The San Jose Sharks have signed RFA forward Fabian Zetterlund to a two-year deal worth $1.45MM per season, the team announced. The contract comes just one day after the team non-tendered him to avoid giving him the ability to file for salary arbitration.
The 23-year-old came to San Jose just before the trade deadline as part of the Timo Meier trade. He was productive in a depth scoring role with the Devils, notching 20 points in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night prior to the swap. Unfortunately for Zetterlund and the Sharks, he wasn’t able to produce at the same level, collecting just three assists in 22 games.
Still, despite the sluggish start to his time in San Jose, it wouldn’t have made much sense for the Sharks to part with a young forward with at least a brief track record of some NHL success at this stage of their rebuild. He’s likely to remain in a bottom-six role to start next season which might not yield too many scoring opportunities early on but he should have a chance to lock down a full-time spot for the first time in his career and if he can do that, he could be part of their plans for a while.
While San Jose technically signed Zetterlund as a UFA, he remains under team control through the 2026-27 campaign. The contract is slightly backloaded with a $1.4MM salary next season and a $1.5MM salary in 2024-25; the latter represents his qualifying offer in 2025 where he’ll once again be eligible for arbitration.
good move for a rebuilding team he’s young and has a chance at alot of playing time