Vancouver Canucks trade winger Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose Sharks

Vancouver Canucks' Kiefer Sherwood (44) celebrates his goal against the Seattle Kraken with his teammates during the second period of an NHL game in Vancouver, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Kiefer Sherwood stepped off the ice to life-altering news on Monday.

Still dressed in Vancouver’s colours, the bruising winger learned he was no longer a Canuck.

The NHL team dealt him to the San Jose Sharks on Monday for defenceman Cole Clayton and second-round picks in both the 2026 and 2027 draft.

“Obviously a little caught off guard,” Sherwood said. ”I was just back skating and I got off and was told, obviously.

“First and foremost, I’m just really thankful for everything that this city and this organization has given me. … As a guy that’s been a late bloomer, it’s been everything I could have hoped for and more. This is really a special place to play.”

The 30-year-old forward has been a bright spot for the struggling Canucks this season.

Sherwood leads the team in goals with 17 alongside six assists over 44 games this season, and posted career highs in goals (19), assists (21) and points (40) for Vancouver last season.

He leaves a Canucks team that heads into a home game against the New York Islanders on Monday night mired in a 10-game winless streak (0-8-2) and sitting at the bottom of the NHL standings with a 16-27-5 record.

“As a competitor, you always get frustrated after every loss. So of course there’s frustration,” Sherwood said of the lack of team success this season. ”But that’s life. … The things that we were dealt as a team and the adversity over these few years that are out of our control. Sometimes it’s not what happens but how you respond.”

The 30-year-old undrafted forward from Columbus, Ohio, is in the final year of the two-year, US$3-million deal he signed as a free agent on July 1, 2024.

Sherwood previously played for the Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks.

In San Jose, he joins an up-and-coming core that includes 19-year-old phenom Macklin Celebrini.

“I know they have some special players coming up in their system,” Sherwood said. “It’s pretty exciting. But I’m just trying to be in the present right now and process everything.”

Leaving Vancouver is hard, though, he added, noting that he and his wife are expecting their first child at the end of April and they’ll tell their daughter about the great times they had in the city.

“Business is business at the end of the day and I think that’s sometimes the hard part about it,” Sherwood said.

“I’m really grateful and appreciative and really loved my time here.”

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin thanked Sherwood for his “hard work and dedication in Vancouver” in a statement.

“As an organization, we take a lot of pride in giving him the opportunity to grow and excel as a player,” he said. “Given where things currently stand and the direction of our rebuild, we felt it was necessary to make a move like this as we continue to build our pipeline.”

Clayton comes to Vancouver after recording two goals and three assists over 33 games with the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda this season.

The six-foot-two, 200-pound blue liner from Strathmore, Alta., has 66 points over 257 regular-season AHL games, and has appeared in 14 Calder Cup playoff matches.

He signed with the Sharks as an undrafted free agent on July 1.

This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press, was first published Jan. 19, 2026.