Sharks Rumors

San Jose Sharks Acquire Eric Fehr From Toronto Maple Leafs

February 20, 2018 at 3:57 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 14 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded veteran center Eric Fehr to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2020 seventh-round pick. Fehr had been playing for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, loaned away earlier this year after being buried in the minor leagues.

Fehr, 32, had found something of a career resurgence in San Diego, scoring 28 points in 34 games. His $2MM cap hit was prohibitive to him playing in Toronto, despite the Maple Leafs looking for another fourth-line center option. Now heading to San Jose, Fehr will provide some veteran depth for a club looking to get back to the playoffs. Fehr won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins two years ago, and has played in 60 playoff contests throughout his career.

For the Maple Leafs, this sheds another contract and gives them more financial flexibility at the deadline. Since the team was in long-term injured reserve salary exemption, moving Fehr’s deal actually opens up quite a bit more room for them at the deadline. CapFriendly reports that Toronto can now add up almost $6.5MM in cap hit, making them potential players in nearly everyone on the market. That contract spot is also important for the club, as they had been at 49 of a possible 50 since trading Nikita Soshnikov.

Fehr had cleared waivers twice in the last 12 months, but his contract stopped any team from taking a chance on him. Now just a few months away from free agency, the Sharks can afford to add him to their books and will still have the flexibility of keeping him in the minor leagues should they want to. A seventh-round pick—while relatively little for the Sharks—is a nice return for the Maple Leafs, who obviously had no plans for the veteran forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Deadline Primer: San Jose Sharks

February 19, 2018 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

With the trade deadline now less than a week away, we continue our closer look at the situation for each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the San Jose Sharks.

After losing Patrick Marleau to Toronto in free agency, many have been waiting for the Sharks to make some kind of move to replace him. It didn’t happen on the open market nor has it happened during the season as they have opted to try some of their younger players in Marleau’s old spot instead. With San Jose in a tight battle for a playoff spot, will this be the time that they make a splash?

Record

32-19-8, second in Pacific Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$24.4MM full-season cap hit, 0/3 retained salary transactions, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2018: SJ 1st, SJ 4th, SJ 5th, SJ 6th, SJ 7th
2019: SJ 1st, SJ 2nd, SJ 3rd, SJ 4th, SJ 5th, SJ 6th, SJ 7th

Trade Chips

Goaltender Aaron Dell has long been suggested as San Jose’s best card to play in a trade. He’s having a strong season (2.51 GAA, .917 SV% in 24 appearances) and with unrestricted free agency on the horizon, the belief is that they won’t want to pay him the type of money he should be able to get on the open market. However, San Jose’s depth between the pipes behind Dell isn’t the strongest so moving him would be quite a risk if Martin Jones was to get injured down the stretch. Accordingly, any deal involving Dell would have to have a goalie coming back (or they would at least have to have a follow-up swap in place to replace him).

While most buying teams would be shopping draft picks and prospects, GM Doug Wilson has already stated that he has no intention of moving those top assets for rentals. As a result, they may be more inclined to deal from the outskirts of their roster to try to tweak things, especially since they’re already down two of their top three picks for this season. Defenseman Paul Martin had been in the AHL until earlier today and is an option to be moved depending on San Jose’s willingness to take a similarly high-priced contract in return or how much of his deal they’re willing to retain on.

Five Players To Watch For: G Aaron Dell, D Dylan DeMelo, RW Jannik Hansen, D Paul Martin, RW Joel Ward

Team Needs

1) Center Depth: The injury to Joe Thornton has forced them to shift Logan Couture back to the middle and he is better served as a winger. While the Sharks are optimistic that Thornton will be back in time for the postseason, that doesn’t appear to be a guarantee at this point. The challenge here will be the lack of trade bait to land a top-six replacement so Wilson may be forced to look for a third-line option instead to at least shore up the depth. They were linked to Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec earlier this month and while he is more of a checker than a scorer at this point in his career, he can still log a heavier workload than most bottom-six players.

