Are the San Jose Sharks the team of the future? A problem for the rest of the NHL? A dynasty in the making?Those references get tossed around when the Sharks are talked about these days, and there is hyperbole in that they first need to experience the flavor of Stanley Cup playoff hockey, a taste they haven’t enjoyed since the last-gasp chance at an elusive championship in the 2019 Western Conference final run. It has been seven years of a precipitous fall, then a bottoming-out strip down, followed by the hopeful signs of a rebirth.Mike Grier watched a feel-good season play out with his flawed and fun Sharks staying in the playoff race until the final couple of weeks of last season. Fans started to flock back to SAP Center with their young megastar Macklin Celebrini becoming the franchise’s dream of a drawing card. Still, the fourth-year general manager has kept himself from pressing the fast-forward button in his plan to make the Sharks great.The week of the draft saw Grier make his own trades while fielding offers for the No. 2 pick and the No. 9 selection he added to his war chest. An undisclosed offer for the second choice was one he “gave some real strong consideration to.” The No. 9 pick, which he got from the Ottawa Senators for William Eklund, was coveted on draft weekend. Grier could have pressed forward with putting either in play for a roster player to significantly affect his team right now.“We were getting calls on (pick) nine probably right up until the board started to fall a certain way,” Grier said. “Once it started to go that way, we were just hoping it was going to continue the way it went. The closer we got, we were happy not to move it, but we had discussions on nine, probably all the way up until probably pick seven.”It wasn’t enough to sway him from his greater mission. The Sharks can’t be any more set up for future success. The decision to use his three first-round picks — another that was obtained from the Edmonton Oilers through Grier’s master class of asset-value management with Jake Walman — reflects a GM who’s more interested in a sustainable contender. A force in the Western Conference, a fixture every May and a potential participant in June.Keaton Verhoeff, the No. 9 pick Friday, is a right-handed defenseman who has displayed offensive abilities. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)The Sharks walked away with Ivar Stenberg, who some considered a potential No. 1 pick over Gavin McKenna and the kind of dynamic left wing who allowed Grier to deal Eklund. Then, with the club’s blue line of the future targeted at No. 9, the Sharks snapped up Keaton Verhoeff when it was possible that he’d be gone by then. And after initially trading down seven spots to No. 27, Grier traded back up to grab Ryan Lin to double down with Verhoeff on right-shot blueliners who can create offense. Lin was a popular choice to go earlier than No. 20, and Grier sacrificed two additional picks to get him.Let’s go over those three. Stenberg, who had one of the best seasons by a teenager in Swedish Hockey League history, will likely line up on Celebrini’s wing or be next to second-line center Michael Misa on opening night. Verhoeff will most assuredly play one more season at North Dakota and then be in position to make the Sharks in 2027-28. Lin is no slouch, as he’ll play for reigning NCAA champion Denver, where San Jose already has Hobey Baker Award finalist Eric Pohlkamp as another right-shot defender as a quality prospect.It’s an embarrassment of riches for a team that has Celebrini, one of today’s best players; Will Smith, a future scorer capable of hitting 80 points as soon as next season; Misa, a fast-developing 2C to provide healthy secondary offense; promising Igor Chernyshov up front; and Sam Dickinson on the back end.None is older than 21. Friday was the culmination of high picks — Chernyshov is more of a potential steal as the No. 33 overall in 2024 — and nailing them as the result of enduring pain at the bottom of the standings.“The foundation has started to be laid,” Grier said. “And now, we got the luck on the lottery. The ball’s bouncing our way to be able to get up here (at No. 2) and add Ivar here, too. To add three players that we think can really be a part of our core and be with us for a long time, it’s a big day for sure, and we feel good about it and fortunate that this is how it’s turned out.“These guys are definitely pieces that we’re really excited to add to our group.”Their draft was made Friday night, but the Sharks added three selections Saturday who carried their own interesting angles. Having top Western Hockey League goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen in their system didn’t stop them from taking U.S. national U18 goalie Brady Knowling in the fourth round. Tall center Jake Gustafson, a sixth-round choice, is a San Jose native whose selection will be celebrated by the Jr. Sharks program, of which he’s a product.And with a seventh-round pick, they now have the tallest player ever drafted in 7-foot-1 defenseman Alexander Karmanov. The Athletic’s James Mirtle and Scott Wheeler have this fantastic profile of the first hockey player to be drafted from his country of Moldova.Grier is insisting on growing the Sharks organically, supporting his foundation with capable veterans such as Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg and, most recently, Kiefer Sherwood without carving deep into his prospect pool to give the franchise a short-term boost.Michael Kesselring is a bounce-back candidate that Grier essentially added for nothing to start upgrading an already suspect defense that will lose longtime minutes muncher Mario Ferraro to free agency. The Sharks should be targeting the blue line with some of the $56 million they have in cap space for 2026-27, before the payroll-resetting second contracts for Celebrini and Smith are bound to kick in.“As we head towards free agency, we have some holes still that we need to fill and want to address,” Grier said.Could Grier go seismic and use his collection of assets to make a pitch for Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski or three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck? It would be a hell of a message to Celebrini, the rest of the league and a reenergized Sharks fanbase. Still, we’re thinking Grier has conveyed his grand plan to Celebrini and his representatives as they come up on contract talks that would make San Jose his home for many years and a potential destination for players who want to win.The future is taken care of. The time is coming for Grier to turn the Sharks from the great promise of tomorrow into today’s powerhouse, and the draft showed he’ll do it on his schedule.