Remember a few days ago when a wishes-he-knew-it-all writer suggested San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier wouldn’t skip any steps in his plan to build a playoff contender?That fast-forward button Grier has avoided hitting got pushed and maybe jammed on a transformative Wednesday for the franchise. What the Sharks did was ramp up their postseason plans at a heavy cost they are willing to pay.The doors of free agency swung open and the Sharks bum-rushed a market already depreciated by a lack of star talent. They already have that in 20-year-old franchise cornerstone Macklin Celebrini, along with a young, highly skilled core around him that should power the Sharks for years. But Grier had a tank full of salary-cap space and he burned a good bit of it.The first domino was Mason Marchment for five years at a $6.75 million average annual value. The next was Jacob Trouba for four years at an $8.25 million AAV. And the third was Darnell Nurse, acquired via trade with the Edmonton Oilers, for the final four seasons at the full freight of his $9.5 million AAV.Before you imagine what cap space being set on fire might look like, let’s look at the obvious play here for the 2026-27 Sharks. For all the talk about them being a team of the future — scratch that, the team of the future — Grier clearly wants to build on the momentum created during a season in which they played meaningful games for the first time in many years.Who are the top five NHL players to hit free agency?Three players that have appeared in 244 playoff games are off to San Jose. And the plan is to end a seven-year postseason absence.“That’s a goal,” Marchment said. “For me, at least, that’s the bare minimum. Make the playoffs. I think what Griersy done has put us in a position to do that. I think it’s on us players to go out there and get it done then.”You can look at last season in different ways: On one hand, the Sharks were ahead of schedule in hanging in the playoff race until the last two weeks of the season. But even with a 34-point improvement year over year, they had a minus-41 goals differential. On the other, while their 86 points were tied for 22nd in the NHL, they might have grabbed a playoff spot in the Western Conference with an average defense and more stable goaltending.If the Anaheim Ducks could take the leap, why can’t the Sharks?“I think that’s every GM’s goal,” Nurse said. “Looking at the Sharks, you’re scratching, clawing, knocking at the door last year and now I think we all have the passion or the drive to get in and kick through that door and give yourself an opportunity in the playoffs. You never know what happens when you get to the playoffs.“You see that there’s a hunger in the group as well. You talk to some of the guys. There’s a hunger in the group to get through and see what we’re made of once those real bullets start to fly in the playoffs. It’s an exciting time. As a player, for me personally, having this new opportunity is exciting, but also for the team. It’s a hungry team that wants more. That’s why I’m looking forward to be a part of it.”Nurse had a front-row seat as his Oilers were ousted by the Ducks in six games. It was a fall from grace after consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final and the defenseman decided he wanted a trade. The Oilers freed up $9.5 million of much-needed cap space by moving him.On the other side was Trouba, who was rejuvenated in Anaheim following his trade from the New York Rangers midway through the 2024-25 season. There is no question that the 32-year-old benefited from a partnership with Jackson LaCombe. But the Ducks, who won a playoff round for the first time since 2017, also felt Trouba played an important role as a supporting player in LaCombe’s ascent as a No. 1 defenseman.It wasn’t enough, in Trouba’s eyes, to make him consider staying. And the four-year term in a market with a $104 million cap for 2026-27 was too good to pass up. He viewed his jump to San Jose as similar to when he arrived in Anaheim as a veteran presence for a growing team led by LaCombe, Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier.“You want a team that you feel like you can grow with and make an impact and help these young guys,” Trouba said. “The more you help them, the quicker you help them, the faster the team grows and gets to that contention window. And I think there’s obviously a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. The patience in letting the guys grow but also pushing guys and being there for guys and trying to help them grow faster I think is important.“Getting to where everybody wants to be is on a contending team and I think we have a good opportunity in San Jose to do that.”The Sharks should be better on defense by default. They were leaky enough to let Mario Ferraro, John Klingberg, Vincent Desharnais and Nick Leddy move on. They still don’t have a No. 1 or even a No. 2, but the makings of a better top four now exists with Nurse, Trouba, Michael Kesselring and either Dmitry Orlov or Sam Dickinson, if the 20-year-old is ready to make a leap in his second season. These additions also allow prospects Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin to develop on a much more patient timeline.But the $24.5 million they just added to their cap number for three veterans on the other side of 30 does come with concern, though not right away. It will arrive when it’s time to sign Celebrini to a massive extension and Will Smith to his own pricey second contract.Within the window of Trouba’s four-year deal and the remaining four years on Nurse’s contract, the Sharks could be signing Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov to rich second contracts if they put up numbers in a loaded top-nine forward group that figures to have No. 2 overall pick Ivar Stenberg.The Sharks are down to about $15.8 million in available cap room after Wednesday’s work, with only Stenberg and restricted free agent Collin Graf as notables to sign for next season. As they think about addressing Celebrini and Smith, they will have some relief in the form of Logan Couture’s inactive $8 million coming off their books, along with the expiring contracts for Orlov ($6.5 million) and Barclay Goodrow ($3.6 million). Another $4.3 million will be freed up for 2027-28 with the dead money for Erik Karlsson, Martin Jones and Marc-Edouard Vlasic coming off their cap.The Sharks were reminded last season that when things are going well, they have a strong home-ice advantage. (Eakin Howard / Getty Images)The Sharks will be facing increased pressure to create a sustainable contender, especially with the expensive Nurse and Trouba patrolling their back end. Those contracts can’t become a hindrance in a planned rise to power, amid a movement to make the Shark Tank a noisy, packed and feared place, whether on a Tuesday night in November or the first round in April.“I remember those early days,” Nurse said, reflecting when he first started playing against the Sharks. “The first 10 minutes, it felt like you’re going to that second TV timeout down 2-0 every time. They were just coming in wave after wave after wave. The starts were so aggressive and they kind of build on it from there. It’s exciting. I think that’s all of our goals — to get back to making this market, this team competitive all year long and push to win the Stanley Cup.”Trouba added, “When I first started playing in the NHL, that was probably (one of the) little more daunting places to go into. I guess really that whole California swing back then was pretty tough. But, yeah, I think you go in there and it’s energy. It’s loud, it’s chaotic. I think that was definitely a draw for sure.”Marchment knows all about the good ‘ol days. A significant part of his youth was spent in San Jose, where his late father, Bryan, played defense for six seasons. He recalled how much he hung out in the Sharks’ locker room and bugged longtime equipment manager Mike Aldrich for sticks. The Sharks were his favorite team, and Joe Thornton was his favorite player. He made his way to Pittsburgh when San Jose faced the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final.Even as his late-blooming NHL career has taken him to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets, Marchment hasn’t lost touch with how the Sharks have fared over the years.“Last year was pretty good,” he said. “The year before was a little better than the year before that. It’s been growing. Like I said, when the Shark Tank gets buzzing, it’s one of the best rinks in the league. I’m excited that hopefully we can get in the playoffs there and get the barn rocking.”That would be a sight to see. But the phrase “too much, too soon” might apply here with the big push forward. The Sharks can’t get ahead of themselves and take shortcuts to quench a thirst for playoff hockey.