Mike Grier opened training camp by speaking on a wide range of topics.
Grier spoke on his message to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, the captaincy question, keeping Will Smith at wing instead of center, eliminating the possibility of full-time AHL for Sam Dickinson this year, Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s displeasure with getting bought out, the Carey Price trade, Ryane Clowe’s departure, pending UFA Mario Ferraro, a younger San Jose Barracuda squad, and trying to add Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture to team staff.
Grier says Celebrini was sent home early, not feeling well, that’s why he’s not doing media today. Emphasized it’s not an injury.
“He just was kind of not feeling great when he came off the ice [so we] sent him home, get some rest, and we’ll evaluate him in the morning.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 18, 2025
Mike Grier, on his expectations for Celebrini this year:
Like everyone, you just want to see some growth and strides in his game in the areas that he needs to improve on and the coaches have asked him to improve. You just want to see him grow and continue to develop and build his game and continue to get more and more confident in himself and in playing in the league.
Grier, on whether he thinks Celebrini can make Team Canada:
I think he’s got a shot. It’s a talented country and a talented roster, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Special players like him often find their way onto teams like that.
Grier, on whether Celebrini could learn from an experience like that:
He’s a sponge. Like I said, he always wants to get better and see what he can do more and pick guys’ brains. I saw it talking to him after Worlds—I think he just loved being around Sid and Nate and those guys and seeing their routines and what they do, how they attack certain situations and things like that. He went skating with them as well. He’s just a sponge, he’s learned a lot from those guys. I think he enjoys being around them and seeing their habits and mindset and the things they do on a daily basis to prepare themselves. It’s been great for him. I’m sure he talked to a bunch of guys at their orientation camp, but it’s nothing new for him. He’s been picking Steph and Draymond’s brains for 4 years, so I think that’s just kind of how he’s wired–always trying to get better.
Grier, on his message to the group yesterday:
For the most part, from our standpoint, it’s just to try and take a step forward as a group and start earning everything—earning respect around the league, from other teams and players and coaches and officials and fan bases and all that stuff. Then for the group themselves, to the things they want to accomplish individually—whether that’s being in the NHL or being on the power play or the penalty kill—go out there and earn it. There’s a lot of bodies here, there’s good players here, there’s a mix of young guys and veterans. We had some internal competition last year, but I think it’s way more of a factor this year with the talent and the group we have here for the amount of internal competition we have. If they want to be here and want certain roles, they’re gonna have to go out there and earn it.
Grier, on whether he would make room for younger players like Sam Dickinson or Quentin Musty to join the roster:
There would be no hesitation on our part. If those are the best players and the most deserving players to be there and we think they can help us win games and they’re reading to learn and develop and play at the NHL level, that’s the opportunity we’ll give them. We’ll figure out the rest, whether that’s some of the options you mentioned. We’ll figure it out if those guys show they’re ready and deserve to be up.
Grier, on the training camp slogan of “Earn It”:
I think that’s how it should be in the NHL or NBA or NHL. It should be that when you come to training camp, you have to earn your spot. Here, it’s gotten a little bit better every year. From the first year to now, guys that kind of defaulted to playing time over the last few years, but last year was better. There was more competition last year, and this year has even more. That’s the goal, I think, to keep building it where you have options and you have people where you know to play and get into the lineup is very difficult. Florida is obviously the standard right now. They had a player like Sturmy who was here. We all know how he was a competitive role player and a solid player in this league and Mackie Samoskevich—those guys could not get in the lineup. Those guys are legit, real NHL players, and they couldn’t get in the lineup there. That’s the goal, to have a group in that locker room that every day has to push each other and really earn their ice time and earn their spots. We have a long way to go to get there, obviously, but that’s the goal.
Grier, on establishing new leadership within the team this season:
I think Warso and I are still working through the leadership group. There’s a lot of new faces here as well, so I want to see how some of these guys work, how they interact with their teammates and things like that. I don’t really have anything new to add beyond that for the captaincy, but I think we got some good vets who’ve won a lot of hockey games, won some Stanley Cups, been on winning teams. We just want to kind of see how it all mixes and matches and meshes together.
Grier, on keeping the captain’s spot vacant:
I mean, if that’s the case, if we feel like it—it’s not something I want to rush or push. We want to make sure when we make that decision to hand off the captaincy to someone else, it’s something that we’re 100% behind. It’s hopefully something that lasts for a long time.
