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Mario Ferraro

Evening Notes: Ferraro, Rutta, Sorensen, Ekman-Larsson, McCabe

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The San Jose Sharks will swap out a pair of injured defensemen through the end of the season. Top defender Mario Ferraro has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, while depth option Jan Rutta will be activated from injured reserve for Friday night’s game, per Jason Gregor of Sports-1440. Ferraro suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. Rutta was also facing a lower-body injury, and has missed San Jose’s last 27 games.

Ferraro’s season will come to a close on the heels of a streak of heavy utilization. He’s appeared in at least 24 minutes of play in six of his last 10 games. That mark raised his season-long average to 21:24 through 78 games. Ferraro recorded five goals, 17 points, and a minus-25 with those minutes. He also led the Sharks defense with 125 blocked shots and 150 hits on the year. His minus-25 was also Ferraro’s highest plus-minus since the 2021-22 seaosn. He had another year of a hard-fought role, and the defense will feel the weight of his absence through their final four games.

Rutta has handled far less of a role through his healthy games this season. He’s recorded eight points, a minus-six, and 28 penalty minutes in 51 games while rotating through a role on San Jose’s bottom pair. His average of 16:57 in ice time is the fewest of any Sharks defender with more than 30 games played. Nonetheless, Rutta will slot back into a role on the Sharks’ bottom two pairings with Ferraro out.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Chicago Blackhawks head coach Anders Sorensen has been named an assistant coach for Team Sweden at the upcoming World Championship per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. It will be his first time coaching in an international tournament at any level. In fact, Sorensen didn’t play in any international tournaments during his short-lived playing career either – though his pro journey did span tenures in Sweden, France, and Norway. Sorensen has grown through the ranks of Chicago hockey, coaching prominent youth club the Chicago Mission for many years before graduating to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs’ head coaching role, then assuming Chicago’s head coach role this season. Sorensen has set a 15-30-8 record in 53 games behind the Blackhawks’ bench this season.
  • Johnston also reported that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will miss Saturday’s game with a day-to-day injury. The Leafs will also be without Jake McCabe per Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, though Siegel adds that McCabe is nearing a return. He has missed the last three games. Both defenders have served strong roles with the Leafs this season, and sit right next to each other across many stats. Ekman-Larsson has scored 29 points in 77 games, while McCabe has managed 23 points in 66 games. Both defenders average 21 minutes of ice time, and round out Toronto’s left-hand side alongside Morgan Rielly. The Leafs will watch for the return of both options closely as they prepare for a long playoff run, after clinching a spot on April 2nd.

Post-Deadline Notes: Armia, Ferraro, Blue Jackets, Flames

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The Canadiens elected to stand pat at the trade deadline, a small sign of confidence in their group that has gotten back to the edge of the playoff picture since the 4 Nations Face-Off.  But in doing so, it appears as if they opted not to make at least one move of some significance as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that they could have landed a second-round pick for winger Joel Armia.  The 31-year-old has 11 goals and 14 assists in 63 games this season but also has been one of the most-used players shorthanded while carrying a $3.4MM cap charge (which they may have had to pay down to make the move).  Armia is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Other notes from the recently passed trade deadline:

  • Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro had been in trade speculation going all the way back to last season but remained with San Jose through the deadline. Part of the reason for that might have been the asking price as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now suggests that GM Mike Grier was seeking a first-round pick plus another asset for the 26-year-old.  Ferraro has 11 points along with 101 blocks and 136 hits in 65 games while logging over 21 minutes a night and has one year left on his contract that carries a $3.25MM AAV.
  • Going back to the start of training camp, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell had talked openly about being willing to take on a contract or even act as a third-party retainer to add some assets. Neither of those wound up happening.  He told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that they had a pair of trades lined up on Thursday that would have seen them be a third-party retainer fall through plus another on Friday so it wasn’t for a lack of effort that they weren’t able to utilize any of those retention slots.
  • The Flames were hoping to act as a third-party broker heading into the deadline, relays Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Herald. However, it doesn’t appear that any options were available to Calgary on rental contracts.  While they had options to act as a retainer for a contract that ran through next season, Calgary was not willing to take on dead money beyond this year, keeping their salary cap flexibility as much as possible.

