Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sharks Rumors

San Jose Signs Undrafted Forward Vladislav Kotkov

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The San Jose Sharks have employed the window to sign undrafted first-year draft eligible players by inking a promising forward prospect. The team announced this evening that they signed Vladislav Kotkov to an entry-level contract. Kotkov has been attending development camp with the Sharks this past week and did enough to earn a deal.

Kotkov, 18, was ranked 81st among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting heading into the 2018 NHL Draft and was one of the biggest surprises among undrafted players. Kotkov was a first-round pick in the CHL Import Draft last year and enjoyed success in his first season playing major junior, posting 49 points in 61 games for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL.

The hulking winger stands 6’4″, 205 lbs. and plays a heavy power forward game that matches his frame. Kotkov also developed a surprising finesse game given his stature while developing in his native Russia. Kotkov’s skating concerns likely drove down his draft stock this year, but he was clearly a priority undrafted free agent for the Sharks and can now return to Chicoutimi for another year or two now with some additional guidance from his NHL squad. Kotkov is out to prove to the rest of the league that he was worthy of a draft pick. That chip on his shoulder and size that you can’t teach could mean that Kotkov could one day see NHL action.

San Jose Sharks Sign Tomas Hertl To Four-Year Extension

at CDT | by 1 Comment

After just locking up veteran Joe Thornton only a few minutes ago, the San Jose Sharks followed that up by announcing they have signed restricted free agent Tomas Hertl to a four-year contract extension. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz writes the deal is worth $5.625MM per year.

Hertl has been plagued with knee injuries throughout his career, but put together his best season ever last year when he tallied 22 goals and 26 points. They are similar numbers to his 2015-16 campaign, but knee injuries persisted the season after when he was forced to undergo surgery after re-injuring his knee during the Stanley Cup Finals that year, which forced him to miss all but 33 games that year. One reason for his success this season was due to a positional change. The 24-year-old moved from center position to the wing alongside Logan Couture, which made a big difference to the success of the team’s top line.

Hertl, a first-round pick back in 2012, has started to show leadership abilites and that showed in the playoffs when he posted nine points in 10 games and was a steady force against the Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Joe Thornton To One-Year Deal

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks have re-signed center Joe Thornton to a one-year deal, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports the deal is for $5MM and carries a no-trade clause. With Thornton now back in the fold, the Sharks still have $13.8MM in projected cap space with just a few restricted free agents left to sign, suggesting the team could still make another move.

The return of the 39-year-old Thornton was never in question, as the team was only waiting to see if they could convince superstar free agent John Tavares to sign with the team. Thornton was already told he would come back regardless of whether the team inked Tavares or not. Kurz adds that he heard from a source that Thornton was willing to take significantly less had the team managed to sign Tavares. He did receive some attention from other teams, but had little interest in leaving the Sharks.

“There were teams calling, but I told my agent-slash-brother, let’s keep it quiet this year,” Thornton said (via Kurz). I want to go back to San Jose.”

However, it so far looks like San Jose had hinged its offseason hopes of Tavares signing with them as the team did not sign any other significant free agents once it learned that Tavares was heading to the Maple Leafs. Although they did extend Evander Kane over a month ago, the team has spent much of its time moving out salary to accommodate a Tavares’ deal. With significant cap room remaining, there could be other moves coming, although the team must still deal with restricted free agents Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney.

After putting up an 82-point season in the 2015-16 season, Thornton’s numbers have been on the decline, which shouldn’t be a surprise at his age. He put up 50 points in 2016-17 and looked to be ready to improve on that last season, but a knee injury limited the veteran center to just 47 games last year (36 points) and he was forced to miss the playoffs.

 

Sharks Agree To Eight-Year Extension With Logan Couture

at CDT | by 5 Comments

July 1: The Sharks have now made the deal official and confirmed the aforementioned terms.

