This trade CHANGES everything for the Sharks...

Chernyshov, Celebrini, Kucherov, Stenberg, Smith, and Sherwood, that would be the line if this trade goes through. And this week it stopped being a crazy idea as Nikita Kucherov requested a trade out of Tampa Bay. Then he went out in Nashville and set up all three lightning goals. He has 18 points in 13 games, the best player on the Sharks, Macklin Celebrini, has 16 in 15. Now picture those two on the same line. Celebrini has four shots a game. Kucherov has 1.08 assists a game. Those are both in the 99th percentile. That is what makes this different. So what is the cost and does it actually fit? Because the price is not what you think. It's who is on the other side of it. Let's start with why a 33-year-old superstar is even on the market. He made 130 points last year in 76 games, 44 goals, and 86 assists. Across 13 seasons, he has 892 games played and 1,142 points. That is 1.28 points a game for his career. His contract is up. He makes $9.5 million this season, and he's an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027. Tampa has been trying to get a new deal done. In September, GM Julien Brisebois said, quote, the sooner the better, obviously, and then we haven't been able to do that. Six weeks later, the star asked for a trade, and one report has Tampa listening on negotiations and trades, and his deal is up after this season. Here's how his own team reacted. Braden Point said, quote, he's my teammate, he's my friend. Right now, he's a bolt. Right now are the big key words of this whole story. Coach John Cooper called him a proud bolt, and Victor Hedman said, quote, we obviously knew about it, so it wasn't news to us, but it was a tough day. Kucherov himself declined the post-game interview. And here's the problem for us. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Lightning have no plans to say goodbye to him now. So Tampa isn't just going to have to give him away. So our price has to be real. One catch, he has a modified no trade list, which means he can block a trade to 10 teams. Nobody has reported whether San Jose is on it yet, but I doubt it isn't because they're such a good up-and-coming team. A lot of talent is going to want to come play with Celebrino. One account has Kucherov willing to consider Toronto if Tampa got a package they like. That's a second-hand rumor, so treat it like one, but it tells you San Jose would not be alone. So let's just say he's open to be trading to San Jose. What would a trade like that look like? To see why the deal makes sense, we had to see what the team has been doing with Celebrini's line. Celebrini has 16 points. That's 1.23 a game, 97th percentile in the league. He's doing his part. But the players next to him keep changing. On October 28th, Coach Ryan Worsawski took Will Smith off of Celebrini's line. Celebrini's explanation was, quote, When things aren't working, you gotta switch it up a little bit. A day later, on October 29th, Worsawski put them back together. And in an October 31st warm-up, the line was Graf Celebrini-Smith. In three days, the team's top player had his line changed twice. Shirin Neshov, who has four points and has been on injured reserve since October 28th, Graf, the winger next to Celebrini now, has three points or fewer. That's not a problem with Celebrini, that's a problem with who's passing him the puck. The Sharks have tried Smith, they tried Graff, they even tried Misa one line down, and none of those changes have been the answer. Kucherov has 1.08 assists a game, 99th percentile. He is not a tweak, he's the fix. Here's what our mock trade looks like. We send Colin Graff, Michael Misa, and a first round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov's $9.5 million on one side, Graff at $4.25 million, and Mesa at $9,886,000 on the other. Start with Graff. He is on a $4.25 million deal through the 28-29 season, and he scored 21 goals and 46 points last year. This season, he is outside the Sharks' top 12 in points with three or fewer. He is also the best penalty-killing forward. What do you lose? Graff barely gives the puck away .27 times a game in the 96th percentile. Then Misa, the second pick in the 2025 draft on a $986,250 contract for two seasons and he has seven points. And he is a shooter, 17.6% on his shots, which is 81st percentile in the league. And remember as of October 31st's warm-up, those two were in the top six. Graf on Celebrini's line and Misa on the second. So this is not a trade of spare parts. You're trading two top six players And about Misa, he was the second pick in the 2025 draft, and he is cheap for two more seasons before he is a restricted free agent. Trading a second overall pick away is the type of trade that will get you judged for probably the next 10 years, but this is why it's not an easy yes to go out and get Kutrop. This is the kind of value we're going to have to trade away for. Then the pick. The Sharks have their own firsts in 2027, 28, 29, and 2030. The nearest one is the one Tampa would want. Here is why the pick matters. Tampa's own 2027 first is already