Sharks Still Open To Moving Mario Ferraro, Avalanche Interested

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The Avalanche are one of the teams displaying interest in Sharks defense mainstay Mario Ferraro as they continue to listen to trade offers, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

San Jose hasn’t been actively shopping Ferraro but has been listening to offers for over a year. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported in December 2023 that the Sharks were beginning to field calls on the blue-liner. Pagnotta said before last year’s draft that they continued to weigh offers. He’s stuck around in the Bay Area in part due to a high asking price, something that made sense for Grier earlier in the process with plenty of term left on his contract and no urgency to move him.

However, Ferraro will enter the final year of his contract in 2025-26 and has a $3.25MM cap hit right in line with his market value, if not slightly lower. The Sharks could always opt to hold onto him and initiate extension negotiations over the offseason, but that would be out of line with Grier’s recent moves. Pending UFAs Mackenzie Blackwood and Cody Ceci both expressed interest in extensions with the Sharks midseason but have both been traded.

At first glance, Ferraro’s numbers are ghastly. He’s logged heavy minutes on an understaffed San Jose blue line over the life of his deal and has a cumulative -91 rating in 205 games over the last three seasons. He’s not a factor on the power play and has 11 points in 55 games, so he’s not a considerable factor offensively, either. But his relative possession metrics have improved in recent campaigns, especially considering the quality of competition he faces without much support. His 43.8 CF% last year and 45.2 CF% this year are right in line with team averages. Ferraro’s pairings with Timothy Liljegren and Jan Rutta this season have also been the best of a bad bunch at controlling possession quality, ranking first and second among qualified Sharks defense units with a 44.4 xGF% and 43.9 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.

There’s slightly more reason for the Sharks to move on with a year left on his deal, and there’s likely more interest from trade suitors with less financial risk if he doesn’t pan out. The 26-year-old lefty could have increased effectiveness in reduced usage, although he hasn’t seen third-pairing deployment since his rookie season in 2019-20.

Regarding the Avalanche’s interest, they have a clear need for a third-pairing upgrade, especially on the left side. Calvin de Haan and Oliver Kylington have been unimpressive enough to lose their roles to career AHLer Keaton Middleton, who has two assists in 26 games this season but averages just 10:44 per game. While Ferraro wouldn’t be relied upon for 20-plus minutes behind Devon Toews and Samuel Girard on Colorado’s left side, he can certainly manage far more usage than that and be a factor on the team’s penalty kill, which is already clicking at an above-average 80.4%.

West Notes: Sharks Leadership, Lehkonen, Buchnevich

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The San Jose Sharks have labeled their leadership for the 2024-25 NHL season with captain Logan Couture set to miss a significant amount of time. The team announced earlier today that Mario Ferraro would be an alternate captain for all games, Tyler Toffoli and Barclay Goodrow would be alternate captains for home games, and Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin would serve as alternate captains for away games.

New head coach Ryan Warsofsky made it a point to re-commit to Couture as the team’s captain for the upcoming season although he may not play for some time. The 2024-25 NHL season will mark Couture’s 16th season with the Sharks organization and his fifth as the team’s captain.

Ferraro will be the only returning alternate captain from last year’s leadership group with Toffoli and Goodrow coming to San Jose this offseason. Granlund served as the team’s offensive leader last season with 12 goals and 60 points in 69 games.

Other happenings out West:

  • Following reports that Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen would not be present for the team’s preseason or training camp, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post reports a return may not be far off. Masisak shares that Lehkonen could be a participant in the team’s opening night game on October 9th if he’s medically cleared for contact from his shoulder injury. Lehkonen and the Avalanche will certainly be looking for a cleaner bill of health from the Finnish winger as Lehkonen looks to expand upon last season in which he scored 16 goals and 34 points in only 45 contests.
  • Lou Korac of the NHL reports St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich did not practice today due to a foot injury from blocking a shot in the team’s contest yesterday evening. Buchnevich was able to finish the game last night against the Dallas Stars and the injury is not considered serious. Buchnevich went pointless in the team’s first preseason matchup but did tally one shot on goal and a 35.3% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Sharks Still Listening To Offers For Mario Ferraro

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While not a first-pairing defenseman on nearly any other team in the league, Mario Ferraro was the Sharks’ number-one man on the blue line this season by default after Erik Karlsson’s departure. The 25-year-old was drawing trade interest during the season, but he wore teal for the remainder of the campaign and remains in San Jose – for now.

