk is 6'1" 195. In 111 AHL games he has 24 points. Kral is 6'2" 198. In 92 AHL Games he has 29 points. I watched the Utica/Toronto series this year (I have the AHL package). Okhotiuk's most noticeable moments happened after the whistle. That's not saying much. Kral, were it not for the fact that this version of the team has signed Graves, would be the Leafs third pairing LHD next season.

Next time you are tempted to make a snap judgement on prospect value, don't.

Hertl* nice autocorrect

What are you talking about? Zetterlund and Okhotiuk were like the 4th and 5th most important pieces in that deal.

You included nothing close to Mukhamadullin or a 1st round pick in value.

The retention in the Meier trade and in this one aren't really comparable, because the Meier one goes away Jul 1. Tying up our retention slot for seven years would not only be inadvisable, it would be totally unprecedented in the league (as far as I know). That alone would generate significant value in this trade.

Voit, Der-Arguchintsev and Abruzzese are nice prospects, but they are on the small side which doesn't seem to be what Grier is looking for in players. Not saying its a deal breaker, but we have a lot of smaller forwards in the system already. And as for potential, I just don't think Abruzzese or Der-Arguchintsev stand out much amongst Peterson, Lund, Guschin, Cardwell, Robbins or Coe. At least not enough to move the needle much in a trade.

Kral plays LD which is our deepest position right now. As you pointed out we just acquired Mukh and Okhotiuk and we also picked up Thrun as well. Add to that Ferraro, Knyzhov, Simek and Knaizev who are already with the org and you can see why Kral isn't really going to be on SJ's radar.

SJ need draft capital, RD and young high end talent (who doesn't right??), but that's why most EK65 trades on here include Timmins, Villeneuve, Liljegren, Minten or Robertson and a collection of picks.

I think San Jose is very happy to keep Hertl. He's a fantastic player, he's loved by the fans and in the locker room and his game will age well. Having our 1C/2C be some combination of Hertl and whoever we might pick at 4 this year isn't a terrible future for the Sharks. Yes, his contract will be very bad down the road, but it will also get better every year as the cap goes up and SJ's other bad contracts fall off. SJ will only trade Hertl this summer if its for a big big return and it won't be with retention.

Hate autocerroct.

You raise a decent point about the depth of LHD in the Shark pipeline and Kral. How many of them, beyond say Muk, would challenge for a roster spot in the fall? Okhotiuk would be behind Kral in the pipeline based on what I've seen. What about the others? Knyzaev looks to me to be the very type you move on from, a mid 20's placeholder. Simek is the same only five years older. Ferraro has the most promise but in four seasons he has yet to put up 20 points in one of them. Knaizev might be something but he is undersized and you just got done saying Grier didn't want that. Kral is 6'2" 195 so he is 3 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. Thrun is also maybe a player, but even if he is Kral is arguably 2nd or 3rd on that list based on what the others have done to date behind Ferarro and likely one of the last two.

SDA is 5'10" 173
Abruzzese is 5'11 183

Both have frames to put on more weight, likely anywhere between another 6 to 12 pounds

Guschin is 5'8" 163 My feeling is he'll struggle to get up to 175 because of his frame. His point totals are similar to the two Toronto forwards above.
Robins is 5'10" 173 He meassures up physically but not in production to the above two wingers.
Coe is 6'5" 203 Far larger, far less productive.
Peterson is 6'1" 180 This one I'll give you.
Cardwell is 5'11" 196 Had his blow it up season as a 20 year old in the OHL. Voit comfortably outpaced him this year as a 19 year old in the same loop.
Lund is 6'2" 185 He's 18 and years away.

Based on this I'd put Abruzzese and SDA behind Peterson only in that list.

I'm not saying the prospects you list from Toronto are *not* good. They are. But so are the ones in this package. And those are the ones that will be available. Even then, with Abruzzese and Kral, it will be like pulling teeth.

NHL ready next year is almost completely irrelevant for the Sharks and where we're at in our timeline. I'm not arguing that the players you've mentioned are bad players, but none of them are significantly better than what the Sharks already have, and none of them shore up organizational weaknesses.
Even if you make the argument they are closer to NHL ready, they just don't meet immediate needs for the teams future. Is there a scenario where the Sharks would be interested in them? Sure, but not for Hertl and likely not in a big package like this. If this is what's available from TOR I think the Sharks just say no thanks any look elsewhere.

Hertl is not Meier. It's that simple. He is not going to get you the Meier package.

Given that, there is even less reason to hold onto Hertl then isn't there?