- Editor's note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on X at @Sheng_Peng.
The Sharks wanted to add a goalie at the NHL trade deadline.
General manager Mike Grier admitted as much, after trading Vitek Vanecek and receiving prospect Georgi Romanov, who is stuck in the NHL and unable to suit up for the AHL playoffs.
“In an ideal world, we would have been able to bring in another goalie to kind of come in here and back [Alexandar] Georgiev up full-time and let Romanov go down there and play, but the price was high on some of the guys that we had interest in or teams didn’t want to move their goalie depth," Grier said.
Of course, the Sharks simply could have kept Vanecek, instead of sending him to the Florida Panthers straight-up for Patrick Giles.
But after watching Giles for two games with San Jose post-trade deadline, it’s clear to see why Grier traded for him.
The 6-foot-5 center scored his first career NHL goal on Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss against the Nashville Predators, flashing surprising skating and an effective north-south game in teal.
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