Are you kidding me? Seven years of retention?

Hertl wants to stay in SJ through the rebuild, he just signed his contract, and has a full NMC for the next two years. Egor looks like a bust, and Barrie doesn't fit into a rebuilding team who already has 12 NHL defenseman looking for a spot on the team. The picks are nice but I would want another 1st thrown in for retaining that salary. That's a lot of years to be using up one of three retention slots. Without retention maybe turn the 3rd into a 2nd.

Im not sure any NHL GM in history has handed out more massive disaster contracts than Wilson did. What a moron. Hertl will just be another in the long list of Jones, Vlasic, Burns, Karlsson, Couture.

Burns earned his IMO. He's arguably one of the best Sharks of all time.

Barrie could easily be flipped for a 3rd (at least).

At least he didn't trade a top 15 goalie in the NHL, that you traded a 2nd for, to your number 1 IN division rival for a 4th that ended up winning them the cup. That one will take time to get over. In comparison of those blunders, those bad contracts aren't so bad.

And San Jose ended up trading him in a very unfavorable deal. Jones was bought out. Vlasic and apparently Karlsson are untradable. Couture is a huge liability. Hertl will end in disaster.

These deals have cost ownership millions and will haunt the organization for years to come.

Lmao how old do you think hertl is? He's not even 30 yet. He'll be 36 when the deal expires. He's well worth that cap hit, Coutures is the same, and they both play a style that will age well. EK wouldn't be that bad if Covid didn't happen (look at Doughty and LA, nearly an identical contract and they're doing fine). Burns was a headscratcher that expired when he's 40 and Vlasic is tough as well, but he was underpaid his entire career.

DW built some of the best teams from 2003-2019. It was bound to catch up to them eventually, as it did with Detroit and soon to be Boston/Pens/Washington

Couture is an unmovable albatross contract. Hertl will soon be the same especially with their trade restrictions. Complete liabilities especially for a rebuilding team. I also noticed you conveniently ignored the Jones buyout.

Except for the fact that Hertl will still be a good player as the Sharks come out of their rebuild, Meanwhile Cooch will have 1 year left, or already be a UFA, and has no signing bonuses for the next 4 years so a buyout is very doable if need be. Sharks have a lot of cap space with these contracts so it's really not a big deal.

I didn't even think about Jones because it has such a small impact on the teams current state. Not a great contract, but you see those deals for goalies all over the place (Merzlikins, Murray, campbell, Binnington, Grubauer, Jarry, Korpisalo). In fact Jones had probably the best years leading up to the extension of all those guys except maybe Binnington. That's not a DW specific issue.

I'm not saying DW didn't have some bad deals, but to say he's a moron is well... moronic. Sharks have the most regular season wins and second most Playoff wins between 2003-2020 (DWs tenure). He did everything he could to get that tea a cup, it's not on him

No retention on Hertl. No Barrie. Then this might look good. If Hertl would agree. I like Hertl, but given the Sharks current rebuild they should have traded him instead of signing him to this contract.