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Snapshots: Sharks, McAvoy, Pesce

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The San Jose Sharks have won two games in a row and find themselves in second place in the Pacific Division, and are still on the lookout for a fourth-line center to help out their forward group. Meanwhile, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) has kept track of the scouts attending recent games and one team stands out in particular.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been at three of the last six Sharks games, and also sent a representative to take in a San Jose Barracuda game recently. The expectation is that it was to see Paul Martin, who is still looking for another opportunity in the NHL. Martin has a single point in seven games during his AHL stint, and could be a potential option for a club looking to help their defense down the stretch.

  • Charlie McAvoy is out of hospital and on the road to recovery after undergoing a procedure yesterday correcting an abnormal heart rhythm. McAvoy is expected to be out for two weeks, but has avoided a potential long-term problem. The Boston Bruins are one of the league’s hottest teams right now and will have to find a way to replace McAvoy’s minutes internally.
  • Brett Pesce has been activated off injured reserve for the Carolina Hurricanes, just in time for their important matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. The Hurricanes are in last place in the Metropolitan Division but just three points out of a wildcard spot, and will have to pass the Penguins if they’re to make the playoffs this season. Pesce’s return should help them correct what has been a porous defense of late, allowing 27 goals in their last seven games.

Los Angeles Places Jussi Jokinen On Waivers; Paul Martin Clears

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Paul Martin has cleared waivers today and can be sent to the San Jose Barracuda, while the Los Angeles Kings have placed Jussi Jokinen on waivers. The Kings acquired Jokinen earlier this year in exchange for Mike Cammalleri, but he’s been generally ineffective with just five points in 18 games.

Jokinen, 34, signed a one-year $1.1MM contract with the Edmonton Oilers this offseason, but got off to a dreadful start to the year with just a single point in his first 14 games. That comes just two years after he was a 60-point player in Florida, where he recorded 34 even-strength assists. Jokinen’s fall from grace has been sharp, but his relatively low cost could potentially lead to a claim.

If he does sneak through waivers, the Kings would be able to bury nearly his entire cap hit in the minor leagues. Though that would be a tough spot to play for a veteran of 923 NHL games, it would certainly provide them with some experienced depth for a playoff run.

Martin on the other hand comes with a much higher price tag. His $4.85MM cap hit is in effect through next season as well, making him almost impossible to claim on waivers. As Craig Custance of The Athletic writes, any team looking to add him would need to send money back or have the Sharks retain some of his salary.

For now though, a trip to the AHL might be the best thing for Martin. He’s only played in three games all season and needs to prove that he can still contribute before any team wants him. Remember that clearing waivers actually does increase his trade value, as any acquiring team would be able to immediately move him to the minor leagues without going through waivers again. The Sharks will save a prorated $1.025MM against the cap by burying him for the time being.

Paul Martin Placed On Waivers; Montreal Claims Logan Shaw

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The early reports were true, and Paul Martin has indeed been placed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun also notes that the Montreal Canadiens have claimed Logan Shaw off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.

Paul MartinMartin, 36, has had a rough season as he battled through injuries and a lack of playing time. The Sharks have seemingly moved on from him, and are currently looking for a trade partner to give him another opportunity. While a waiver claim could certainly offer that, it’s more likely that he goes unclaimed and heads to the San Jose Barracuda to try and rebuild some value. His $4.85MM cap hit this year and next is a real impediment to any team that is interested, and any deal right now would likely have to include some degree of salary retention.

If Martin does clear, and immediately starts to play for the Barracuda, there is obviously still a place for him in the NHL. The veteran defenseman recorded 26 points and more than 19 minutes a night just last season, and has been an effective stay at home counterpoint to Brent Burns’ roving nature in the past.

It’s important to note that both the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs are at the 50 contract limit, and would need to move out a player in order to make a claim or acquire Martin in trade.

Shaw on the other hand was just waived by the Ducks after they claimed J.T. Brown from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and now finds his way to Montreal to help their forward depth. The 25-year old has eight points in 42 games for the Ducks this season, and provides some size—though not a ton of physicality—for the Canadiens to insert into their bottom-six.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Paul Martin Could Be Headed For Waivers

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As reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, veteran defenseman Paul Martin is being shopped by the San Jose Sharks. That claim was confirmed by GM Doug Wilson to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, who said the team is working with Martin and his representatives to try and get him a new opportunity. On Twitter, he relayed comments from Martin’s agent Ben Hankinson:

It’s kind of a tough one for him because he knows he can play and he wants to play with the Sharks. Right now, there isn’t a spot for him. That’s his first choice but obviously the goal is to play somewhere and help a team win in the NHL. Now we’re going down that path and trying to find a team. Paulie wants to play and he’d love to win. Kind of walking down that pathway now to see where he could be a fit.

