Michael Kesselring lands in San Jose, and Ryan Warsofsky just got a right-shot fix on a Sharks blue line that needed one.
The Sharks acquired Kesselring and the No. 27 pick from the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The price was the No. 20 pick in next week's draft.
That's the story right there. San Jose didn't just slide back 7 spots. It turned one draft asset into an NHL defenseman and still stayed in the first round.
Right-shot defensemen don't sit around for long, especially ones with size and real league experience. Kesselring is 26, shoots right, and stands 6-foot-5.
His year in Buffalo was light on production, with 2 points in 34 games. Still, that stat alone doesn't wipe out the player he looked like before that stop.
Over the previous 2 seasons, Kesselring put up 50 points in 147 games. For a team still trying to stabilize its blue line, that matters more than one bad year.
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San Jose finished 39-35-8 with a -41 goal differential. That tells you everything about why Mike Grier pushed on this need now instead of waiting for free agency.
San Jose paid for fit, not just upside in Kesserling
This move feels direct. Warsofsky gets another NHL body on the right side, and the Sharks get one who can step into camp with a real shot to grab minutes.
That's why the pick swap matters. San Jose didn't give up the entire first-round swing. It moved from No. 20 to No. 27 and added a player who fills a hard spot on the roster.
There's pressure on this bet, no doubt. Kesselring has to show Buffalo was the dip, not the trend, and San Jose has to turn this into nightly value instead of a depth add that stalls out.
But the logic is clean. The Sharks were not in a spot to wait and hope a right-shot defenseman fell into their lap later in the summer.
This is the type of move rebuilding teams have to make when the market lines up. San Jose kept a first-round pick, added a hot-name defenseman, and gave its coach a better chance to sort out the right side before puck drop.
Did the San Jose Sharks pay the right price for Michael Kesselring?
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