No Middle Ground

Why do the sharks trade a younger bigger cheaper LD who is a potential future captain for an older smaller more expensive LD who is only marginally better offensively?

Younger, bigger, slightly cheaper, but not better, Grzelcyk is a lot better offensively actually. Ferraro's contract walks him straight to UFA, so I don't see very much to lose here if anything

I don't know much about Ferrarro, but his contract ends with him as a UFA in three years -- those extra two years are not nothing. I also don't see what the Sharks get out of getting a year of Grzelcyk right now, as they are just entering a rebuild AND he could walk after 1 year. And if they really love him for whatever reason, why not try to sign him as a UFA after this season and keep all assets. What is the rush?

It will really be interesting to see what happens with Grz after this year. I doubt he is back in Boston next year, but after the Blues put the narrative out about attacking Boston's small defensemen in the 2019 finals, he hasn't gotten as much love as he should have.

Grier has already made some headscratching decisions