San Jose Sharks Sign Jonah Gadjovich
After reporters last week indicated that talks were getting close between the San Jose Sharks and Jonah Gadjovich, the restricted free agent has apparently come to terms with the club. The two sides have agreed to a one-year, two-way contract; CapFriendly reports it will pay the young forward $750K in the NHL, $120K in the AHL, and includes a $150K minor league guarantee.
Gadjovich, 23, was claimed off waivers at the start of last season by the Sharks, after failing to make the Vancouver Canucks roster out of camp. The 2017 second-round pick provided basically no offense, scoring just one goal and three points in 43 games but still managed to become something of a fan favorite due to his incredibly physical game.
The 6’2″ winger racked up 104 hits and 74 penalty minutes despite averaging fewer than nine minutes of ice time a night, racking up ten fighting majors in the process.
It’s that physicality, combined with some sneaky-good goal-scoring ability that made Gadjovich such a high pick, though he hasn’t shown any of the latter so far at the NHL level. In his last AHL season, however, the big winger did have 15 goals in 19 games, continuing to put the puck in the net at a high rate.
If the Sharks can coax any of that ability out of him in the coming years, they could have a valuable contributor for their bottom six. Otherwise, they’ll have to decide if a dressing pseudo-enforcer is possible in today’s NHL.
It is worth noting that despite his limited minutes, Gadjovich did actually still attempt 69 shots but only hit the net on 36 of those and then had an incredibly low shooting percentage of just 2.8%. If that happens to be more unlucky than skill-based, there may be some upside if given a bigger opportunity in the lineup this season.
Pacific Notes: Oilers, Sharks, Canucks’ LTIR Situation
While the Oilers have been busy this summer between re-signing their free agents and bringing in a new starter in Jack Campbell, they took a run at landing one of the big fish on the open market as well. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Edmonton was hoping to work out a sign-and-trade to pick up John Klingberg with the veteran signing with a team that would have then immediately moved him with retention to help on the salary cap front. Montreal was believed to be a possibility as a team that would have facilitated the move. While that one obviously won’t happen (Klingberg signed with Anaheim last month), it’s a sign that GM Ken Holland is still looking to upgrade his back end.
Elsewhere in the West:
- There remains no date set for the resumption of Evander Kane’s grievance hearing, relays Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). The Sharks terminated Kane’s deal last season citing a breach of contract, permitting him to become an unrestricted free agent. He signed with the Oilers for the stretch run and then inked a four-year, $20.5MM deal before free agency began to stay there but it remains to be seen what would happen if his original contract (which still had three years left at a $7MM AAV) was to be reinstated as a result of the grievance.
- In a separate tweet, Pashelka notes that discussions are ongoing between the team and RFA forward Jonah Gadjovich. The 23-year-old is San Jose’s last restricted free agent and is coming off a year that saw him pick up just three points in 43 games. The Sharks tendered him a two-way qualifying offer worth just under $875K last month but Gadjovich might be willing to sign for less than that in exchange for a one-way contract.
- Thomas Drance of The Athletic examines (subscription link) some of the challenges that the Canucks will be facing in order to place Micheal Ferland on in-season LTIR in 2022-23. While Vancouver has several waiver-exempt players, their performance bonuses make the simplest idea of papering them down for a day not practical. Accordingly, they might have to waive some roster players late in training camp to make the finances work. Offseason LTIR is an option but most teams prefer to avoid that route and make an in-season placement but that will be a bit of a challenge for them.