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After the Sharks completed a trade to bring him to San Jose from the Vancouver Canucks, newly acquired forward Kiefer Sherwood had a message for general manager Mike Grier.
“I even told [Grier], ‘persistence pays off,’” Sherwood told NBC Sports California’s Alan Hoshida. “I know they were interested way back when. The interest is interest; I don’t really put too much into it.
“But when something happens, then you can get excited. Once I found out, I was really excited. I was counting down the date until I could get out there with the group and kind of get to work with them.”
The rumor mill picked up once it was clear the Canucks’ season was going nowhere. Vancouver has been at the bottom of the standings for much of the year, and Sherwood started to hear his name being connected to the Sharks.
Even amidst the whispers, the move took Sherwood by surprise.
“I was skating in Vancouver, and not even fully undressed and pulled me aside – just kind of caught off guard by it,” Sherwood explained. “But, part of the business. And when I heard it was San Jose, I was really excited.”
Most players would welcome a move from a bad team to one making a serious playoff push. Sherwood adds that San Jose is a particularly welcoming spot.
“I’m just super excited that they pulled the trigger and made it happen,” Sherwood said. “I’m just looking forward to getting to work with these players and special guys in the room and try to learn from the staff as best that I can, and grow my game to maybe help add part of an identity to the team and just make us harder to play against in other areas.”
Sherwood provides a huge physical boost to the Sharks’ forwards group. He racked up 462 hits in the 2024-25 NHL season with Vancouver – the most in an NHL season since the stat started being tracked in 2005.
“I just try to bring that identity of hard to play against and that compete, both ends of the ice,” Sherwood explained. “I want to try to use my skating and my work to help guys be better players. I try to play the game within the game a little bit — get guys on edge or on tilt sometimes, whether it’s hitting or the verbal or mental side of things, kind of getting under guys’ skin. I try to value that side too.”
As a younger team, the Sharks tend to get targeted with physicality from their opponents. San Jose has improved in that category this season, especially with the addition of winger Ryan Reaves.
On the same day that the trade for Sherwood was completed, the Sharks met the physicality of the back-to-back defending champion Florida Panthers, culminating in a goalie fight that took the NHL by storm. The newly acquired Shark said he loved seeing it happen.
But they will still accept all the help they can get in the physicality department, and Sherwood figures to provide.
“Hockey is a game of energy, so, I try to build as much as I can within our group,” Sherwood said. “I think there was a good amount the other day in Florida. So, I’m excited to add as much as I can and just get acclimated with the group.”
Sherwood, 30, has yet to debut for the Sharks and has been sidelined since Jan. 10 with an upper body injury. He is considered day-to-day.