Confirmed Trade: [SJS/MIN] Calen Addison for 2026 5th round pick and Adam Raska

[xECK29x]

Weird trade, thought Addison still had some decent upside?

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Weird trade, thought Addison still had some decent upside?

He is basically a PP specialist, and he is arbitration eligible at the end of the season.

He will probably put up huge points in San Jose on the basis that they are a rebuilding team, and he might get top offensive minutes there, and be the go to defenseman on the PP. Basically what you see on expansion teams, where poorly rounded offensive players haver career years by virtue of opportunity and lack of liability when it comes to the team getting scored on.

The fact that he only went for a 5th round pick is a pretty good indication of how he is viewed league wide. I think people see the points he put up last year (mostly on the PP) as a fresh face and think that he must have been some sort of premier up and coming defender. He is more of a one-dimensional PP specialist. If he was left handed, maybe he even clears waivers.

His cap hit is 825k, but most teams probably look at it like he is a rental because he will might be in a position to get a stupid arbitration ruling based on his production. So Minnesota probably wasn't going to qualify him, and he played his way off their roster.

 

[Jee]

Why the urgency, they just started winning again /s

 

[CaptainShark]

He is basically a PP specialist, and he is arbitration eligible at the end of the season.

He will probably put up huge points in San Jose on the basis that they are a rebuilding team, and he might get top offensive minutes there, and be the go to defenseman on the PP. Basically what you see on expansion teams, where poorly rounded offensive players haver career years by virtue of opportunity and lack of liability when it comes to the team getting scored on.

Given that the Sharks score about a goal a game, the only way he will put up huge points in San Jose is after being sent down to the AHL.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Given that the Sharks score about a goal a game, the only way he will put up huge points in San Jose is after being sent down to the AHL.

He will help their PP and scoring, but the only reason he will get that opportunity is because they are an expansion tier team.

 

[MK9]

Wow, I thought Wild fans loved that kid? Just a pick back would be strange but maybe they wanted to do right and send him somewhere with more opportunity?

You thought wrong.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Grier wants to upgrade the team so he can tank while not being the absolute worst team in NHL history. This is a decent move to ensure that Kyle Burroughs isn’t quarterbacking your top PP unit, lol.

Can we offer Grier one Tyler Myers or Anthony Beauvillier?

Myers would have been wise to include the Sharks on his no-trade list so I don't think there's a deal to be had there. Unless Vancouver is for some reason willing to pay the Sharks to take on Beauvillier, I don't see a deal to be had there either. He's doing alright enough so far this season but Vancouver would either have to retain to make the cap fit or take back a contract like Lindblom or Kunin. Don't see why Vancouver would do that.

 

[biturbo19]

Yeah. Spare pocket change from a deeply tanking team is about the value of a small, defensive liability Powerplay Specialist in today's game.

If he's not a big component of your powerplay, you're probably going to get very little at all of use out of a guy like that. But there are only really 1.5 defenceman spots to make an impact on any given team's powerplay these days. So it's awfully hard on any sort of serious team to justify burning one of your 6 Defence slots on a guy who isn't going to offer you anything else outside of that. Especially when most good teams already have better all-around defencemen who can also run a powerplay pretty effectively...and need more help in the form of steady, matchup guys, PK, physicality, etc.


It's why it's so funny to me when every year, these little point producing munchkin defencemen end up being seen by a mass of people as the "steals of the draft". Everyone touts them so highly, right up until they actually finally crack the roster or age out, at which point the realization dawns that...they're low value commodities, unless they absolutely blow up and turn into a bona fide Star.

 

[biturbo19]

Myers would have been wise to include the Sharks on his no-trade list so I don't think there's a deal to be had there. Unless Vancouver is for some reason willing to pay the Sharks to take on Beauvillier, I don't see a deal to be had there either. He's doing alright enough so far this season but Vancouver would either have to retain to make the cap fit or take back a contract like Lindblom or Kunin. Don't see why Vancouver would do that.