with Seattle, so a first from San Jose gives them one back. So that's the price. Now, does it even fit? We would be over a little bit of the cap right now. Per SportTrack, the Sharks have $2.5 million $100 million in cap space. Kucherov comes in at $9.5 million, Graf Misa go out at about $5.2 million, that is $4.3 million more on the books. It's like a fridge that can only fit one more thing, and you're trying to fit the whole shop in there, something needs to come out. So the Sharks have to send out about $1.7 million more, somebody on a small deal, that's the part of the trade nobody puts in this mock. Tampa has the opposite problem, they would be left with about $7 million in room. And look at what they'd be losing, Kucherov leads Tampa with 18 points, their next best are Hagel with 16 and Gensel with 14. Take him out and the Lightning's offense has no one close to a point and a half game player. And that room is why the deal works for them because they'd be getting two younger players to make their team younger and also have pick to go out and either flip for somebody else or just to use in this year's draft. And if you're liking this Sharks trade talk and this breakdown, go down below. Hit that subscribe button. Okay, so let's just say the Sharks clear the money, because that would be easy to do, and when Chernyshov comes back healthy, this is what the lineup looks like. Top line, Chernyshov, Celebrity, Kucherov. When Chernyshov is healthy, he has been on the injured reserve since October 28th. Celebrity scores 1.23 points a game, that's in the 97th percentile in the league. Kucherov scores 1.39 points a game, 99th percentile, and his assists, 1.08 a game, are in the 99th percentile as well. Here's what it looks like on a box. 18 points in 13 games, 1.39 a game. Celebrity shoots four times a game, 99th percentile. Now give him the best passer in the league. Then you would have a top 1% passer with a top 1% shooter. Then the second line, Stenberg, Smith, Sherwood. Smith has 10 points and scores .40 goals a game, which is 9-91st percentile. Stenberg has 9 points. Sherwood has 8 and throws 5.4 hits a game, which is the 100th percentile. Stenberg also gets 0.47 power play points a game, 95th percentile. Before this trade, you have two lines who can barely score. Now you have two lines that are dominant. And think about Sherwood. He is on a $5.7 million deal through 2030-31 with a no trade clause. He has eight points and throws 5.4 hits a game. On this line, he doesn't have to carry anyone. And the same kind of comes from Will Smith here. Obviously, he's a guy who gets point-for-all goals a game on a $950,000 deal. So Smith is a guy who I really like on this line because he can stop being the helper and start being the provider and really driving this line. And I think he'd look great back in his natural position at the center. But it could be a rental deal because Kucherov's, obviously, contract ends at the end of the season, so you'd like to have an extension in place. And the Sharks have bills coming. Will Smith is on a $950,000 contract with one year left, and then he's a restricted free agent. Mike Greer, the GM, said Smith is, quote, definitely someone we'd like to lock up long-term. But here's why the rental would look less scary, because his $9.5 million would come off the books in July, but if we're trading out Misa and guys like this, we'd want to have an extension in place. The Sharks already have $83.7 million committed for $27.28 per sport track. Take Graf Mies off that, that is $78.5 million. The Cap has reported the rise to $113.5 million. That leaves about $35 million of room. That's enough to pay Smith and Kucherov. There's one more risk, and it's funny. Kucherov gives the puck away 1.92 times a game, which is in the first percentile, and celebrating 2.15, which is the lowest in the league. Two guys who try everything, that could be a huge problem, or it could be really good, and I think I like the latter. So does it change everything? Yes, for sure. The Sharks turn into a team that people hate playing because they're so dominant offensively. But it does cost you a lot. It costs you two top six forwards and a pick, but for a guy like Kucherov, you can't pass up. So here's the checklist. Step one, he has to be willing to come to San Jose. Step two, the cap has to work. And step three, the price has to be right. And the San Jose Sharks need to match all three. So pass or wait to do it? For me, I'm doing it right away. I think this is an amazing trade that really revamps our offense, and I think we would get into the playoffs and even have a decent run with Kucherov on our team. And obviously, I'm not doing it if it's going to be a rental, but if we can get an extension in place before trading, let's do it. I'm all for it. So would you do it? Let me know down below in the comments section. If you do this trade, I'd love to hear from you guys. And that's been another episode of Sharks Dodge. If you enjoyed it, go down to the comments section, hit the like button. And as always, I'm your host, Casey. Keep your stick on the ice.