The Sharks announced they’ve signed defense prospect Mattias Havelid to his entry-level deal. It’s a three-year pact beginning next season, keeping the 21-year-old under contract through 2027-28. PuckPedia reports that the contract will have a $905K cap hit and a $950K AAV including potential bonuses.
San Jose selected Havelid midway through the second round (No. 45 overall) in 2022. The 5’10” righty is the son of longtime NHL defender Niclas Havelid and, nearly three years on from draft day, still brings an intriguing offensive skillset to the Sharks’ backend.
He’s had somewhat of a rocky development path, not getting as much playing time in the top-flight Swedish Hockey League as the Sharks would have liked. His SHL club, Linköping HC, opted instead to loan him to Djurgårdens IF of the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan for a good chunk of 2024-25. That was a great decision – Havelid finished the year with 14 points and a plus-seven rating in 18 games and helped them earn promotion back to the SHL for 2025-26.
Havelid suited up for the Swedes at last year’s World Juniors, posting six points in seven games en route to a silver medal. He’ll presumably slide in with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate next season after recording 19 points in 110 career SHL games, unless San Jose reaches an agreement with a Swedish club to loan him back overseas until he’s NHL-ready. He’s not under contract with Linköping past this year.
The agile skater did not check in among the Sharks’ top 15 prospects when Scott Wheeler of The Athletic put together his prospect pool rankings midseason, but that comes with the territory of being an intriguing yet flawed prospect in the league’s deepest system. San Jose was still a year away from losing his signing rights, so the organization is obviously still invested in his development.