June 30: The extension is worth $64MM over the eight years, report David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link) and Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

June 27: The Sharks are closing in on an eight-year contract extension with forward Logan Couture, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (video link).  No financial terms are available at this time but he notes that the contract could be made official on Sunday, the first day that he’s eligible to sign the extension.

Signing players to early extensions is something GM Doug Wilson has done in the past.  Last summer, he inked defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (eight years) and goaltender Martin Jones (six years) as soon as they were eligible to.

Couture has spent his entire career with the Sharks who drafted him in the first round (ninth overall) back in 2007.  He became a regular with the team three years later and has never looked back as he has emerged into a reliable two-way forward that has been fairly consistent offensively, averaging between 0.69 and 0.83 points per game over the last eight years.

The 29-year-old is coming off of one of his best seasons as he set a new career high in goals (34) which will certainly help his negotiating leverage.  He’s set to earn $6MM for 2018-19 and it’s quite likely that this new deal will exceed that amount.

As the contract won’t kick in until 2019-20, it won’t have any immediate bearing on their pursuit of soon-to-be UFA center John Tavares or any other players they’d look to add this summer.

Assuming this gets finalized as expected, it will be interesting to see how quickly Wilson and the Sharks turn their focus to center Joe Pavelski.  He’s also set to enter the final year of his contract next season and is eligible to sign a new contract as early as Sunday.  The 33-year-old has also spent his entire career in San Jose and is coming off another strong campaign where he posted 66 points in 82 games.  However, if they are able to land Tavares or another prominent addition up front, they may not have the long-term cap room to keep him around.  Accordingly, while the Sharks have acted quickly on extensions as of late, one for Pavelski may have to wait a little while yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings To Sign Drew Doughty To Eight-Year Extension

at CDT | by 7 Comments

July 1: The Kings have officially announced the contract, signing Doughty to an eight-year, $88MM contract extension. The deal will kick in for the 2018-19 season, and make Doughty the highest-paid defenseman in the league, barring an even bigger extension being signed before then.

June 29: A major impending free agent is about to be off the market, but it’s not a member of the 2018 class, but the 2019 class. When July 1st arrives and players with expiring contracts after next season are first eligible to sign extensions, Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty is expected to re-sign with the Kings. TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that the two sides put the finishing touches on a max eight-year extension today that will be officially signed on Sunday. No financial terms have been disclosed.

The Kings are undoubtedly one of the teams that benefited the most from the massive salary cap spike this off-season. That added flexibility allowed L.A. to add much-needed scoring in the form of Ilya Kovalchuk without losing the breathing room needed to retain Doughty. For a time, many speculated that Doughty would test free agency next summer, but over the past few months the Norris Trophy-winner has made it clear that he would prefer to stay with the Kings. The team’s acquisition of Kovalchuk and continued search for talent this off-season was likely the very last boost of confidence that Doughty needed to re-up in L.A.

Doughty now joins fellow defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes and center Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks as potential superstar free agents who will instead sign on with their current teams as soon as possible. Doughty is the biggest name so far and, if previous reports prove true, will soon be the highest paid defenseman in hockey. Doughty has gone on the record as saying that he would like to be paid more than Nashville Predators blue liner P.K. Subban, who is currently the highest-paid defenseman in the league at $9MM AAV. LeBrun’s TSN colleague Darren Dreger is among many speculating that deal will land in the realm of $11MM per year over the eight years, which would make him the new top dog among defenders and the second-highest paid player in the league – at least until Erik Karlsson signs his next contract.

Western Notes: Winnipeg Goalies, Seguin, Lehtonen, Fehr, Beagle

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the trade of goaltender Steve Mason this morning to open up some cap space, the Winnipeg Jets find themselves with a sudden hole in their lineup as the team no longer has a viable backup goaltender behind starter Connor Hellybuyck. Their top goalie out of the AHL, Michael Hutchinson, is already an unrestricted free agent and likely to move on, while the next in line is Eric Comrie, who has a total of four NHL games to his name.

