The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Leon Gawanke to a one-year, two-way contract, according to a team announcement, bringing him back to North America after an expected European departure. CapFriendly reports he’ll earn $775K in the NHL, $325K in the minors, and a guaranteed salary of $375K. He’ll be due a qualifying offer of $813,750 next summer.
Gawanke had signed a four-year contract in his home country of Germany just a few months ago, but that obviously won’t be honored. The move was made after failing to get much of an opportunity with the Winnipeg Jets, but after the team qualified him and then dealt his rights to the San Jose Sharks for Artemi Kniazev, he ended up in a thinner Sharks defense pipeline with more upward mobility.
A 24-year-old right-shot defender, Gawanke has shone brightly in the minors over the past two seasons. He led all Manitoba Moose defensemen last season in goals and points, recording a career-high 20 goals and 45 points. He also led the entire AHL in power-play goals among defensemen.
He went on a true offensive tear near the end of the season, notching 20 points in an 18-game span over March and April before ending the regular season on a four-game point streak. Throughout his four seasons in the Winnipeg organization with the Manitoba Moose, Gawanke played 207 AHL games, accumulating 114 points, including 35 goals and 79 assists.
While he couldn’t break through a large amount of depth defenders stashed in the Jets organization, he has a real shot at making San Jose out of camp – especially if they clear a spot on defense by trading Erik Karlsson (although they may fill that spot in the trade return). He’ll be battling with players like Matt Benning and Radim Simek for bottom-four pairing roles and could surpass the latter on the depth chart after he’s dealt with injuries and declining offense in the past few seasons – although he remains one of the few adept penalty killers on the Sharks.