Additionally, Pashelka reports that Martin could find himself on waivers in the next few days, which would result in a stint with the San Jose Barracuda if not claimed.

Martin has played in just three games this season after dealing with several injuries and the impressive play of several other Sharks’ defenders. In the third year of a four-year, $19.4MM contract, the 36-year old defenseman comes with a $4.85MM cap hit, a prohibitive factor for many potential claiming clubs. It’s hard to imagine any team would claim him on waivers, which would come with the responsibility of his entire remaining contract. More likely may be a trade with the Sharks retaining some salary, in order to receive a real asset in return.

If he does end up on waivers and goes unclaimed, a stint in the AHL might actually be the best thing for the veteran. Though he’d obviously like to be playing in the NHL, he hasn’t been able to show that he’s still able to contribute at this level, and sitting in the press box isn’t doing anything to change that. A few weeks logging big minutes in the AHL might entice a team to bring him aboard for their playoff run. Martin does have plenty of playoff experience, suiting up for 115 postseason games in his career with three different clubs. He logged more than 22 minutes a night with the Sharks in 2015-16, on their way to the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the meantime, the Sharks have activated Dylan DeMelo from injured reserve and loaned Marcus Sorensen to the minor leagues. DeMelo hasn’t played in 10 days, and has suited up for 22 games this season.

Pacific Notes: Cogliano, Martin, Dell, Bellemare

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The Department of Player Safety announced they will have a hearing today for Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano for his illegal check to the head on Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe during the first period of Saturday night’s game between the two teams.

A possible suspension for the iron man Cogliano in jeopardy. The veteran has not missed a game since 2007 and has played 830 consecutive games, ranking fourth highest in NHL history, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Elliotte Friedman added that he is just 134 games behind Doug Jarvis, who played with Montreal, Washington and Hartford between 1975 to 1988.

  • On his Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Friedman reports the San Jose Sharks are trying to trade defenseman Paul Martin. The veteran defenseman, in his third season with San Jose, was injured in the second game of the season and has only appeared in one game since then on Dec. 7. He played a four-game stretch of games in the AHL on a conditioning loan, but has been called up and has been a healthy scratch since. With the emergence of defensemen Tim Heed and Joakim Ryan on San Jose’s blueline, there is no place for Martin. With defenseman Dylan DeMelo about ready to be activated off of injured reserve, the team hopes to send Martin elsewhere. Martin played 159 games in his first two seasons with the Sharks. The problem is Martin is owed $4.85MM both this year and next, which might make moving the veteran much more difficult than it looks.
  • Paul Gackle of the Mercury News writes that while the Sharks are likely to move goaltender Aaron Dell before he hits unrestricted free agency this summer, the team cannot consider moving their backup goaltender until the last possible moment as the team finds itself fighting for a playoff spot. The Sharks are currently one point out of a playoff spot in a highly competitive race. “We need great goaltending in the second half,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. Due to the recent struggles of starter Martin Jones, the team doesn’t want to lose Dell too quickly in case Martin, who has struggled since the beginning of December, fails to bounce back. Gackle adds that in a perfect world, the team would try to send Dell off as soon as possible to get a fourth-line center or a wing.
  • The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp writes the Vegas Golden Knights avoided a possible injury Saturday in their game against Edmonton when forward Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare took a puck to the face off a shot from defenseman Darnell Nurse. The veteran tough-guy took three stitches and only missed one shift.

Deadline Dilemma For The San Jose Sharks

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The San Jose Sharks put on another impressive performance last night against the struggling Montreal Canadiens, beating them 4-1 for their fourth win in five games. That recent success has pushed San Jose into third in the Pacific Division, and right in the thick of the playoff race in the Western Conference. With that position though will come some tough decisions for the Sharks as we head towards the trade deadline, and teams around them start to load up for a postseason run.

