The Shallow End: Trade Deadline 2019 Edition

The 2019 trade deadline has come and gone, and for contenders and pretenders alike, it's time to take a quick breather before heading into the home stretch of the season. Here are some notes and quotes from the Sharks organization to wrap things up after a crazy day in the EHE.

All That Hype for Nothing

By all accounts the Sharks were working the phones right down the wire, and with about 20 minutes to go before the 12pm PST deadline it looked like a flurry of deals might be coming. But when the dust had settled, there was nothing to report in San Jose despite plenty of action around the league.

In part, the team's inactivity on the big day can be explained by the fact that they got a lot of their shopping done early, with Sami Vatanen, Artem Anisimov, Kyle Okposo, Derek Grant, and Nic Deslauriers all moved out during a three-day span in late March.

Additionally, the organization's asset base has slowly improved over the last year, giving management more leeway to pass up deals that aren't quite the right fit. Rumor has it this was exactly what played out in four separate negotiations late in the day.

Many fans (not to mention local media members desperate for content) were surely disappointed with the lack of excitement after weeks of hype, but it appears they'll have to wait until at least draft day for any potential fireworks.
 

Hak Almost Sacked?

Lost in the shuffle of all the big trades, another deadline quietly ticked past: the deadline for teams to fire their head coach before the offseason.

What does this have to do with the Sharks? Well, since the moment the puck dropped this season there have been whispers that coach Dave Hakstol's job was on the line, and those whispers have only grown louder during the team's appalling performance through March and April.

Insiders reported a few weeks ago that GM Kyle Phillips was quietly conducting interviews with three potential replacements for his current head coach, but came away unconvinced that any of them would be an improvement over the long term.

When asked if he felt threatened by his boss's actions, Hakstol simply said he was "at Beige Alert," and further confused his interviewer by saying "If I don't survive, tell my wife: Hello."

Of course, the whole situation could be rendered moot this offseason by the coach himself, who is on the final year of his contract and may choose to pursue opportunities elsewhere. But for a couple of months at least, Hakstol Watch is officially on hold.

The Nick Holden Treatment

Phillips did make one under-the-radar move amidst the chaos of deadline day, placing a franchise tag on Brenden Dillon.

Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres just prior to the start of the season, Dillon is hardly the prototypical player for whom such a high-profile move would usually be reserved. However, the Sharks obviously saw value in retaining the mobile, reliable defender, and decided they had the flexibility to use a tag since their best players are already under team control for multiple years.

"It's nice to be wanted, that's for sure," said the 28-year-old blueliner. "I've bounced around the league quite a bit already, so the commitment from the team means a lot to me, and hopefully I can be here for a long time."

For some, Sharks management certainly didn't score any PR points by acting barely two hours ahead of the cutoff for 2019 tags. But it hardly seemed to concern the player.

"I don't worry about that stuff. I'm just happy to have a deal done," said Dillon.

"People on the outside can say what they want about the guys at the top here. All I know is feel like I'm in better hands now than when I was on some other team in California."