Grier, on Smith shifting back to wing for this season:
Smitty and I talked throughout the off season. We could put him in the middle tomorrow, he can play center in his sleep, right? He’s played it, he’s been in the middle since he’s 6 years old. We just kind of thought that to continue to give us the option of him being a winger, to keep learning. I think he kind of took off the second half of the year, he got a little bit more and more comfortable in the wing. I thought we would just keep them there and keep growing that tool for him. It’s been done in the past where that’s Patty or Pav or Hertl, where you always know they can go back in the middle, but to keep growing his game on the wing—last year was the first time he’s ever played wing, and we threw him into it in the NHL on top of it. To give him some more reps there—obviously he did well—it just gives us some options there. Him and Mack obviously have really good chemistry together, it gives us some options there, and gives us some options in the middle.
Grier, on potentially moving contracts to keep Misa and Dickinson with the San Jose Sharks for the season:
I think that’s a kind of a bridge we’ll cross when we get there. We’ll have to move a contract at some point, if both those guys are ready.
Grier, on CHL players shifting to the AHL early:
I think that whole thing with the CHL and everything is still being worked through, but it’s not an option for this year.
To be honest, I think that was kind of the media throwing it out that once they saw some of the other changes that might happen, I don’t think it was ever really seriously discussed for this year.
Grier, on how it would have been beneficial for Sam Dickinson:
You get kind of the rare instance of these guys who’ve almost accomplished everything they can accomplish at the junior level, so giving them the next challenge to playing against men would obviously be beneficial. We’ll see where Sam’s camp takes him.
Grier, on Vlasic:
He’s a proud guy and proud player, so I kind of get it—it probably stings a little bit. I got nothing but respect for Pickles. I enjoyed playing with him. He’s obviously a great representative of the organization and everything. If he feels slighted or misled, that wasn’t ever my intention or our intention. From my standpoint, I’m fine with how I handled our exit meeting. I was pretty upfront with them about where things were for my end. Now, if you talk to someone else, I don’t know, but for my end, I feel fine about how we handled it. We gave them a little heads up once we decided that we were going to go down that path. I had a really good conversation with him and his agent, and kind of explained everything and the reasons why we decided to go that route. I understand, you’ve been so successful in this league for a long time, and been within one organization and had a great run and been a great player here that it probably stings a little bit, and I get it, but at the end of the day, my job is to do what’s best for the organization. That’s the decision we made. I wish him all the best in his career and his life after hockey. At some point, I’m sure we’d like to get him back here to celebrate him.
I don’t want to get into a “he said, she said” type situation. I’ll just say, like I said, I’m very happy and fine with how I ended the meeting with him. I thought it was pretty clear about the possibilities of things. If he mistook some words from myself for the coaches, that was never our intention—to not be upfront with him—and to his point, we did appreciate the time and the effort he spent to try and mentor some of our young guys. We’re very appreciative of that, and in the attitude he had throughout the last couple years. Even when he’s battled injuries the last two years, he put the work in and everything. We appreciate his attitude. We didn’t have any issues or anything like that. It was just a decision I had to make what I thought was best for the organization, especially after watching Sam tear through the Memorial Cup playoffs and the OHL playoffs. We had to have a discussion here and see which path we wanted to go down. Unfortunately, that’s the decision we made, but we felt like it was best for the organization.
Grier, on Mario Ferraro’s extension:
I mean, for the most part, it’s just kind of keeping the options open. Mario is someone I got a ton of respect for. He’s almost willed himself into being a really good NHL player. Guy works his tail off in great condition all the time. I have a ton of respect for him, how he plays the game, and how he carries himself. From our standpoint, it’s really just keeping options open. It’s nothing against him or anything like that. For the last few years, there’s been a lot of interest in him throughout the league, so I get to see how the season goes, really, and see where it takes us and and see how he plays, and all that stuff. It’s kind of fluid. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll keep in touch with him, and keep in touch with his agent, and see how things go from there.
Grier, on if what he said about Ferraro applies to his other UFAs like Alex Wennberg:
I guess, yeah. I mean, I don’t want to keep tearing the roster down year after year. Some of these guys, if they play well, they like it here, and they’re a good fit with our group, I’m definitely open to bringing some of those guys back and extending them. At the same time, you just never know what’s going to come your way—if guys play well and other teams call, whether it’s something like Wally or anything like that, when stuff comes up, where we are right now, you just have to listen. So just kind of keeping options open.
Grier, on anything that has stuck out to him on day one of training camp:
No, I just really liked the pace and the compete and the physicality, actually, of the practice today. I think guys went out there for the first day of camp. I think they really got after it, and were physical in their intensity and the compete level was high. I was really happy with that. I think the group got the message, and I think they’re all excited out there. I was really, really pleased with the tempo and the pace and the intensity of all three sessions.
