Kurtenbach: Sharks’ Mike Grier keeps proving he’s the best GM in the Bay

Mike Grier is the best general manager in the Bay Area sports scene right now.

It’s not even particularly close.

John Lynch is in a steady jog called “collaboration” while the 49ers’ rivals are lapping him in the race.

Mike Dunleavy Jr. is desperately applying expensive spackle to an aging, creaky Warriors roster, going as far as to say on Wednesday, “we need everything.” He’s working with tax write-offs, prayers and Steph Curry’s unmatched patience.

And all this while Buster Posey is out here letting everyone know that he will, in fact, trade them the mistakes he’s made over the last two years. (If he can get one of them to waive the full no-trade clause Posey foolishly gave him.)

Please, someone, return his call.

Then there’s Grier.

No, the Sharks haven’t made the playoffs under Grier’s watch, but that is poised to change soon.

Because Greir isn’t just rebuilding a hockey team — he’s teaching a masterclass.

On Wednesday, Grier proved his absolute supremacy once again, swinging a deal to land defenseman Michael Kesselring from the Buffalo Sabres.

The cost? The mathematical equivalent of a second-round pick.

Yes, all the Sharks had to do to land a player who checks nearly every box for them was slide down a measly seven spots in the upcoming NHL draft — No. 20 to No. 27.

That’s better than good business, especially when you consider the dominoes that can fall now that the Sharks have Kesselring on the roster.

First, let’s temper expectations of those not in the know:

Is Kesselring going to singlehandedly drag San Jose to a Stanley Cup parade next season?

Absolutely not. He isn’t even a true No. 1 defenseman yet.

But he is exactly the kind of plug-and-play piece this Sharks roster needed to land this offseason.

Unlike Chase Reid, the consensus top defensive prospect in this year’s draft (and a player I remain very high on), Kesselring provides immediate, tangible help.

Reid has miles of tantalizing potential. Kesselring has actually done many of those things at the NHL level.

Again, had the Sharks made a wishlist for this offseason, No. 1 on the list would have been undebatable:

A right-shot defenseman with phenomenal skating ability and a heavy, punishing shot that can quarterback a top power-play unit.

Reid will probably be that — and perhaps more — in a few years.

Kesselring is that right now. Plus, he’s 6-foot-5. Size matters to Grier. It’s hard to disagree if you watch the Western Conference.

Naturally, the cynics will want to naysay. Fair enough. They’ll quickly point out that Kesselring’s stint in Buffalo was a dud.

And they aren’t wrong. Lindy Ruff’s system was a tough fit, and a nasty ankle injury derailed his initial momentum in upstate New York.

So Kesserling doesn’t arrive in San Jose without risk or flaws, but I feel confident he can reach his potential for Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, seeing as Kesserling was absolutely outstanding while playing for him and Team USA at the World Championships last year.

Grier received the kind of elite recon that all great heists need.

Granted, the Sharks still need to sign roughly half a dozen more defensemen this offseason. The San Jose blue line remains an active, hazardous construction site.

But they are no longer desperate for that elusive PP1 quarterback. That pressure valve has been completely released.

That simple fact should fundamentally alter the team’s draft strategy later this month, if this wasn’t a manifestation of the decision already:

Adding Kesserling frees Grier to take Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 overall.

Not that the Sharks’ boss needed anyone’s permission to pull the trigger on that kind of dynamic offensive talent. To some talent evaluators, Stenberg is the top player in this entire draft class — it’s nearly impossible to find a fatal flaw in his hyper-aggressive, high-octane game. His only real crime is playing the wing instead of center.

But if the debate was between taking need and taking the best available, the former no longer qualifies.

For those keeping score at home:

Grier just added a giant power-play quarterback. In the process, he paved the frictionless runway needed to draft a dynamic, elite scoring winger.

That’s two expectation-changing, immediate-impact pieces without trading away a single active player.

Better yet, he didn’t even have to surrender his second first-round pick in this month’s draft to pull it off. He still has free agency to play around, too.

It’s all next-level executive maneuvering. It’s the kind of ruthless efficiency that earns you a statue, or at least a hefty raise.

They’re the kind of moves that, when stacked up and in due time, get you to raise something else, too.