With the deadline for qualifying offers now being less than a week away, teams will soon be making their final decisions on who to keep and who to let go. The Sharks appear to be ahead of the game on that front as GM Mike Grier told reporters today including Eric Stephens of The Athletic (Twitter link) that they’re engaging in contract discussions with RFA wingers Filip Zadina and Luke Kunin. However, he also revealed that the Sharks will be moving on from defenseman Calen Addison, meaning he’s likely to be non-tendered on Sunday.
San Jose acquired the 24-year-old from Minnesota in an early-season trade that saw them part with winger Adam Raska and a fifth-round pick. With Addison on the outside looking in at a regular lineup spot with the Wild and the fact he was coming off a 29-point season, the move made a lot of sense for the Sharks to potentially bring in someone who could be a longer-term fit.
However, things didn’t go particularly well for Addison this season. He managed just one goal and 11 assists in 60 games with his new team while he struggled considerably in the defensive end. It wouldn’t be surprising to see San Jose try to add some veterans on the back end to help try to stabilize things somewhat after a season to forget which would help push Addison out, especially being arbitration-eligible where his 2022-23 performance could have landed him a sizable raise on the $825K he made this season.
It’s worth noting that both Zadina and Kunin are also arbitration-eligible next month. Zadina’s checks in at $1.1MM so as long as his asking price isn’t too exorbitant, there’s a good chance he’ll be tendered. However, Kunin, who had just 18 points in 77 games, is owed a $3MM qualifier so if talks don’t go well in the coming days, it’s possible that he could be let go if a new deal isn’t reached by Sunday.
No chicken tenders for Calen. >:
(He was pretty awful last season, and had every chance to earn a roster spot.)