Grier, on what makes this group different from past camps:
I think it’s a pretty good mix of the young exuberance of Mack and Will and Sam and some of these other young guys—they’re so excited to be out there and be in an NHL camp and try to make the team and show what they can do. Nice(?) is out there picking everyone’s brain and Ekky, he’s still a young guy. You could see him, he was buzzing today, and he’s excited. Then we have the mix of guys who have won Stanley Cups and had long playoff runs—Orlov, Toff, Reavo, some of these guys have been on long playoff runs and been on really good teams. It’s a good mix of guys, and I think everyone seems to be happy to be here. I guess that would maybe be the main thing. I think from my first year to even last year, I think there’s always been guys who have kind of been—not looking for the door, but maybe looking for greener pastures a little bit. This is probably the first year where I don’t feel like that. I feel like guys are wanting to be here, excited to be here, wanting to be part of this. I think they see some of what could possibly be going on with some of the talent of the young guys, and I think it makes people excited. I would say that’s the main difference. I don’t think anyone here is feeling sorry for themselves or trying to go to a better team or something like that. I think everyone here is 100% bought in and happy to be here. That’s a credit to Warso and how he’s started to build the culture down there.
Grier, on Ryan Clowe’s departure and a potential plan to replace him:
I mean, it was sudden for you guys, but Clowey and I had been talking probably going back to March, how it was a difficult family situation. While you guys probably felt it was sprung on you, that was something that we had been talking about for a while. Once we got in and got through dev camp, and he had a chance to really talk to his family again, it was just a situation that was hard. You have to do what’s best for your family and your kids and stuff like that. Unfortunately, it was great having him here, but it’s just one of those situations in life where the timing didn’t work out for him. We wish him the best, and I think he’s excited to be back home with his kids, and when he does have to go to New York, it’s a 2.5-hour flight, not a 6.5-hour flight, right? We’ll miss him, but I wish him the best. You guys probably seemed sudden, but it was something that had been going on for a few months. As far as this year, I don’t think we’ll replace him or his role. I think I’ll give some more responsibility to other guys and other people that are here, and let them grow a little bit and learn a little bit, and then we’ll see if we fill the role or not.
Grier, on the Carey Price acquisition:
I mean, everyone’s got a little bit more cap space. That’s really the main thing with the flat cap, everyone was just squeezed up against it. To take a cap hit like that, there would obviously be a pretty high price to do it. For us, it kind of gave us some cushion for other things down the road, maybe, if we had to make some moves. Also that, at the end of the day, the cap is a cap.
You never know how the season is going to go, but if things happen, then you’re not in a situation where you feel like, get to take a bad contract to do something you want, or something like that. It gives us a little bit of cushion, but the main reason is the cap going up. Everyone’s got a little bit, little bit more flexibility.
Grier, on if there’s a plan for Carey Price to be involved with the San Jose Sharks at all:
I don’t think he’ll be around much. I had never talked to him before, I had a really nice conversation with him for, you know, 10-15 minutes, nice guy. I think for him, he’s still enjoying life with his family and being able to do some things he couldn’t do when he was playing. I know he left here and went on a trip with his family and stuff like that, so I think that’s kind of the priority for him, to kind of enjoy his post hockey life.
Grier, on what a successful season for the Sharks looks like:
Just improving. Last year was probably a baby step, but I just want to see us improve in our habits, our details, and how we want to play the game. Whether that shows up in points or not, I don’t know, but I want to see our players here, who have been here, improve on the things we asked to improve on—young guys, older guys, whatever it may be. It might be something as small as coming in in better shape. I just want to see improvement in all the areas we asked these guys to improve on. Then, you know, hopefully our group can take another step and mature a little bit. They went through some tough losses last year, so hopefully that’s something our group learned from, and we can turn some of those losses into wins. Things like that, improving in the areas that we struggled in. Hopefully, we can keep the puck out of the net and be a more consistent team from night to night. So not necessarily things that may show up in the standings, but different from last year, where I thought we were a better team and we improved, but the record didn’t show it. Hopefully we can do the same, win some more games and clean up some areas and show that we learned from some of the mistakes and not handling situations the right way last year.
Grier, on the importance of the No. 1 pick and Gavin McKenna:
No, not really. I mean, he’s a heck of a player, and there’s a lot of good players in this draft class, but it’s not the goal to go to get him or anyone. I told the group last night, I’m thrilled to have Mack and Will and Misa, but we don’t need to pick the top five, I’m okay with that. It’s time to hopefully take a little bit of a step and win a few more games and start kind of pushing our way up the standings.