He’s not explicitly on the trade block, but The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that Ferraro continues to generate calls, and Sharks general manager Mike Grier is listening ahead of the draft later this month. The 2017 second-round pick is under contract for two more seasons at a $3.25MM cap hit.

The offense was there from Ferraro to some degree this season, recording a career-high 18 assists and 21 points through 78 games. His -31 and -38 ratings the past two seasons should probably be thrown out entirely, given the state of the Sharks’ defense, but his even-strength possession numbers compared to his teammates aren’t particularly promising. The Sharks have controlled 2.4% fewer shot attempts with Ferraro on the ice than off it at even strength over his five-year career, although he did have a slightly positive impact (+0.3%) for the first time this season.

There’s one major complicating factor in a deal, though. He likely won’t be a first-pairing talent wherever he lands, but it seems Grier wants to be compensated for one. Pagnotta expects it will take a first-round pick and potentially two other high-value assets to pry him away from San Jose, a price that interested teams rightfully may not be willing to pay. The list of parties that have called Ferraro dating back to midseason includes the Blackhawks, Flames, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs and Predators, per Pagnotta.

It’s an especially difficult ask when there’s also a bevy of mid-tier defensive options available for no asset cost on the open market this summer, including Dylan DeMelo, Matt Roy and Sean Walker. They’ll certainly require a higher cap hit to acquire, but is the difference in spending worth what may be needed to get Ferraro via trade?

From the Sharks’ perspective, it does make sense to command such a high ask. He’s not headed to the UFA market for two more summers, so there’s no rush to deal him for a return if extension talks fall through somewhere down the line.

West Notes: Seguin, Ferraro, Duclair, Afanasyev

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Stars center Tyler Seguin missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury and he’ll be out for at least a little while longer as Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News relays that Seguin is listed as out week to week.  Head coach Peter DeBoer noted that he has been dealing with a lingering injury that hasn’t been getting better and actually got worse after his last game back on Thursday.  The 32-year-old is in the middle of his best offensive season in a little while with 45 points through 58 games; his 0.78 points-per-game average is his best since 2018-19.  If Dallas believes Seguin will miss at least 10 games and 24, he could be shifted to LTIR to give them some short-term salary cap flexibility.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro has been a speculative trade candidate. He’s not a typical rental player who moves at this time of year as he’s signed through 2025-26 at a reasonable $3.25MM price tag which would be appealing to several teams.  However, his agent Peter Wallen told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng that GM Mike Grier informed him that Ferraro is not actively being shopped.  The 25-year-old is fifth in the NHL in blocked shots so far with 151 in 52 games.
  • Still with San Jose, winger Anthony Duclair told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that there have been no discussions about a possible extension with the Sharks. Duclair, who represents himself in negotiations, is a pending unrestricted free agent and it’s reasonable to infer that if a new contract isn’t in place by the March 8th trade deadline, he’d be a likely candidate to be traded.  Duclair is having a down year after putting up 31 goals with Florida last season as he has just 11 goals and eight assists in 59 games.
  • The Predators announced that they’ve returned winger Egor Afanasyev to AHL Milwaukee. The 23-year-old was recalled two weeks ago but didn’t see much game action with Nashville, suiting up just twice where he was held off the scoresheet.  Afanasyev has been quite productive with the Admirals, however, collecting 21 goals and 21 assists through 42 games so far this season.

Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Dowd, Harris, Broberg

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The Maple Leafs have shown interest in Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro and forward Luke Kunin, reports The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.  It’s believed that Toronto doesn’t want to part with a first-round pick for a rental but Ferraro has two years left on his contract at a $3.25MM cap charge while Kunin is controllable for one more year if he’s tendered a $3MM qualifying offer.  Ferraro is logging nearly 23 minutes a night on San Jose’s back end and would certainly give Toronto a boost in their top four while Kunin has struggled offensively, scoring just eight times in 50 games so far.  With Toronto’s interest, it’s worth noting that cap space is quite tight at the moment and as things stand, they can’t afford the full contract of one of those players let alone both.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Capitals announced (Twitter link) that center Nic Dowd suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against New Jersey. The 33-year-old has become a reliable bottom-six middleman in recent years and has 16 points through 45 games while taking the second-most faceoffs on the team.  Signed for another year at a $1.3MM price tag, Dowd has been a speculative trade candidate in a center market that is quite thin now.
  • Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris has been cleared to return, notes RDS’ Luc Gelinas (Twitter link). The blueliner also confirmed that the upper-body injury he was dealing with was a concussion, the second of his career.  Harris has played in 31 games so far this season, picking up a goal and five assists while averaging a little over 17 minutes a night.
  • One of Edmonton’s possible trade chips is defenseman Philip Broberg. However, the blueliner hasn’t played in the last ten days and it appears as if he’ll be out for a little while longer as Ryan Holt, the broadcaster for their AHL affiliate, relays (Twitter link) that Broberg’s injury appears to be more of a week-to-week case.  The 22-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level deal and has 19 points in 29 games with the Condors but has been held off the scoresheet in ten games with the Oilers this season.

Sharks Notes: Ferraro, MacDonald, Hertl

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The Sharks moved blue-liner Mario Ferraro to injured reserve on Monday, per CapFriendly. Ferraro, 25, has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury sustained against the Kings over a week ago.

While he’s eligible to return at any time, given he’s been sidelined for at least seven days, Ferraro is likely to sit out the Sharks’ two remaining games before the All-Star break, according to the last update on his status. The Sharks have an odd schedule surrounding the break – after getting two games in on Tuesday and Wednesday before the league schedule shuts down for a brief prior, they’re off for an extended period of time after the break. Ferraro will have a full two weeks to recover after the Sharks’ back-to-back slate this week, and all signs point to him returning for their Feb. 14 contest against the Jets.

Signed through 2026 with a $3.25MM cap hit, Ferraro is the Sharks’ de facto number-one defender after trading Erik Karlsson to the Penguins last summer. It’s a tough spot for the 6-foot, 209-lb Canadian to be in, although he’s on pace to break his previous career-high in points. He’s scored once and added 13 assists in 47 games this season, averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. He’s boasted better even-strength possession numbers than the average Shark this season, but the team’s abhorrent defensive depth means he’s been on the ice for 90 total goals against – the most of any player in the league.

Other updates from San Jose:

  • Ferraro was moved to IR to create a roster space for Jacob MacDonald, who the team activated from IR yesterday. The defenseman-turned-winger has been one of the team’s most effective goal-scorers when in the lineup this year, but a laundry list of appearances has limited him to 17 games. Despite that, his six goals are tied for sixth on the team. The 30-year-old’s latest absence was a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup since Christmas, resulting in a 15-game absence. It’s unclear whether he’ll draw into the lineup tonight for a Sharks team that’s gaining some relative momentum, winning three out of their last four games.
  • Adding to their win total over the next two days may be tough without the services of first-line center Tomáš Hertl, who head coach David Quinn said is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury (via The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka). The 30-year-old did not practice yesterday and may have been injured in the same collision against the Sabres last Saturday that sidelined Buffalo winger Jack Quinn for the next eight weeks. Unsurprisingly, Hertl’s 15 goals and 34 points lead the Sharks, as does his nearly 21 minutes of ice time per game among forwards. A Hertl absence would mean a slightly elevated role for captain Logan Couture, who has an assist in slightly over 18 minutes per game in four contests since returning from a lower-body injury.