That will force the cap-saving Jets to find a cheap solution on the free agent market. A few days behind in the recruiting market, many of those backup options are already off the board, such as Carter Hutton (Buffalo), Jonathan Bernier (Detroit) and Cam Ward (Chicago).

The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe writes there are options out there, suggesting the team look at some under-the-radar goaltenders who struggled a year ago. Tops on his list is former Buffalo Sabres netminder Chad Johnson, who struggled last year in Buffalo with a 3.55 and a .891 save percentage. However, the 32-year-old was behind one of the worst defenses in the league, while the Jets’ offense could easily protect Johnson better.

  • Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that extension talks between the Dallas Stars and Tyler Seguin can’t even start until after John Tavares signs a contract and sets the market. Whatever Tavares gets will be the starting point for negotiations between the two parties. Seguin, who is eligible to sign an extension starting tomorrow, put up a career-high 40 goals for the Stars. However, the 26-year-old can also opt to become a free agency next year in a similar fashion to what Tavares is doing now. Dallas has made it clear they want to lock the center up long-term.
  • Former Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and current unrestricted free agent could be an interesting watch, according to Fox Sports Andy Strickland. The 34-year-old backup was interested in joining the Boston Bruins as a backup to Tuuka Rask, but now doesn’t seem likely. While there has been some interest from some Western Conference teams, he could choose to retire if the right opportunity doesn’t present itself. Lehtonen finished last season with a pedestrian 2.56 GAA and a .912 save percentage as a backup for the Stars.
  • The Athletic’s Michael Russo writes the Minnesota Wild have had conversations with free agent center Eric Fehr. The 32-year-old veteran had trouble cracking the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup this year and was eventually traded to the San Jose Sharks for a 2020 seventh-round pick, but made an impression centering the team’s fourth line. He put up three goals in 14 games and played in 10 playoff games. The scribe also writes that he doubts Fehr ends up in Minnesota.
  • Despite rumors that the Vancouver Canucks were closing in on an agreement with unrestricted free agent center Jay Beagle yesterday, Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet reports that the market for Beagle is increasing and driving up his pricetag. Vancouver remains quite interested in signing the veteran and are very, very much in the race to acquire him.

Poll: Biggest Surprise Among Non-Qualified Free Agents?

at CDT | by 10 Comments

When the deadline to issue qualifying offers to restricted free agents comes and goes each year, there are always a few surprises on the list of those who did not receive an offer. For both those players and teams across the league, it can often be a shock that those players are suddenly unrestricted free agents able to sign with whoever they like. Oftentimes, not receiving a qualifying offer does not automatically mean that the player and his team are through. Already this year, defensemen Derrick Pouliot, Ryan Murphy, and Joe Morrow and forwards Riley Sheahan and Phil Di Giuseppe were not tendered an offer, but soon after signed with their respective squads. Yet, this year has also left more notable names than usual to be scooped up by another team come July 1st.

Robin Lehner, the 26-year-old starting goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, was one of the earliest known players to not be qualified. Whenever a starter hits the open market it can draw attention, but it’s much more surprising when that starter is both young and experienced. Lehner has seen regular NHL action for the past five years, some as a backup or “1B” with the Ottawa Senators and others as the “1A” for Buffalo. Granted, Lehner has had his fair share of difficulties, both staying healthy and performing when he is on the ice, but it came as surprise that the rebuilding Sabres were so willing to move on from their young keeper. In each of his first two seasons in Buffalo, Lehner posted a save percentage of .920 or better and a majority of his appearances were quality starts. Only this season did those numbers drop off, but apparently that was enough for Buffalo to cut him loose. With Chad Johnson also a free agent, the Sabres head into the off-season lacking any true NHL-caliber goalies on the roster.