Joe ThorntonOn one hand, the Sharks are in an enviable position. After Patrick Marleau walked in the offseason, and David Schlemko was taken from them in the expansion draft, the front office finds themselves with plenty of cap room to work with. In fact, CapFriendly projects the Sharks could add around $23.5MM of contracts at the trade deadline and still be cap-compliant. That’s an incredible asset when looking to take a swing at a Stanley Cup run, and could prove useful in the coming months.

However, there is a larger problem that the Sharks must face when considering any deal. After adding the last few years, the team is without its second or third round picks in the 2018 draft, and don’t have a real glut of blue-chip prospects knocking down the door for an NHL job. More than that, their three key pieces up front are all unrestricted free agents either this summer or next, and starting next season they’ll have $15MM tied up in two defenders on the wrong side of 30.

In fact, if you look at the team’s salary structure, draft stockpile, and prospect cupboard independent of their record this season, one might come to the conclusion that they need to consider selling instead of buying. They have several expiring (or near-expiring) assets that could still bring back impressive value, and might have a gap in young impact players coming through the system to replace them.

That consideration of course is not independent of the on-ice success, but rather inherently tied to it. What else is there to sell your future for than immediate success, and the Sharks have experienced that for some time, even if the Stanley Cup itself has remained slightly out of reach. The option of mortgaging even more assets for help now can be quite tempting, especially once other teams starting doing the same.

So what will be the Sharks’ solution? Kevin Kurz of The Athletic doesn’t believe they even have the assets to add a big name, and would expect more of a bottom-six forward to be the prize if anything. In his most recent mailbag, Kurz addressed the upcoming deadline:

Can they make a trade that will impact the team? Sure. Do they have the pieces to make a major acquisition, along the lines of — just as an example — Evander Kane? I don’t see it.

…

My guess is that while another bottom six forward could be acquired for a reasonable price, the Sharks’ roster won’t look all that different after the trade deadline. They will have to hope that guys like [Timo] Meier, [Marcus] Sorensen and Kevin Labanc keep improving.

The option of standing still and hoping this roster is enough to make an impact in the playoffs is obviously a reasonable one, given their recent success. But a partial sell shouldn’t be overlooked. We’ve talked about the potential value of Aaron Dell before, and Kurz details how Paul Martin—another contract that will expire in the summer of 2019—could be a piece they move at some point.

Regular season success shouldn’t ever be considered a bad thing. But the Sharks’ front office has to be very careful how much a few wins sway their overall perception of the roster and organizational depth. They’ll be a very interesting team to watch as the deadline approaches, even if they do eventually decide to sit tight.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pacific Notes: Gryba, Martin, Hjalmarsson, Goldobin

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Although the Oilers placed defenseman Eric Gryba on waivers on Friday, Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that the team did receive some trade interest in the veteran blueliner.  However, the teams that had interest are tight to the 50-contract limit and wanted to send a player under contract back to Edmonton.  Unfortunately for the Oilers, they’re pretty tight to the limit as well (48) and would undoubtedly prefer to either clear the contract off the books entirely via a waiver claim from elsewhere or keep him as injury insurance over accepting a minor league player of nominal value in return.  Because his waivers non-roster designation came after Friday’s waiver dispatch, he officially goes on the wire today with an announcement on whether or not he cleared coming on Sunday.

More from the Pacific:

  • Sharks blueliner Paul Martin has been a healthy scratch since being cleared to return to the lineup and head coach Peter DeBoer told Paul Gackle of the Mercury News that this will continue for the time being. San Jose is carrying eight defensemen for the time being and the expectation is that they will try to utilize all eight of them but barring injury, Martin appears to be on the outside looking in at their top-six.  With another year remaining on his contract at $4.85MM, he’s someone that they could look to try to include in a trade in the coming weeks although his lack of playing time and age (36) will make that a harder move to make.
  • Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson is slated to rejoin the team for practice on Saturday, notes Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. The veteran has been out of the lineup since sustaining an upper-body injury November 28th.  One of Arizona’s key veteran acquisitions this offseason, Hjalmarsson has only played in 17 games so far in 2017-18.
  • Although the Canucks have lost a pair of Russian players back to the KHL over the last little while in Alexander Burmistrov and Nikita Tryamkin, don’t expect winger Nikolay Goldobin to follow suit. He told reporters, including Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, that he has no plans to go back home, saying “I don’t want to go now, I’m in the NHL right now”.  Goldobin was acquired as part of the Jannik Hansen trade back near the last trade deadline and has split his time between the AHL (19 points in 18 games) and the NHL (one goal and two assists in nine contests) so far this season.

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