Pacific Notes: Hill, Ferraro, Bjorkstrand, Kemp

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As alluded to this morning in the team’s reassignment of goaltender Jiri Patera to their AHL affiliate, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have removed Adin Hill from the injured reserve, and he is on track to dress in the team’s game tonight against the New York Islanders. Even though he will be back in the lineup, it is unclear if Hill will start in tonight’s contest, or if the Golden Knights will continue to utilize Logan Thompson.

Being one of the better success stories of last season, there were high expectations for Hill coming off an impressive run to the Stanley Cup last year. When he has been healthy, Hill has once again been one of the better netminders in the league, producing a 10-2-2 record in 15 games with a league-leading .933 SV% and 1.99 GAA to boot.

However, for the fourth time in his career and already the second time this season, Hill has missed a significant amount of time with injury, being one of the main drivers of Vegas’ fall in the standings. Since recovering from his current injury suffered on December 17th, the Golden Knights have only managed a 6-8-1 record, falling to eighth in the league standings.

Other Pacific notes:

  • After suffering an undisclosed injury in the team’s most recent game, Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reports that San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro will not play tonight. Fortunately, subsequent reporting indicated that the injury to Ferraro was not as bad as expected, but the Sharks will likely be keeping him out through the All-Star break to fully recover.
  • Kate Shefte of Seattle Times Sports reported that Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand had missed the team’s practice today due to personal reasons. With a game tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks, it is unclear if Bjorkstrand will be in the lineup or not. As the Kraken’s lone All-Star representative, Bjorkstrand is putting together quite the season, scoring 12 goals and 36 points in all 46 games for the team.
  • Having spent two weeks with the team since being recalled on January 9th, the Edmonton Oilers announced they have loaned defenseman Philip Kemp to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Making his NHL debut on January 13th, Kemp was unable to score his first NHL point after only managing two minutes of ice time. With Kemp now back in Bakersfield, the Oilers were able to comfortably place the new contract of Corey Perry onto their active roster.

Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Ferraro, Flames, Amadio, Kane

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Earlier this week, news coming out of the Board of Governors meetings indicated a sizeable increase in the salary cap for next season, with most estimations projecting a $4.2MM increase, the largest increase in the last five seasons. One team that will benefit most from this salary cap increase will undoubtedly be the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights, who are pressed tightly against the cap.

Heading into next summer, the Golden Knights have four players set to hit restricted free agency, and another six hitting unrestricted free agency, including Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, and Alec Martinez. If the cap were to remain flat next year, Vegas would have only around $18.39MM to retain 10 players, but will now have around $22.59MM, giving them much more breathing room to keep their core.

In an article in The Athletic by Jesse Granger, Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon was quoted saying, “We are hopeful with a bump in the salary cap that we’ll be able to keep this core together. We like our team a lot.” For the core specifically, it is reasonable to expect raises given to both Marchessault and Stephenson given their production over the last several seasons, however, Vegas may even have the financial flexibility to improve their team next offseason.

Other notes:

  • With only three months away from the 2023-24 NHL trade deadline, the league is quickly separating itself into buyers and sellers. One seller, the San Jose Sharks, has been receiving plenty of interest in defenseman Mario Ferraro, as reported last week. However, in an article published today by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, Ferraro gave indication he has no desire to leave San Jose, saying, “I feel like I have unfinished business here. This organization has done so much for me, right? I feel like I still owe them and the fans.“
  • Per a team announcement, the Calgary Flames announced that forwards Martin Pospisil and Walker Duehr were out of the lineup tonight with both suffering from the flu. Inching their way back into the playoff conversation, Pospisil and Duehr have been effective depth forward options for the Flames this season, scoring five points and four points in 15 games, respectively.
  • A notable missing piece from the Golden Knights lineup tonight was forward, Michael Amadio, who is out due to personal reasons (X Link). Typically, a bottom-six forward is not a large missing piece in any lineup, but with five goals and 15 points in 27 games this season, Amadio sits sixth on Vegas in scoring, while sitting 19th in ATOI.
  • After his hit last night on Jonas Brodin of the Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers’ forward Evander Kane was given a warning by the Department of Player Safety (X Link). It as an interesting decision by the league, as replay evidence shows that Kane finished his check on Brodin even with Brodin’s back turned to him.
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