Winners & Losers From The Trade Deadline

The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline brought many surprises for San Jose Sharks fans as they made several trades, including:
Fabian Zetterlund to Ottawa
Jake Walman to Edmonton
Vitek Vanecek & Nico Strum to Florida
Luke Kunin to Columbus

This doesn't include Mikael Granlund & Cody Ceci going to Dallas or Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado earlier this season. With all the movement, some players are in better positions, and some are in more precarious spots than before. Who are the winners and losers of the trade deadline for the Sharks?

Winner: Fans Of Stockpiling Draft Picks

In a matter of months, Mike Grier has quickly replenished the war chest of draft picks.

Girer now has multiple premium picks over the next two seasons, including their own first-round picks, the Dallas Stars' first-round pick in 2025, and the Edmonton Oilers' first-round pick in 2026 (yes, it is top-12 protected).

The Sharks have a chance to have multiple first-round draft picks in four straight drafts, starting in the 2023 draft, when they picked Will Smith fourth overall and Quentin Musty twenty-sixth overall.

While the 2025 draft class is considered a weaker group than most, it still provides the Sharks with ammunition to add players to the best prospect pool in the NHL.

Loser: Filip Bystedt

"You got to be strong down the middle, and this kid gives us something a little bit different. Size, pace, hardness, physicality" - Mike Grier on Zack Ostapchuk

Filip Bystedt was Mike Grier's first pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Since then, most people have penciled Bystedt in as the third-line center of the future. With the arrival of Zack Ostapchuk, who was picked 12 picks later, Bystedt's future in San Jose has to be on shaky grounds.

Bystedt has had an up-and-down season in the AHL, where he has scored 9 goals and 17 assists in 43 games while playing as the team's second-line center. He has been sidelined with an injury recently, last playing on February 19th.

In the first year of his ELC, Bystedt still has plenty of upside and development to go as a 6'3" 210-pound forward. His game has improved since coming to North America and acclimating to the smaller ice surface. He shows plenty of soft skills but still needs to work on the details and hard skills that Mike Grier is searching for.

With Grier expected to be active in the offseason to add more pieces around Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, don't be surprised if Bystedt is potentially dangled with Ostapchuk now in the building.

Winner: Shakir Mukhamadullin

Heading into the season, Shakir Mukhamadullin was supposed to establish himself as an NHL defenseman. As one of the significant pieces in the Sharks' Timo Meier trade, this was supposed to be a big year for Mukhamadullin.

An offseason groin injury led to a stint on IR and the start of the year in the AHL, where he played a more defensively responsible role for the Barracuda than we had seen last season. He eventually earned a call-up, but the Sharks' significant log jam of defensemen prevented Mukhamadullin from getting an opportunity to play big minutes every night.

With Jake Walman now in Edmonton, Mukhamadullin can build momentum heading into the offseason. Mukhamadullin has shown off the defensive work that he has developed this season and has now started to add some scoring production as well.

Since the 4Nations break, he's had 6 points in 8 games and has seen his ice time increase from around 14 minutes to over 20 minutes a night in the last four games. With Walman gone, Mukhamadullin can solidify himself as an opening night starter for the 2025-26 season.

His situation could not be worse

Georgiev has not had the season that he envisioned. He's rocking a .875 save% this year with a 3.65 GAA. He was shipped from the Colorado Avalanche to the Sharks, where he has been under constant siege.

With Vitek Vanecek now in Florida, the Sharks' goalie tandem is Georgiev and Georgi Romanov. Romanov saw limited NHL action last year, coming in relief twice for Devin Cooley. With Yaroslav Askarov still rehabbing his injury, the Sharks will lean on Georgiev a lot down the stretch.

Georgiev played both games in a back-to-back earlier this week when Vaneck was held out for trade purposes. The Sharks only have two back-to-backs on the schedule (March 29/30 & April 13/14), so expect Georgiev to get the lion's share of starts.

While Grier did say Askarov should get some NHL games down the stretch, the Barracuda are in the middle of a playoff race and will need him to secure their spot for the playoffs.

Georgiev is an unrestricted free agent finishing up a three-year $10.2 million contract with some of the worst stats in the NHL, playing on the worst team in the NHL. His situation could not be worse as he looks to earn a new contract.

Winner: Fans Of Chaos

Mike Grier knows he has to start building around Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.

Don't be surprised if the Sharks package up their draft picks and a prospect to try and find a young stud player who can help the Sharks next season.

Grier traded Tomas Hertl at the deadline last season and acquired Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators in August. If a young player like Simon Nemec, Brandt Clarke, or Bowen Byram are available in a trade, expect Grier to pounce.

While having the best prospect pool is nice, the Sharks will want to see their NHL team start to instill a winning culture, with Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini, and William Eklund all still on their ELCs.