Anthony Duclair, just 22 and a former 20-goal scorer, was another surprise that many did not see coming. In his sophomore season in the NHL in 2015-16, the 20-year-old Duclair played in 81 games for the Arizona Coyotes and registered 44 points, good enough for fourth on the team. The young winger even garnered Calder Trophy votes. However, last season his play fell off substantially and this year was only marginally better, prompting a mid-season trade to the Chicago Blackhawks. Many opined that a change of scenery would be good for Duclair, who has shown great talent but needs to put it all together on a more consistent basis. Yet, Chicago gave the experiment 23 games before deciding to move on. A team with major cap problems who is always in need of affordable scoring let a young goal-scorer with years left of team control remaining walk in free agency after less than half a season.

Tobias Rieder, a 25-year-old two-way forward, found himself in a similar situation. Rieder was traded to the Los Angeles Kings ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline and played well in his limited role down the stretch for the Kings. However, it wasn’t enough as Rieder was curiously non-qualified after just 20 regular season games in L.A. Before that, the well-rounded forward had played a major role in the forward corps of the Arizona Coyotes. Rieder has recorded more than 20 points in each of his four NHL seasons and has been a double-digit scorer in each year as well. The young German winger plays a smart, physical style and has an innate ability to crash the net and light the lamp. At 25, he still has room to grow and has 20-goal potential in the right situation. The Kings passed up a chance to take a longer look at what Rieder can do and, of course, have scoring winger as their biggest need this summer.

Dylan DeMelo, the 25-year-old defenseman most recently of the San Jose Sharks, is a hard one to understand as well. DeMelo seemingly did everything he was asked of in San Jose, but found himself a free agent anyway. DeMelo had worked to carve out a role for himself with the Sharks in his first two seasons with the team, but in 2017-18 seemed to have found his place. The young defender skated in 63 games and set a new career high in points by a wide margin with 20. While DeMelo is not an offensive juggernaut by any means, he is solid defensively and was a nice complement on the blue line to the many other talented defenders in San Jose. Even if the Sharks were worried about committing too much money to defense or wanted to give some more time to other even younger options, it is hard to imagine that they couldn’t have found a taker for DeMelo on the trade market.

What do you think? Who is the biggest surprise among the RFA’s that did not receive qualifying offers this year and now find themselves looking for a new team this summer as a UFA?

Biggest Surprise Non-Qualified Free Agent?
Anthony Duclair 44.12% (540 votes)
Robin Lehner 21.57% (264 votes)
Dylan DeMelo 12.91% (158 votes)
Tobias Rieder 12.58% (154 votes)
Other - Shore, Nordstrom, Yakupov, Carr, Davidson, Claesson, Mrazek, Kuhnhackl (comment below) 8.82% (108 votes)
Total Votes: 1,224

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Free agency is now just days from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of San Jose’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Tomas Hertl – The 24-year-old is coming off of a nice bounce-back season that saw him set a new career high in goals (22) while equalling his best point total (46).  He also did so while spending a significant amount of time at center.  All of these will certainly help his arbitration-eligible case as he comes off of his bridge deal that saw him receive a $3.2MM qualifying offer by the deadline back on Monday.

With them getting Mikkel Boedker and his $4MM off the books, they’re widely expected to be involved in the free agent and trade market.  How they fare will likely dictate whether they go with a long-term deal for Hertl or a one-year pact to save on the cap hit a little bit.  Based on comparable contracts, a long-term pact is likely to check in around $5MM while the one-year deal would be closer to $4MM.

F Chris Tierney – Tierney’s emergence as a legitimate secondary scorer largely went under the radar in 2017-18.  After putting up a combined 43 points in the previous two seasons, the soon-to-be 24-year-old tallied 40 points (17-23-40) while doing so for not much above the league minimum.  That’s going to change this summer as he is eligible for arbitration and he’s going to have a case to push for an AAV around the $3MM range, assuming they work out a multi-year deal.  After being viewed as a depth piece, Tierney now factors in as their third line center for the foreseeable future.

Other RFAs: None

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Joe Thornton – 2017-18 wasn’t a great year for the veteran.  Thornton suffered a knee injury in late January that kept him out of the lineup for the remainder of the season and playoffs.  However, he was still relatively healthy as he posted a respectable 36 points in 47 games while notching his best goals per game average (0.28) since 2008-09.  He may be slowing down but he can still play a top-six role.

The expectation is that the soon-to-be 39-year-old will ultimately re-sign in San Jose.  The question is for how much his one-year deal will be.  He’s coming off an $8MM salary but with him missing so much time, he’s not going to get that high of a guarantee this time around.  Part of his next salary will be determined by what else the team does this summer but it wouldn’t be surprising if his deal is more bonus-laden this time around to hedge against further injury woes.

Other UFAs: D Dylan DeMelo, F Eric Fehr, F Jannik Hansen, F Brandon Mashinter, F Joel Ward

Projected Cap Space: The Sharks find themselves with just under $19MM to work with this summer per CapFriendly.  While re-signing their own players will take a big chunk out of that, they should have enough room left to be suitors for the top players in free agency and in the trade market.  They’re going to be heard from over the next few days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Final Group Of Six Will Wait For Decision From John Tavares

at CDT | by 17 Comments

The free agent interview period is supposed to drum up intrigue around dozens of names that will undoubtedly change teams on July 1st, but all eyes this year have been on pitch meetings taking place at the CAA headquarters in Los Angeles. Those meetings are meant to woo John Tavares, who would arguably be the best free agent to ever hit the market in the salary cap era. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tavares’ current team the New York Islanders presented on Monday, with the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks meeting with the superstar center and his representatives on Tuesday. Wednesday is blocked off for the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, after which, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Tavares will shut down all communication with other teams. There were previous reports that some teams, namely the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators, were in the running through phone conversations, but that doesn’t appear to be the case any longer.

So six teams—New York, Toronto, Boston, San Jose, Dallas and Tampa Bay—will wait patiently tonight after Tavares hears the final pitches, and await word of whether he’ll be leaving for a new address this summer. The Islanders of course are the only team that can offer Tavares an eight-year deal, and the other teams are not currently allowed to discuss contract details, only express interest. If Tavares reaches Sunday without a contract, the Islanders lose their advantage and become like any other team able to sign him to seven years. Should that happen, it seems unlikely that he’d be heading back to the Islanders, meaning the countdown is on for New York.

Of course there are different strengths and weaknesses from each market, and TSN has released a calculator to show off the differences surrounding state (or provincial) taxes. The Lightning and Stars have a huge advantage in this way, though it is obviously not the only determining factor. Even with a no-movement clause, there is no guarantee that a player spends his whole career in a certain state, meaning there likely won’t be any discounts for the teams which have the best tax rates.

Joe Thornton Still Expected To Re-Sign In San Jose

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The San Jose Sharks have cleared quite a bit of cap room in the recent weeks, and with that are expected to be big players in free agency. They have been confirmed as one of the teams granted a sit down meeting with John Tavares this week, and are considered by some to be the front runner if the superstar center decides to leave the New York Islanders. Even if they do land a big fish on the open market though, the team is still expected to re-sign veteran center Joe Thornton for at least one more year. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that there is “no hurry” to get Thornton’s contract signed, and it will be dependent on what else the Sharks do. That’s a nice luxury for GM Doug Wilson to have, especially given the relatively thin market at center among free agents.

Thornton will turn 39 on July 2nd, is coming off another major knee injury, and played just 47 games last season. That said, when healthy he was still a dominant playmaking force and can still help any team in the league. If the Sharks can get him on a final team-friendly contract, he could become one of the most valuable assets around the league. Last season’s $8MM cap hit will surely come down significantly, and it will likely be just for one season if he stays in San Jose.

If Tavares or another free agent center comes to the Sharks over the next few days, Thornton would likely be pushed down the lineup. The team has plenty of options at center already, but is committed to improving their club this summer and taking another run at the Stanley Cup. Many believe Logan Couture will be extended quickly once he’s eligible next week, but the core of the team isn’t getting any younger. Joe Pavelski will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, while Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are both signed deep into their thirties. The time to win is now in San Jose, and Thornton clearly wants to be a part of it.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top