The Sharks are signing free agent defenseman Dmitry Orlov to a two-year, $13MM contract, sources tell Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. The team has also claimed defenseman Nick Leddy off waivers from the Blues, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
San Jose has been looking to make a big financial splash over the past few days, at least per season, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. While also serving as additions to a thin defense, Orlov’s $6.5MM cap hit and Leddy’s $4MM cap hit put the Sharks over the $70.6MM salary cap floor in 2025-26.
Orlov, who turns 34 later this month, now cashes in on a short-term, high-AAV contract for the second time in three years. The top free agent of a thin 2023 class landed a two-year, $15.5MM commitment from the Hurricanes that time around, but it was clear there wasn’t a good fit for him to return next season with the emergence of top prospect Alexander Nikishin and the sign-and-trade pickup of K’Andre Miller from the Rangers filling up the left side of Carolina’s defense.
It’s a slight pay cut for Orlov after seeing his minutes dip below the 20-minute mark per game with the Canes – he’d cost $7.75MM against the cap for the last two years. He does land trade protection from the Sharks, though, after going without it in Carolina. PuckPedia reports Orlov received a full no-trade clause in 2025-26 and a 15-team no-trade clause in 2026-27 as part of the deal. In terms of the cash breakdown, Orlov will rake in a $5.4MM base salary and a $2MM signing bonus this year and a $4MM salary with a $1.5MM signing bonus next season. That low salary compared to the actual cap hit in the back half of the deal could make him an appealing trade candidate at that time.
The 5’11” lefty immediately becomes San Jose’s top defenseman. While he wasn’t the everyday top-four threat on an exceedingly deep Carolina defense like he was for most of his earlier career with the Capitals, he’s only a couple of years removed from averaging north of 22 minutes per game and will need to prepare to resume that workload with the Sharks. Over his two-year tenure with the Hurricanes, Orlov averaged six goals, 22 assists, 28 points, and a +10 rating per 82 games while logging 18:36 per night.
Orlov was a consistent 30-point threat with good two-way acumen during his peak in Washington. It remains to be seen if his age will prohibit him from reaching that level again with San Jose, but their excess of cap room and need for veteran defensemen, combined with only a two-year term, makes this a low-risk signing for general manager Mike Grier, despite his cap hit likely coming in north of his market value.
As for Leddy, the Blues placed him on waivers yesterday with one year remaining on his contract at a $4MM cap hit. St. Louis was looking to shed salary and open up roster space after adding 2021 first-rounder Logan Mailloux to their blue line in a trade with the Canadiens, so they exposed Leddy to the wire after failing to agree on a trade to send him elsewhere.
San Jose is now nearly $2MM over the cap floor, so they can’t flip Leddy to another club while remaining cap-compliant unless they retain salary. All three of their retention slots were full last year, but with Brent Burns’ previous contract expiring, they have one open now. The same goes for frequently speculated trade candidate Mario Ferraro ($3.25MM cap hit) and other potential trade chips like righty Vincent Desharnais ($2MM).
Along with Orlov, Leddy could step into a top-four role for San Jose on the left side, although he could also flex over to the right if necessary. The 34-year-old missed most of last season due to injury and only managed five points in 31 games when healthy, but averaged over 22 minutes per game for St. Louis the year prior and had 28 points with a +14 rating.
With the pickups and the still-delicate cap math to stay above the floor, there’s a bit of a log jam on San Jose’s defense. They have eight rearguards on one-way deals for next season – Orlov, Leddy, Ferraro, Desharnais, July 1 signing John Klingberg, Timothy Liljegren, and youngsters Henry Thrun and Shakir Mukhamadullin. None of them are waiver-exempt, and that list doesn’t include unsigned RFA Jack Thompson or top prospect Sam Dickinson. The Sharks likely won’t be willing to waive Thrun or Mukhamadullin, so the Sharks might still be in the market to add a high-salaried forward this summer in order to help facilitate a trade to create more opportunities for Dickinson, Mukhamadullin, Thompson, and Thrun.
Images courtesy of James Guillory-Imagn Images (Orlov) and Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images (Leddy).
Ah s**t, I guess this means they didn’t take Leddy. Maybe someone else did first?
Spoke too soon!
* sighs in relief *
Dmitry Orlov will surely bring experience and leadership on the defensive side, something San Jose has been lacking. Orlov meanwhile gets quite a bit of a financial kickback with a $6.5M AAV (though California taxes will eat up half that lol) in joining a club that’s in rebuild mode and still a few years away from being a playoff contender. I would say it’s a win-win for both sides overall though.
FAs like these like clubs that need to get the floor in a weak FA class.
I love how many people called Leddy claimed by Sharks yesterday. It was like the perfect match.
Sharks defence is suddenly looking competent though. I wouldn’t say it’s where it needs to be – there isn’t a clear top pairing IMHO – but it looks much better than last year already.
Orlov – Klingberg
Ferraro – Liljegren
Thrun – Leddy
Desharnais
And that’s if we presume no one steals a spot in camp, which is absolutely not off the table. I could see Dickinson coming in and taking a Top 4 spot.
I’m a little worried about the Sharks up front. Lots of young talent, but a large cast of guys that might not even make the NHL on a different roster. I’m honestly kinda shocked Goodrow wasn’t bought out before Vlasic, he was absolutely abysmal last year.
Even if they manage to be cap-compliant and trade that second pairing, a Dickinson-Mukhamadullin unit could still be pretty intriguing. Good steps this week for sure from the Sharks.
Thrum, And Desharnais won’t be in the top six.
San Jose’s blueline absolutely has to get better, These two will help.
These are better moves than what LA did!
LA made some bone headed signings
That’s what they get for hiring Holland lmao
is there any benefit to San Jose claiming Leddy on waivers vs trading future considerations for him? I would have expected that the Blues asked around before putting him on waivers.
Leddy had a 16-team no-trade list. Sharks were likely on it.
thanks
Nick Leddy is injured as well, The Blues for some reason tried to hide that last season, He missed quite a bit of time, And spent little time on IR.
Leddy is ALWAYS hurt. He will be a big disappointment on the ice
All seems logical, apart from the NTC. As the Sharks are not planning to compete for a playoff spot, they could have a chance to flip Orlov at the deadline for more assets, in case his numbers look good at that point. Experienced D with a Cup win is the hottest commodity.
The NTC makes this option more difficult to execute.
The NTC just gives Orlov control over where he goes. If the Sharks are bad and approach him with a trade to a cup contender there is a good chance he says yes.