Grier, on a younger-looking San Jose Barracuda team this year:
Yeah, I think it’ll be a good part of the development, just to give them opportunities. They obviously have to earn it—if they’re not playing well, they’re not doing the thing, we’re not just going to hand them over ice time and power play time, but I think we tried to make a conscious effort not to block them and to give them an opportunity. Pots was a heck of an American League player, so hopefully we can replace some of the scoring by the aggregate. I think we got a lot of really good players—maybe not the MVP caliber player down there, but the door is open for those young guys to grab some opportunity and responsibility. Especially when you’re an offensive guy, how you deal with that opportunity, I think, can really help grow your game, because there’s going to be times when you’re not scoring and you’re struggling, and how are you going to handle that? At the same time, when your team needs a goal, how do you handle that? Can you be the guy that produces that? When and when that happens, I think it really grows and builds confidence. It’s a good opportunity for a lot of those guys. Even the Wahlstroms and [names] of the world have kind of looked for second chances. Those guys have been good offensive players before in the past, so I think we have some offense down there. We’ll see how it shakes out. It’s not an easy league for young guys either, which I think people kind of forget. Even going back to the 19 year old rule, I think there’s only so many 19 year olds that can handle the American League. It’s a tough, tough league of grown men. We’ll see how they do, but we’re excited to watch those guys that are down there and see how they develop.
Grier, on the renovations to the facilities for the San Jose Sharks potentially making the team more attractive for free agents:
Yeah, for sure. We’re fortunate that Hasso is a great owner and willing to pump his money in here to the practice facility and SAP. Jonathan’s been nothing but supportive and trying to help us get caught up a little bit and have this facility be what this organization is about and what the players here need and deserve. This has been 2 years in the making—the practice facility—and I think it turned out great. Even the interview process before I got the job, that was something I talked about, and Hasso and Jonathan were on board about trying to do everything first-class: facilities, how we treat people, everything. I got to give a lot of credit, like I said, to Hasso and Jonathan for providing us with money and the opportunity to do this here. Richard, at the building, put up a ton of work and time and effort to make sure it was ready for the start of camp. It’s a great first step for the players. I think if you talk to them, the players are excited. They got everything they needed here. It just so happens that it hopefully will dovetail with the team getting better—having this facility, and then, two or three years down the road, whatever that may be, redoing SAP and the locker room and everything there as the team grows and becomes what we want it to be. We’ll have a first-class and first-rate locker room on game days, and guys can come here and hang out in a pretty cool practice facility as well.
Hopefully if we become what we hope and think we can become, guys are going to want to come play here. It’s a great place to play. We have a great fan base. The weather is great now. You got new practice facilities, a great coach to play for, great young talent here. Like I said, if we do what we think we’re going to do here, and become what we think, we’ll all be fine. I think people want to play here, even without the benefits of Florida.
Grier, on the Trade Deadline changing this year because of the elimination of double retention:
Yeah, I would. It never goes how you think it’s going to go, the deadline and stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s teams trying to jump to the front of the line to get players and make moves early. It only makes sense. Like I said, everyone’s got cap room to get the players they want without the double retention and all that stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of early activity—whether it’s us, Chicago, Anaheim, right? Everyone’s trying to kind of crawl their way out of the rebuild and not looking to necessarily punt on seasons early or anything like that, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
We’ll see where we are, how the season’s going, and try and kind of evaluate and see if that’s something that makes us better in the long term without hurting us too much in the short term.
Grier, on why it was key to make Joe Thornton’s job official:
I just think it was, he’s a Shark, you know? He was putting a ton of time in with our group, anyway, on the ice all the time. I just thought it would be nice, but also something that he’s earned and it’s important for him to make sure everyone knows he’s a San Jose Shark.
Grier, on adding Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture next to the coaching or management staff:
Those guys, I’ve talked to them both and told them they’re welcome anytime to come and watch practice or sit at meetings or and hang out anytime. I think they’re both at the stage where they’re enjoying life. Cooch has got two young kids and is trying to just be pain-free and enjoy himself. I’m sure he’ll be around here at some point and we’ll talk shop. Pavs is fishing and hunting, winning golf tournaments, so I don’t think he’s in a quite the rush to get into the daily grind of coaching or management or anything like that. When he does, hopefully we’ll be his first call.
Watch the full interview here. Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for transcribing.