2) Top-Six Winger: The fact that Marleau was never really replaced comes into play here, as does the fact that Couture has had to be shifted down the middle. The Sharks have given youngsters Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc chances in the top six and, as expected, the results have been mixed. Mikkel Boedker and Joonas Donskoi are better suited as third liners which means there still is a hole to be filled on one of their top two lines. If they’re willing to take on contracts beyond this season, they could be a team to watch for in the non-rental market as there are several wingers available that could fill this void.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Paul Martin Recalled By San Jose Sharks

February 19, 2018 at 4:10 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks have brought veteran defenseman Paul Martin back to the NHL, recalling him along with Rudolfs Balcers today. In a corresponding move, the team has moved Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl to injured reserve.

Martin, 36, was waived earlier this season after battling injury and assigned to the minor leagues for the first time in his career. Since jumping right from the NCAA to the NHL in 2003, Martin had played 859 NHL games split between three clubs. A stay-at-home defenseman capable of a good first pass, Martin had been a key member of the Sharks blue line and a perfect complement to Brent Burns’ roving style.

No one took a chance on Martin when he was on waivers, mostly because of his hefty $4.85MM cap hit this year and next. He took the demotion in stride and tried to prove his worth at the AHL level, and has now been given another chance in the NHL. He’ll still be eligible to be sent back down without clearing waivers for some time, and another team could reach out to try and acquire him if he shows well. It’s not clear where exactly he fits into the Sharks lineup right now, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction for the veteran defenseman.

How Flyers Can Deal With Injuries In Net

February 18, 2018 at 6:15 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 3 Comments

Things have been going well for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has won six of their past ten games and are firmly engaged in a battle for a Metropolitan Division playoff spot. However, the one shortcoming of the Flyers for years now has again reared its ugly head: goaltending. Philly’s goalies have performed well this season, with starter Brian Elliott holding 21 wins and backup Michal Neuvirth performing statistically even better as Elliott’s understudy. For the first time in years, goalie performance has not been a defining issue for the Flyers. However, Elliott is now out of the picture for the time being after suffering a core muscle injury earlier in the month which required surgery and could keep him sidelined through the end of March. Meanwhile, Neuvirth succumbed to a lower-body injury earlier today and had to leave the Flyers’ match-up with the rival New York Rangers. While young Alex Lyon performed admirably in relief, allowing only one goal en route to his first NHL win, the Flyers face a real possibility of being without their top two goalies for some time. So what do they do?

1) Stand Pat

It’s too early to know how long Neuvirth will be out, so the Flyers could let cooler heads prevail and wait to see what the prognosis is on his injury. If Neuvirth will simply miss a few games, the team could rely on Lyon and veteran journeyman Dustin Tokarski, acquired in October for this exact emergency situation, for the time being. Lyon, a former phenom at Yale University, has struggled in limited NHL action this season, but has been good for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in each of the last two seasons. Now could be a good time to see what the 25-year-old brings to the table.

2) Acquire a stopgap

Perhaps if Lyon had more than three NHL appearances or Tokarski had more than 10 minutes of NHL action in the past two years, the Flyers would be willing to stick with this tandem, even if Neuvirth remains out for a week or two. Maybe if Anthony Stolarz, shut down for the season after knee surgery in September, was available they would be fine with waiting for Elliott and Neuvirth to return to health. However, the Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race and cannot afford to stick with such inexperienced options for more than a handful of games nor wait on injury timelines with the NHL Trade Deadline a week away. Instead, they could turn to the trade market and look for a short-term option. There isn’t much goalie talk on the rumor mill right now, other than the fact that the Flyers turned down a recent offer from the Detroit Red Wings of Petr Mrazek for a third-round pick. They could certainly revisit bringing in the impending restricted free agent for a tryout down the stretch. The team could also look at trading for San Jose Sharks backup Aaron Dell, who’s having a breakout year and comes with a cheap price tag for the remainder of the season. However, the Sharks are a fellow playoff-chaser and might be hesitant to move their backup unless they were getting another in return, either Neuvirth or Elliott. Other options could include Michael Hutchinson from the Winnipeg Jets (though they too have injury issues in net), Andrew Hammond from the Colorado Avalanche, or one of the many minor league keepers from Toronto or Calgary, if those teams are willing to deal.

3) Acquire a starter

Of course, the Flyers could also take this opportunity to bring in a starting-caliber goalie; one who could eliminate the worry of whether Elliott will be healthy by playoff time. