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Sharks Sign Oliver Wahlstrom To PTO, AHL Deal

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5:45 PM: The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have announced Wahlstrom has signed a minor-league deal with the club. That will serve as his fallback, should he not earn an NHL deal out of camp.

4:15 PM: The San Jose Sharks will soon sign winger Oliver Wahlstrom to a professional try-out contract, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The report was later confirmed by PuckPedia. Pagnotta points out that Wahlstrom will have an AHL deal to fall back on, should he not earn an NHL contract. He was previously an unrestricted free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Boston Bruins at the start of the summer.

Wahlstrom played his first games outside of the New York Islanders organization midway through last season. After six years of failed attempts to earn an everyday role in the top-nine, the Islanders made the decision to place Wahlstrom on waivers in mid-December. He was claimed by the Bruins the next day, and stuck with Boston for the rest of year, even clearing waivers with the club in February. Wahlstrom split his time between the NHL and AHL Bruins, beginning with 16 games in Boston where he racked up two points and 28 penalty minutes in a bottom-six role. He looked much more electric in 26 games with the Providence Bruins to close the year, netting 19 points and 14 penalty minutes in total.

But even in a move away from New York, Wahlstrom struggled to earn routine NHL minutes. The former 11th-overall selection has fallen a long way since making his NHL debut in 2019. He quickly struggled to score at the NHL level, with 12 goals and 21 points in 44 games of his rookie season standing as the highest scoring pace of Wahlstrom’s pro career. He posted a career-high 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games of his second NHL season, but fell to menial scoring and routine healthy scratches soon after that.

The Islanders rotated Wahlstrom around the lineup, but couldn’t find the right match for his flashy puck-skills and hard shot. Those traits did come to life during his stint with Providence at the end of last season, though. That fact commanded the attention of AHL clubs looking for a boost in scoring. It’s also commanded the attention of one of the NHL’s true bottom-feeders. San Jose is looking to bring in as much veteran presence and leadership as they can, to help guide a roster that’s sure to be one of the youngest in the league. Wahlstrom will be in direct competition for minutes with young wingers like Collin Graf, Ty Dellandrea, Philipp Kurashev, and Quentin Musty. Each of those players face the test of proving they can stick in the NHL. The Sharks will be the beneficiaries of that competition, whether through awarding rookies strong minutes or finding the positives out of struggling veterans. They’ll hope Wahlstrom can be the one to emerge above the rest, and finally bank on his long-lauded potential.

Lund Injured In Rookie Game

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  • Sharks winger Cameron Lund left Friday’s rookie tournament game in the third period after taking a hit to the head, notes Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest. The 21-year-old signed with San Jose late in the season after his college campaign came to an end and fit in relatively, picking up two goals and an assist in 11 appearances in 11:30 per night of action.  While Lund probably wasn’t going to be in serious contention to break camp with the big club, this injury could take any chance of that happening off the table.

Sharks Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Michael Misa

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The Sharks have signed No. 2 overall draft pick Michael Misa to his entry-level contract, the team announced. Unsurprisingly, he receives close to the maximum allowable compensation. Per PuckPedia, he’ll receive the maximum base salary of $877.5K, signing bonus of $97.5K, and up to $1MM in Schedule “A” performance bonuses each year. His potential Schedule “B” bonuses are up to $2.25MM, $250K short of the max.

Misa was essentially a slam-dunk selection for San Jose after the Islanders took defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first pick, although there was some smoke that the Sharks were also considering Swedish center Anton Frondell, who ended up going No. 3 to the Blackhawks. Misa, an OHL Saginaw product, was the early favorite for the top choice in the 2025 draft, gaining exceptional status and beginning his OHL career with the Spirit at the age of 15. However, a semi-conservative showing in his pre-draft year had tempered projections for Misa entering last season.

But in 2024-25, Misa looked more like the franchise-level phenom that his early hype awarded him. The left-shot center served as Saginaw’s captain and clicked at nearly a goal per game, totaling a 62-72–134 scoring line in 65 appearances to lead the entire CHL in points and, unsurprisingly, received CHL First All-Star and OHL MVP honors. He was also named the league’s Scholastic Player of the Year. That had him as the consensus No. 2 prospect in the class behind Schaefer, according to every major public ranking, by the time the season came to an end.

There will still be those out there who argue Misa deserved the top selection, especially considering Schaefer’s season ended after just 17 appearances due to a collarbone injury in December. He was the first OHLer to crack 130 points in nearly 20 years, and the last player to score more points in that league as a draft-eligible player was Patrick Kane’s 145 points in 58 games in 2006-07. Elite Prospects’ Lauren Kelly even labeled him the most complete forward in the class in June.

He thus enters his first professional season with a similar level of hype to San Jose’s No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, Macklin Celebrini, had 12 months ago. While the Sharks’ flurry of forward pickups in free agency indicates they aren’t necessarily banking on him being on their opening night roster, there’s plenty of flexibility for him to play meaningful minutes or, at the very least, earn a nine-game trial to start the season before burning the first year of his deal.

Injury Notes: Sharks, Power, Seguin

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There was some concern for Sharks up-and-comer William Eklund’s health over the summer after he sustained a wrist laceration while playing in a pre-tournament game for Sweden at the World Championship. He needed surgery, and while the skate cut didn’t damage any vital nerves, it did carry a lengthy three-month recovery window. During that time, he also inked a three-year, $16.8MM extension.

Since Eklund’s injury occurred in May, the expectation was that he’d be ready for training camp. That looks to be the case as he was on the ice for an informal skate Monday and was taking contact, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now relays. That’s great news ahead of what could be even more of a breakthrough season for Eklund. He turns 23 next month and carried a 17-41–58 scoring line through 77 appearances in his sophomore year in 2024-25, up from 45 points in 80 games as a rookie (with a horrifying -45 rating) the year prior.

With the 2021 No. 7 overall pick on the mend, another first-rounder in their system also skated after ending last season on injured reserve. Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin was on the ice yesterday “without obvious limitation,” Peng wrote. The 23-year-old had shoulder surgery in the closing days of the regular season after logging nine points and a -7 rating in 30 regular-season appearances, a career-high. The 2020 first-rounder, previously acquired from the Devils, will be in a tight battle with fellow first-rounder Sam Dickinson and depth righty Jack Thompson for a roster spot in camp. He’ll need waivers to head to AHL San Jose, likely a matter of high concern to the Sharks’ front office.

Other injury updates as players begin to return to their team bases for training camp:

  • Sabres defender Owen Power is fully healthy after rehabbing a lower-body injury that ended his 2024-25 season prematurely, telling the team’s Justin Alpert he’s “back to doing everything” and is “ready to go.” He said he’s looking forward to how the increased time in the gym over the summer due to his rehab affects his game as he heads into his fourth full NHL season. The 2021 top pick hit a career-high in points with 40 last year, but also saw career lows in plus/minus (-13) and time on ice (21:19 per game).
  • After telling reporters following the Stars’ playoff elimination that he was dealing with a shoulder injury, Tyler Seguin is 100% after some “relatively easy” rehab, he tells Robert Tiffin of D Magazine. He told Tiffin the injury was caused by a hit from Oilers defender Darnell Nurse in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. Seguin had 29 points in 38 combined regular-season and playoff games last year, losing most of his regular season to a significant hip procedure.

Ryane Clowe Steps Down From Sharks’ Assistant GM Role

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In a surprising bit of news, former NHL forward Ryane Clowe has announced he has resigned from the San Jose Sharks’ assistant general manager role. Last season was Clowe’s first in a role with the Sharks front office. In a statement released through the Sharks social media, Clowe said:

I truly loved being back in San Jose and working with Mike Grier and his entire team, but at this point, this decision is in the best interest of my family. The franchise has an exciting future ahead and is set up to be successful for a long period of time…

Last summer, Clowe returned to the Sharks organization for the first time since 2013. His last tenure with the Sharks spanned 12 years, beginning with a sixth-round selection in the 2001 NHL Draft. Clowe moved to the Sharks’ pro ranks two seasons later, joining the AHL’s Cleveland Barons in the 2003-04 season. He was an instant force – netting 102 points and 198 penalty minutes over his first two seasons, and 146 games, in the minor-leagues. That earned him a full-time role in the NHL by 2006, and Clowe quickly became a core piece of the San Jose roster. He rivaled 50 points and 100 penalty minutes in every season between 2008 and 2012 – and served as the club’s assistant captain for the latter three years.

His time with San Jose came to a close when he was controversially traded to the New York Rangers for a heap of draft picks in 2013. Clowe didn’t find the same groove with the Rangers, and couldn’t rediscover it with a move to the New Jersey Devils later in his career. He played his final NHL game in 2015 and joined the Devils as an assistant coach in 2016.

Clowe worked backwards with his playing days behind him. He served two years on the Devils’ bench, before serving three in a team consultant and senior advisor position with the Rangers, and then moving to the Sharks last summer.

Now, Clowe steps away from important roles with San Jose’s  NHL and AHL rosters. His duties will likely be distributed among fellow assistant GMs Joe Will and Tom Holy, unless the Sharks opt to hire a replacement. At the time, it’s not clear why Clowe chose to step away from the Sharks, though it’d be hard to imagine he stays away from the sport for too long. Clowe recorded 309 points and 618 penalty minutes in 491 games, and 13 seasons, in his NHL career. He’s pushed through six more NHL seasons in a staff position.

Summer Synopsis: San Jose Sharks

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With training camps now just a couple of weeks away, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective.  Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled.  Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team has accomplished this offseason.  Next up is a look at San Jose.

Expectations weren’t particularly high for the Sharks heading into last season as their extended rebuild continued with their struggles to land another top draft pick.  This summer saw GM Mike Grier be quite active overall, although expectations for the upcoming season will once again be low, as the bulk of their summer activity was adding short-term veterans who could potentially be flipped later in the season.

Draft

1-2 – F Michael Misa, Saginaw (OHL)
1-30 – G Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George (WHL)
2-33 – D Haoxi Wang, Oshawa (OHL)
2-53 – F Cole McKinney, U.S. U18 (NTDP)
3-95 – F Teddy Mutryn, Chicago (USHL)
4-115 – D Ilyas Magomedsultanov, Yaroslavl (MHL)
4-124 – D Zack Sharp, Western Michigan (NCHC)
5-150 – F Max Heise, Penticton (BCHL)
7-210 – F Richard Gallant, U.S. U18 (NTDP)

Arguably the best forward, if not the best player, heading into the 2025 NHL Draft, Misa adds to an already elite group of Sharks forward prospects. In his third season with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, Misa recorded 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games with a +45 rating. Displaying a skating ability reminiscent of former MVP Nathan MacKinnon, San Jose could have one of the scariest forward cores in the league with Misa, Celebrini, and Smith headlining.

Despite having mixed results throughout the 2024-25 season, Ravensbergen is a prototypical goalie prospect, standing at 6’5″ and having the movement between the pipes as if he’s a foot shorter. Throughout his rookie campaign with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Ravensbergen managed a 26-4-1 record in 38 games with a .907 SV% and 2.46 GAA, along with six shutouts. Although it’s difficult to project him as a consistent threat for the Vezina Trophy, Ravensbergen has the size and ability to be an above-average netminder at the NHL level.

Outside of their top two selections, the Sharks’ next four picks are all projected to play NHL minutes throughout their careers. It’s a fool’s errand to accurately project the players beyond the first four rounds in any year of the draft, but most pundits consider San Jose’s 2025 draft to be an overwhelming success.

Trade Acquisitions

F Shane Bowers (from New Jersey)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (from Pittsburgh)
F Oskar Olausson (from Colorado)
G Carey Price (from Montreal)
F Ryan Reaves (from Toronto)

Acquiring some insurance for Askarov, the Sharks will become the fourth team of Nedeljkovic’s career. After failing to become an everyday goalie for the Detroit Red Wings, Nedeljkovic spent the last two years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, managing a 32-22-12 record in 76 games with a .898 SV% and 3.05 GAA. While that production doesn’t exhibit much stability, it’s worth noting that Nedeljkovic nearly led the Penguins to the postseason in the 2023-24 campaign, with an 8-2-2 performance to end the season.

Outside of Nedeljkovic, San Jose didn’t add too much on the trade market. Reaves holds nearly zero value as an everyday player, but will add some protection for the Sharks’ crop of young talent. Meanwhile, although each used to be an above-average prospect, Bowers and Olausson have a lot of work cut out for them should they become consistent NHL talents.

One of the Sharks’ biggest trades of the summer came only yesterday, when they acquired Price’s contract from the Montreal Canadiens. Although he’ll never play with San Jose, he affords them a $10.5MM salary cushion should they hope to trade any current veterans for prospects or draft capital. The best part is, despite having a $10.5MM cap hit, the Sharks only owe Price $2MM throughout the regular season since much of his salary was paid out via a signing bonus on September 1st.

UFA Signings

D Cole Clayton (one year, $775K)*
F Adam Gaudette (two years, $4MM)
F Jimmy Huntington (one year, $775K)*
D John Klingberg (one year, $4MM)
F Philipp Kurashev (one year, $1.2MM)
F Samuel Laberge (one year, $775K)*
D Dmitry Orlov (two years, $13MM)
F Pavol Regenda (one year, $775K)*^
G Jakub Skarek (one year, $775K)
F Jeff Skinner (one year, $3MM)
F Colin White (one year, $775K)*^

*-denotes two-way contract
^-denotes re-signing

Heading into the summer months, the Sharks had the cap space to supplement their young roster. In doing so, the team added Klingberg and Orlov to expensive deals to bolster the blue line, while also adding depth forwards like Gaudette, Kurashev, and Skinner.

After scoring one goal and four points in 19 postseason games for the Oilers during the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs, Klingberg doesn’t appear to be the health question mark he was heading into last season. Regardless of his limited availability over the past several years, Klingberg immediately becomes the Sharks’ top option on the right side.

Meanwhile, Orlov lands in the Bay Area after four solid seasons split between the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes. Throughout that stretch, Orlov scored 31 goals and 125 points in 300 games with a +57 rating, averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per night. Although he did have a shaky performance with the Hurricanes last postseason, he’s now one of the most accomplished defensemen on the Sharks.

Along with the youngsters who will undoubtedly compete for a roster spot during training camp, the trio of Gaudette, Kurashev, and Skinner should make up for the exodus of depth forwards the team sustained this offseason. Even if they don’t have career years, they’ll raise the Sharks’ floor at the very least, and keep some stability in the bottom six of the forward core.

RFA Re-Signings

F Egor Afanasyev (one year, $800K)
G Gabriel Carriere (one year, $795K)*
D Shakir Mukhamadullin (one year, $1MM)
D Jack Thompson (one year, $800K)*

*-denotes two-way contract

There wasn’t a lot of work to be done on this front this summer. With Mukhamadullin and Thompson still adjusting to the NHL, a short-term contract was the best option for both parties while the team evaluates their potential roles in the future. Meanwhile, the return of Afanasyev from the KHL was a little unexpected. He’ll have a chance to push for a roster spot in training camp and will be waiver-eligible for the first time this fall.

Key Extension

F William Eklund (three years, $16.8MM)

It’s not very often that a team will sign a player to a bridge contract a year before their contract actually expires, but that’s the route Eklund and the Sharks took this summer. The 22-year-old forward has shown lots of promise in his first two full NHL seasons, including putting up 58 points in 2024-25, good for second on San Jose in team scoring. Eklund, the seventh overall pick in 2021, remains a big part of their long-term plans and will be pencilled into a top-six spot once again this season. But he’ll have to wait a little while longer to secure the long-term contract that some thought might have been coming his way next year, while both sides will have more time to assess his long-term upside.

Waiver Claim

D Nick Leddy (from St. Louis)

For the second straight summer, the Sharks executed a rare waiver claim to add a veteran, this time on the back end after getting Barclay Goodrow last year. Leddy dealt with some injury issues last season and didn’t fare particularly well when he was in the lineup. Still, he adds some veteran depth on the back end, and if San Jose can get his game back on track, he could become a viable trade candidate late in the season.

Departures

F Carl Berglund (signed in Czechia)
F Thomas Bordeleau (trade with New Jersey)
F Nolan Burke (unsigned)
F Brandon Coe (unsigned)
F Walker Duehr (signed with Winnipeg, one year, $775K)*
G Alexandar Georgiev (unsigned)
F Noah Gregor (unsigned)
F Daniil Gushchin (trade with Colorado)
F Klim Kostin (unsigned)
F Nikolai Kovalenko (signed in KHL)
D Gannon Laroque (trade with Montreal)
F Andrew Poturalski (contract termination, signed in KHL)
G Georgi Romanov (PTO with New Jersey)
F Mitchell Russell (signed in ECHL)
D Jan Rutta (signed in Switzerland)
D Scott Sabourin (signed with Tampa Bay, one year, $775K)*
D Jimmy Schuldt (signed with Vancouver, two years, $1.55MM)*
D Henry Thrun (trade with Toronto)
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (bought out, unsigned)

*-denotes two-way contract

Although the Sharks weren’t in a position to lose any big names this offseason, they lost plenty of depth. Still, given the number of additions and influx of young talent, San Jose was in a comfortable position to sustain every departure.

The most notable, if any, will undoubtedly be Vlasic. Becoming a shell of himself since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, Vlasic had only scored 17 goals and 68 points in his last 358 games as a Shark with a -90 rating while averaging 17:09 of ice time per game. Still, giving 19 years of his life to the organization, Vlasic will always be remembered as one of the best defensemen to ever wear the teal.

Outside of Vlasic, the combination of Bordeleau, Duehr, Gregor, Gushchin, Kostin, Kovalenko, Poturalski, Rutta, Sabourin, Schuldt, and Thrun provided the Sharks with 11 goals and 45 points in 223 combined games last season. Arguably, San Jose should be able to replicate, if not improve upon, that production with their additions and promotions this summer.

Salary Cap Outlook

Even with taking on a $10.5MM cap charge with Price, the Sharks still have plenty of cap flexibility heading into the season, with more than $9MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. With them being widely expected to sell at some point, the addition of Price should help keep them comfortably above the $70.6MM salary floor. Meanwhile, with just over $41MM on the books beyond the upcoming season and only one player signed beyond 2027-28 (Eklund), San Jose has arguably the most cap flexibility of any team moving forward.

Key Questions

How Much Will Askarov Play In His First Full NHL Season? When Grier acquired Yaroslav Askarov from Nashville last offseason, he secured what he hopes will be their long-term solution between the pipes. However, he will enter the year with just 16 NHL appearances under his belt, and generally speaking, throwing a young netminder to the wolves on a team that’s not expected to be particularly competitive is risky from a development standpoint. The addition of Nedeljkovic gives them some insurance, but how they split the starts will be interesting to see. Do they try to push Askarov with more of a traditional starting workload, or will it be more of a split so that they don’t throw too much at the young player too quickly?

What Will Happen With Ferraro? For the last two years, defenseman Mario Ferraro has been a speculative trade candidate leading up to the trade deadline, but no move has come to fruition. Now, the 26-year-old is entering the final season of his contract, one that carries a respectable $3.25MM AAV. Grier will need to decide in the coming months leading up to the March 6th trade deadline if he views Ferraro as a longer-term building block, meaning that contract extension talks will be needed. Otherwise, perhaps the third time will be the charm on the trade front.

How Big Of A Next Step Will Celebrini Take? While he didn’t win the Calder Trophy last season (he finished third in voting), 2024 top pick Macklin Celebrini had an impressive rookie year, leading the Sharks in scoring with 63 points (25 goals and 38 assists) in 70 games. Widely viewed as an elite two-way center of the future, can Celebrini take a step forward offensively while also shoring up his defensive play? The sooner he becomes the all-around player he has been touted to become, the sooner one of the hardest positions to fill in a rebuild will be in place. A significant leap could prompt Grier to transition from rebuilding to acquiring long-term additions for the team.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire and David Gonzales-Imagn Images.

PHR’s Brennan McClain also continued to this post.

Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens

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The Montreal Canadiens have traded Carey Price’s contract and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for minor-league defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price has not played since 2021, after undergoing surgery to repair a serious meniscus injury. He carries a $10.5MM cap hit through the end of this season.

Price has received a $5.5MM signing bonus on September 1st of each year of his contract. The Canadiens paid that tab earlier this week, opening the door for his lofty cap hit to be moved out. With no bonuses to worry about, San Jose will only have to pay Price $2MM in base salary, while reaping the benefits of a $10.5MM cap hit. That mark brings San Jose’s cap utilization up to $86.23MM – still $9.24MM below the cap ceiling. Montreal, meanwhile, will move forward with roughly $4.57MM in cap space.

The trade makes sense financially for both sides. The Sharks now distance themselves from the cap floor, while Montreal will be able to enter the season without utilizing long-term injured reserve. That latter point will prove particularly beneficial for Montreal, as they’ll now have the flexibility to bring in almost $5MM in lineup talent – rather than being forced to enter the season at the cap ceiling, since they exceeded the ceiling with Price’s contract on the books.

Montreal is planning to take full advantage of that newfound flexibility, per Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming. D’Amico shares that – whether it’s before the season or closer to December – the Habs have expressed interest in building out their roster. The team is noticeably lacking depth at the center position, with little to offer behind clear-cut, top center Nick Suzuki. That could make the Canadiens a strong candidate for a player like Jack Roslovic, who surprisingly remains on the free agent market despite scoring 22 goals and 39 points in his ninth NHL season last year.

The Canadiens will also receive an interesting prospect in this swap. Laroque has fallen victim to substantial injuries throughout each of the last few seasons. He had to undergo surgery on both hips in 2022, forcing him to sit out of all but four games of his final WHL season. He scored five points in those games. Recovery from the hip surgery continued through the 2023-24 season, though Laroque was able to play nine games, and record two points and eight penalty minutes, in both the AHL and ECHL. He seemed well-set to formally begin his pro career, before being pulled out of the 2024-25 season entirely by an undisclosed injury. It wasn’t revealed if this new injury was related to his previous hip surgeries. He was a productive, right-shot defender when he appeared at the junior level. Spending the better parts of two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, Laroque was able to record 59 points in 84 games.

Meanwhile, San Jose will move forward with balanced books and a clearer outlook of their expenses this season. This move drops San Jose from having the second-most cap space in the league, to the ninth-most. They also now carry 49 contracts, out of a possible 50. Sharks fans will zero in on how the team chooses to move forward with superstar prospect Michael Misa – the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft. Misa scored an incredible 62 goals and 134 points in 65 OHL games this season, but still remains unsigned despite seemingly accomplishing everything he could at the junior flight. He’ll be a name to watch closely, and could even find his way onto the Sharks’ opening night roster, now that the team has a bit more financial security.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.

Assessing The Options For Marc-Edouard Vlasic

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There was a time, a decade ago, when former San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic was considered the most reliable and underpaid player in the NHL. Vlasic was earning $4.25MM in each year at the end of his five-year contract with the Sharks and had significantly outperformed his salary throughout his career.

That was until he signed a massive eight-year, $56MM contract in the summer of 2017, which completely altered the perception of the respected stay-at-home defender. The 38-year-old was bought out earlier this summer and hasn’t been much talked about in free agency, which isn’t surprising given his age and limited success in recent years. Vlasic has been playing below replacement level lately and struggled to stay in the lineup last year, being a healthy scratch at times and dealing with some injuries. All of this raises the question: what’s next for Vlasic?

Vlasic has publicly stated that he plans to play in the NHL this season, which is the goal of any professional hockey player. However, for him, that aspiration might not be realized given that he hasn’t been a consistent contributor since the 2017-18 season. Unfortunately, for both Vlasic and especially for the Sharks, his $7MM cap hit began during the 2018-19 season, coinciding with his decline. Vlasic’s performance significantly dropped from 2018 to 2020 and never recovered afterward. In fact, his poor play negatively affected star defensemen Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, who both saw their numbers decline considerably when paired with Vlasic.

Vlasic’s salary, combined with his decline, played a significant role in the Sharks’ window of contention closing, as the flat salary cap worsened their cap struggles, along with Vlasic carrying arguably the worst contract in the league. Remarkably, Vlasic earned his contract extension after being one of, if not the top, defensive contributors in the NHL, while being vastly underpaid. However, for the Sharks, they signed the contract extension with Vlasic at precisely the wrong time.

So why does all of that matter if Vlasic no longer earns a big salary and can be signed for league minimum? Firstly, there are better defensive options still available in free agency who could have a more positive impact than Vlasic. Calvin de Haan could be signed cheaply, and he is four years younger and much more productive. Matt Grzelcyk is another player with a different style of game who posted 40 points last year. There are plenty of better options still available who haven’t signed with a team yet, including T.J. Brodie, and Ryan Suter. Even Brendan Smith and Oliver Kylington are better options at this point than Vlasic, and they’ve had to accept PTOs.

The second reason it matters is that if you are a contender, you wouldn’t be signing a player like Vlasic, with his current ability, to play NHL minutes for your team. Even as a seventh defenseman, you have more talented players available at this stage. On the other hand, if you are a rebuilding team like the Pittsburgh Penguins, you have young, gifted players you want to get ice time for and can’t afford to bring in a veteran who is no longer effective. The Penguins are an interesting case because they arguably have the worst defensive core in the NHL, and some might say that if they signed Vlasic, he would be their 15th-best option. That shows how far Vlasic’s game has declined over the past seven years; he could barely make the AHL on a team that is $13MM under the salary cap and has a weak defensive unit.

Vlasic’s chances of signing an NHL deal are slim, but it’s not impossible. NHL general managers often like to give a shot to an aging veteran who has had a solid career, and that would describe Vlasic perfectly. Older defensemen received multi-year contracts worth over $4MM this summer, so an NHL deal for Vlasic would be surprising but not entirely out of the question. The more probable scenario is that Vlasic gets an opportunity to demonstrate what he still has in the tank through a PTO. This would provide him with some practice time and potentially a chance to showcase himself in a few exhibition games, with the hope of securing an NHL contract or at least a two-way deal. It’s uncertain whether Vlasic would want that at this stage of his career, as some NHL players prefer not to ride the AHL buses anymore after a long NHL career, given family commitments. But only Vlasic knows what he truly desires.

Apart from a PTO or a two-way deal, there are plenty of options to find a job. He could explore the KHL, SHL, or other European leagues that might offer the chance to play every game. Still, family matters and lifestyle preferences will influence whether Vlasic chooses to take his game overseas. It’s rare to see a North American-born player who has earned the kind of money Vlasic has, make the move overseas after the age of 35, but it’s not unheard of.

Finally, there’s the final consideration: retiring and starting his post-hockey career, which is always challenging for any player, especially those who feel they have more to give. Vlasic may believe he can still contribute at the NHL level and might get a chance to prove it if he signs a PTO. However, at this stage, it could be the end of the line for a player who was once arguably the best stay-at-home defenseman in the league. Vlasic should have financial stability in his post-playing career, but he could no doubt find other ways to build a career in the game, thanks to his leadership experience and hockey IQ.

Photo by Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Dell Announces Retirement

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Goaltender Aaron Dell announced his retirement late last night. The 36-year-old wrote on his Instagram page that he’s hanging up his skates after a lengthy professional career that included seven NHL seasons.

“After 13 seasons of professional hockey the time has come for me to hang up the skates and leave my playing days behind me,” Dell wrote. “I wanted to thank all of the people that believed in me and supported me throughout my career. Lots of ups and downs. An undrafted 6 foot tall goalie that was given a chance by the San Jose Sharks organization. When I look at some of the names I had the privilege of working with like Nabokov, Thornton, Pavelski, Marleau, Couture, Karlsson, Burns and so many great players that I will always consider friends, I feel very fortunate.”

