The Sharks have reached an agreement with a promising defensive prospect, announcing the signing of Henry Thrun to a two-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but it does begin this season.
The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Anaheim back in 2019 (101st overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock. This season, Thrun was the captain at Harvard and led their blueliners in scoring for the second straight year, tallying seven goals along with 24 assists in just 35 games. Those numbers were nearly identical to 2021-22 when he potted seven goals with 25 helpers in 35 contests. That helped him earn several honors, including ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year, First Team All-ECAC, and First Team All-Ivy.
Earlier this season, Thrun informed the Ducks that he would not be signing with them and instead would opt for free agency in mid-August. However, San Jose decided to jump the queue on trying to work out a deal with Thrun, flipping a 2024 third-rounder to Anaheim to get his rights earlier this month. That has proven to be a wise decision as it certainly didn’t take long for a deal to get done considering Harvard was just eliminated from the NCAA tournament on Friday.
While the Sharks will have to burn half of the contract now for the stretch run, they’ve secured themselves a promising young blueliner to add to a prospect pool that is starting to improve considerably under GM Mike Grier. They’ll likely give Thrun a chance to get his feet wet with a few games down the stretch to assess whether he might be ready for full-time duty next season or if some time at the AHL level will be acquired.