Personally, i wouldn't actually hate something like a Beauvillier for Kunin swap. Though at that point, the cap savings are pretty minimal and you're really just picking different flavours of filler guy. I think Kunin being a bit more rugged would probably work better. Particularly pushed down the lineup, as is. But Beauvillier definitely has better offensive touch and utility if you have to ask someone to play up the lineup. So...it might just be a wash that isn't even worth doing.

 

[dirtydanglez]

Sharks giving up a pick in a rebuild situations is interesting .. but taking a chance on Addison, who is under control, is a fine gamble. Potentially they could rehab some value giving him minutes and be dealt for a greater return around the deadline

it would be difficult to get that type of value in the 5th round anyway. well worth a 5th to try.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Remember liking Addison for the Canadian WJC team. Moves the puck well, good skater. Definitely a lot to learn on the defensive side of the puck.

Exactly the kind of player a team in a rebuild should be looking for. Fringe players running out of rope with their team that have upside. You can give them some more opportunity and if they run with it awesome, if not well how badly are you going to miss a 2026 5th rounder and Adam Raska.

 

[SharksFan1]

Interesting. Don’t really understand this for either side.

The Sharks defense is garbage, and this is a young D-man with some upside to help the rebuild.

 

[biturbo19]

Remember liking Addison for the Canadian WJC team. Moves the puck well, good skater. Definitely a lot to learn on the defensive side of the puck.

Exactly the kind of player a team in a rebuild should be looking for. Fringe players running out of rope with their team that have upside. You can give them some more opportunity and if they run with it awesome, if not well how badly are you going to miss a 2026 5th rounder and Adam Raska.

Yeah. I'd nitpick the specific player in this case a little bit, but the premise in general is sound.

My qualm with how this applies to Addison, is that even if he takes some steps defensively, he's still more like the type of player that you're eventually hoping to replace with your rebuild. With someone better and more well-rounded.

There's still a smidge of upside that's worth it at that low low price i suppose. Though the bigger potential gain there, is probably just in getting someone in there who can actually quarterback a somewhat functional powerplay and maybe give those other young/developing skill players some feasible talent to work with there at least, while they're growing and trying to establish themselves in the league. That's probably worth a 5th round pick in a sea of other picks that they'll be making over the coming years.

 

[roon]

We needed him gone. Dude was scaring the kids here with the shaved head/pedo stache look.

 

[SharksFan1]

Grier saw his team give up 20 goals in two nights, back to back, and while the rest of us lowly fans thought they needed someone to help on d, he was thinking ‘we need to score at least 8 or 9 more goal a night.’

Given this is an unofficial tank season, that would actually be good. Keep losing, but make it an high scoring entertaining loss.

 

[SharksFan1]

He will help their PP and scoring, but the only reason he will get that opportunity is because they are an expansion tier team.

Be careful, you might offend Vegas and Seattle.

 

[rynryn]

okay so there it is. Wild trade for Bogosian. Our D was playing very very soft so i guess this addresses that, and Addison wasn't being used on the PP anymore so he was basically useless.

 

[Jargon]

you guys don’t understand, our defensemen literally can’t pass the puck out of their own zone. Addison can be the worst defenseman in the world but if he can skate and make a good pass under pressure, he’s going to be our #1 defenseman. The objective here isn’t to win - we’re rebuilding - it’s to ice a team that can at least be a little fun to watch and that can get out of their own zone sometimes.

 

[BagHead]

The price for Addison was certainly low, but it was low for a reason. Now, there's buying a good player low, and then there's buying a value trap. I hope for Addison and the Sharks that he is the former, but I've seen for myself that he appears to be the latter. Maybe this will be a wakeup call and he'll start working on his defensive game seriously.

I think i remember that! Though in fairness Benn has that effect--no telling where his elbows are going to land.