The Alberta native began his pro career with the Central Hockey League’s Allen Americans in 2012 after a three-year stint at the University of North Dakota. He split the following season with ECHL Utah before formally joining the Sharks organization in 2014-15, landing a deal with their AHL affiliate at the time in Worcester. After he exploded for a .927 SV% in 26 games for the Woo Sharks down the stretch, Dell landed his first NHL contract and signed a two-way deal with San Jose.

He spent the following year back in the AHL, this time with the San Jose Barracuda, but won a spot on their opening night roster for 2016-17 as Martin Jones’ backup. That began a four-year run for Dell as the Sharks’ primary No. 2 option, including a standout rookie season. He only made 17 starts and three relief appearances behind the workhorse Jones but was excellent when relied upon, posting a .931 SV% and 2.00 GAA with an 11-6-1 record in his first taste of NHL action.

That would end up being the peak for Dell, who was already 27 when he burst onto the scene. He remained a serviceable backup for the coming years and even cracked 30 starts in 2019-20, but by the time he hit free agency that fall amid the pandemic, his averages over his four years in San Jose were a .908 SV% and 2.76 GAA – right around league average for that period.

Dell’s play dipped after that. He signed with the Maple Leafs in 2020 but was claimed by the Devils off waivers before ever playing a game for them. In seven games as New Jersey’s No. 3 option in the shortened 2021 season, he only managed a .857 SV% and 4.14 GAA. From that point forward, he spent most of his time back in the AHL, although he did have brief stints back in the NHL with the Sabres in 2021-22 and a second go-around with the Sharks in 2022-23 as a call-up option. He spent most of 2023-24 on an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign but got an NHL deal from the Kings at the trade deadline to serve as an emergency recall option in the postseason.

Last season, Dell returned to the Sharks organization for a third time on an AHL deal with the Barracuda. He had an .890 SV% and a 3-3-3 record in 10 games for them and a .914 SV% and a 6-6-1 record in 13 games for their ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder.

Dell put a pin in his playing career after recording a .905 SV%, 2.92 GAA, five shutouts, and a 50-50-13 record in 130 NHL appearances. He also had a .912 mark and 11 shutouts with a 70-57-20 record in 155 AHL games in parts of eight seasons.

We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Dell on his career and wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Carey Price Trade Not A Necessity For Canadiens

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Trade attention has once again zoned in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price as the league announces changes to the use of long-term injured reserve and salary cap in the postseason. The future Hall-of-Fame goaltender hasn’t played since 2021, after undergoing meniscus surgery to address a severe knee injury. Montreal has kept him on LTIR, and thus received full relief from his $10.5MM cap hit, in each of the three seasons since. That cap hit and LTIR relief could each be beneficial for teams across the league, but Canadiens’ general manager Kent Hughes told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that he’s in no rush to find a deal. Hughes said:

We don’t have to trade Carey Price… If we can find a trade to move his contract that makes sense for us and makes sense for another team, we’ll pursue it. But we don’t have to.

The Canadiens are currently $5.93MM over the salary cap, per PuckPedia. Placing Price back on LTIR at the start of the season will bring them up to roughly $4.57MM in cap space, more than enough for next season. That cap relief underlines Hughes’ sentiment of not needing a deal, and would likely force Montreal to bring back another long-term injury in any Price trade. They could balance their budget by swapping Price for a player like Logan Couture from the San Jose Sharks, or even by acquiring Shea Weber’s contract from the Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams sit roughly $6MM over the salary cap floor as things stand, and could get a hardier budget by paying up for Price’s contract.

As for what Montreal could expect in return, the list of comparable IR moves has run a bit thin. Montreal used Weber’s contract to acquire NHL winger Evgenii Dadonov from the Vegas Golden Knights in 2022. He’s moved multiple times since – most recently in a trade to Chicago alongside minor-leaguer Aku Raty and the rights to Victor Soderstrom in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.

In the year prior to Weber’s original move to Vegas, Chicago used Brent Seabrook’s contract to acquire NHL forward Tyler Johnson and a second-round pick. That could be a better structure to hope for – though it’s hard to gauge if the market remains the same four years later, and with the changes to LTIR. With no rush to make a deal, Montreal will have the luxury of sitting back until a strong offer comes through.

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