The San Jose Sharks appear to be headed for a rebuild, after trading away franchise icon Brent Burns this summer, or at least a retool around some of their younger options. What that meant for Erik Karlsson, the 32-year-old defenseman with a long injury history and an $11.5MM cap hit wasn’t clear, until he spoke with Corey Masisak of The Athletic.
Karlsson was very clear that he won’t be seeking a trade out of San Jose explaining that he “committed” to the organization a long time ago. He has had some preliminary talks with Grier about the direction of the team but isn’t looking to abandon ship. Of course, while his no-movement clause allows him to decide things like that, it isn’t necessarily up to Karlsson in this case. There aren’t many teams who would be able to afford his deal even if San Jose retained part of it, especially because it still has five years left on it.
- Mathieu Perreault has retired and joined TVA Sports, according to a release they issued yesterday. While he hasn’t announced it personally, last season did seem like a farewell for the 34-year-old, who played 25 games for the Montreal Canadiens an experience that he called a “childhood dream.” Selected in the sixth round of the 2006 draft, Perreault managed to work his way through the minor leagues and put together an NHL career that spanned more than 700 games. His best season came in 2016-17 with the Winnipeg Jets, when he finished with 45 points (in just 65 games).
- Now that Nazem Kadri has signed a lucrative, long-term deal, he’s decided to give back to the place that raised him. The veteran forward has made a $1MM donation to the London Health Sciences Centre, establishing the Nazem Kadri Surgical Centre. Kadri signed a seven-year, $49MM contract with the Calgary Flames last month.
Mike Grier said when he was hired by San Jose that the Sharks are NOT going to rebuild.
Mike might not want to call it a rebuild, but he may end up labelling it a “demolition derby”, when all is said and done.
A structural refabrication……An organizational reimagining……A pause in the path to greatness…..
It’s all in the terminology. :D
The Great Reset
@Artem99— “The Great Reset”, where everybody in Teal has scruffy beards about a foot and a half long, and vaunted Sharks alum, J. Thornton, shows up and says “Is that all you’ve got? Rookies!”
Between Sharks ownership and Doug Wilson being bad at his job, Grier has his work cut out for him.
What do you do when you have nearly a quarter of your salary cap tied up in Karrlson and Vlasic for several more years?
You can’t really fully rebuild and you can’t bring in more high-priced free agents.
It’s a brutal reality for Sharks fans.
Vlasic will definitely be bought out next summer:
CAP HIT
2024-25 $3,833,333
2025-26 $4,833,333
2026-27 $1,333,333
2027-28 $1,333,333
If you were trying to melt my brain with this formatting, then you have succeeded
Karlsson back to Ottawa for the ghost of Chris Tierney