What? A Stars fan told me last post-season that he's a clean player because he's never been suspended. Your information, eyes, and all the video evidence must be lying to you.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

you guys don’t understand, our defensemen literally can’t pass the puck out of their own zone. Addison can be the worst defenseman in the world but if he can skate and make a good pass under pressure, he’s going to be our #1 defenseman. The objective here isn’t to win - we’re rebuilding - it’s to ice a team that can at least be a little fun to watch and that can get out of their own zone sometimes.

If you are looking for him to do that under pressure you will be disappointed, he really needs time and space to look semi-competent. Puck mover is a very loose description of his game, it’s his only skill but it only really applies in select situations.

 

[BagHead]

you guys don’t understand, our defensemen literally can’t pass the puck out of their own zone. Addison can be the worst defenseman in the world but if he can skate and make a good pass under pressure, he’s going to be our #1 defenseman. The objective here isn’t to win - we’re rebuilding - it’s to ice a team that can at least be a little fun to watch and that can get out of their own zone sometimes.

Under pressure?

*edit* Crap, Ovechkid08 beat me to it.
To add, this was last night under pressure:

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Solid move for both sides.

SJ adds a talented young player they can give an opportunity too, at minimal cost.

Minnesota (coupled with the Bogo move) add a better fit on the backend & move up in the late rounds.

And Tampa even got something for a guy who was on waivers, so good moves all around.

 

[Petes2424]

Gotta love Grier…. He makes the strangest moves sometimes. Goes in the locker room and gives it to the players after giving up 20 goals in 2 games, and followed through with his threat to make changes, by bringing in a player who may help them give up even more. How about Klingberg next??

People had a lot of hope Addison would end up maturing with experience but we just haven’t seen much ANY maturity in his game. He’s one of the new age dmen, who play the position, as if they were playing in a roller game. Many of them never do fix those holes in their game and he’s no exception. His game today, is the same exact game he played at 20, when the Wild got him in the Zucker trade. At some point you have to pull the plug on these guys. I am a little surprised they did it before he even turned 24 BUT they must just feel he has no chance of ever maturing into a dependable NHL dman.

For the Sharks, they’re gonna take a good dozen chances on some guys over the next 3-4 years and this one is a lot like Zadina. If the lightbulb ever turns on, maybe you get yourself a player. He’s gonna get lots of opportunity on that roster.

 

[Cas]

If you are looking for him to do that under pressure you will be disappointed, he really needs time and space to look semi-competent. Puck mover is a very loose description of his game, it’s his only skill but it only really applies in select situations.

He's replacing defensemen who can't move the puck when the other team is asleep, so that's still a gigantic upgrade.

Addison doesn't have to be anything special, he just has to be able to do his one thing at below NHL average levels.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Yeah. I'd nitpick the specific player in this case a little bit, but the premise in general is sound.

My qualm with how this applies to Addison, is that even if he takes some steps defensively, he's still more like the type of player that you're eventually hoping to replace with your rebuild. With someone better and more well-rounded.

Well, maybe. But as much as we'd like as fans to believe that in 2-3 years all those blueline spots are going to be filled with our top 60 draft picks who are all big and skate well and smart and 2way all around studs, that is rarely reality. The luxury of being in a rebuild is you can just try shit out. You have an abundance of NHL opportunity.

Sometimes a change of scenery can make a world of difference. Vince Dunn was just OK before breaking out last year for the Kraken. Jake Walman wasn't really much before getting to Detroit. Ryan Lindgren has turned into a great defensive top4 D for the Rangers. Gustav Forsling was a waiver pickup for Florida.

There's still a smidge of upside that's worth it at that low low price i suppose. Though the bigger potential gain there, is probably just in getting someone in there who can actually quarterback a somewhat functional powerplay and maybe give those other young/developing skill players some feasible talent to work with there at least, while they're growing and trying to establish themselves in the league. That's probably worth a 5th round pick in a sea of other picks that they'll be making over the coming years.

Yeah basically. If I was a rebuilding GM I would be taking as many of these low risk swings while the expectations are low as I could. Some of them are going to be pop up easy outs but with some good pro scouting you could hit a homerun or two and that's how you build a good team. You can't fill a roster only with top 5 picks.