End of an era: Sharks trade Hertl to Golden Knights in stunning trade deadline move

SAN JOSE – Tomas Hertl’s time with the San Jose Sharks came to a shocking and abrupt end Friday as the Czechia-born centerman with the infectious smile was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2025 first-round draft pick and prospect center David Edstrom.

From the time he entered the NHL in 2013 as a joyous teenager, to more recently when he became the team’s highest-paid and most productive forward, Hertl became the face of the Sharks franchise and one of the few remaining connections to a more successful era.

But now 30 years old and in the second half of his career, Hertl wanted to play for a winning team again and chase the Stanley Cup. With the Sharks in the throes of a deep rebuild and likely years away from competing for a championship, Hertl and general manager Mike Grier worked to find a solution that would be beneficial to all parties.

“I think he kind of came to the conclusion that his timeline of being a productive NHL player,” Grier said, “probably didn’t match up with the timeline of where (our) team is going.”

The trade was completed just minutes before the noon (PST) deadline, and put an exclamation point on one of the busiest transaction days in franchise history in which the Sharks made five trades.

In the marquee deal, the Sharks also sent third-round draft picks in 2025 and 2027 to the Golden Knights and retained 17% of Hertl’s contract, so his salary cap hit with Vegas is $6.75 million.

Hertl is in the second year of an eight-year, $65.1 million contract he signed with the Sharks in 2022. The deal carried an average annual value of $8.137 million and a full no-movement clause.

Hertl, drafted 17th overall by the Sharks in 2012, had 34 points in 48 games this season. Last month, he had surgery to remove loose cartilage in his left knee, but has been improving and is expected to be ready to play again by the start of the playoffs in late April.

Hertl ends his 11-year tenure in San Jose with 484 points in 712 regular season games, leaving behind some indelible memories.

Notably, Hertl scored four goals in his third career game with the Sharks in Oct. 2013 against the New York Rangers, a feat punctuated by a between-the-legs shot on goalie Martin Biron, who did not play another NHL game after that night.

In the first round of the 2019 playoffs against Vegas, with the Sharks needing a victory in Game 6 at hostile T-Mobile Arena, Hertl scored shorthanded in double overtime against the Golden Knights to force a seventh game. The Sharks then won Game 7, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period before former San Jose winger Barclay Goodrow scored late in the first overtime.

Throughout, Hertl won over fans with his electric smile and positive personality, and his “Fun must be always,” saying in his broken English became a catchphrase among the team’s fanbase.

Sharks captain Logan Couture played with Hertl for 11 seasons.

“It hurts. There’s no other way around it. It’s emotional …” Couture said, his voice trailing off.

Sharks coach David Quinn met with players around 12:30 p.m.

“It was a pretty somber locker room,” Quinn said.

In the 21 months since Grier took over as general manager, the Sharks have now traded franchise pillars Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier and Hertl, receiving numerous prospects and draft picks in return, while also freeing up tens of millions in salary cap space for future seasons.

The Sharks now have a combined seven draft picks in either the first or second round this year and next and as the next-to-last place team in the NHL right now, have a strong chance of drafting inside the top three this season.

That didn’t take away the sting some Sharks fans no doubt felt Friday after seeing another popular and productive player dealt to a contending team, let alone the Sharks’ fiercest rival.

“When I got here a couple of years ago, we knew that it wasn’t going to change overnight. It was going to happen over several seasons,” Grier said. “These are some of the decisions we knew from day one that we might to make.

“So I understand that there’s some frustration from the fans side but there’s also positives to work with.”

Between Thursday night and Friday, the Sharks made six trades in less than 19 hours.

After trading Anthony Duclair to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the Sharks on Friday traded two defensemen, Radim Simek, and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings and Nikita Okhotiuk to the Calgary Flames. They also shipped goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to the New Jersey Devils, and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres.

In return, the Sharks received forward Klim Kostin, 24, from the Red Wings, a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick from the Flames, goalie and Los Gatos native Devin Cooley, 26, from the Sabres, and goalie Vitek Vanecek, 28, from the Devils.

In the Duclair deal, the Sharks received defenseman Jack Thompson, 21, who is presently in the NHL, and a 2025 seventh-round pick. They also sent a third-round pick to the Lightning.

Also notable was who wasn’t traded, including pending UFAs Alexander Barabanov, Mike Hoffman, and Kevin Labanc. Those players are expected to be in the lineup Saturday afternoon when the reeling Sharks host the Ottawa Senators to finish a three-game homestand.  San Jose has lost nine straight games.

“There’s no better person to play with than Tommy,” Quinn said. “He and (Couture) have been the face of the franchise here for a while now and it hurts.

“It hurts, and there’s a lot of emotional people.”