The San Jose Sharks added nearly 2,000 games of NHL experience to their front office by hiring Buffalo Sabres legends Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek as scouts.
Before Sharks GM Mike Grier joined San Jose as a player, he, Miller and Vanek took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals with Buffalo.
Miller, who won Vezina Trophy and Olympic MVP honors in 2010, will lend the Sharks his goaltending expertise in a scouting and player-development capacity. San Jose desperately needs help in goal after finishing dead last in team save percentage last season (.881) and has not had an effective netminder since Martin Jones’s last good season in 2017-18.
Although it would be silly to expect Miller to immediately identify the Sharks’ next franchise goalie, perhaps his presence can help shake some production loose from current netminders Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood, whom Grier traded for earlier this summer. Both have struggled after promising starts to their respective pro careers.
Three-time 30-goal scorer Vanek will likely spend considerably less time in California; as he scouts the talent-rich Minnesota area, where he represented the Wild from 2014 until 2016; the Austrian still lives in the state.
While they cannot help San Jose on the ice (as much as Grier would love that), Miller and Vanek add some much-needed credibility to a one-time Pacific Division powerhouse now undergoing a lengthy rebuild.
Grier started that process in earnest this offseason by drafting American Center Will Smith fourth overall and, more recently, dealing reigning Norris-winner Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
More must-reads: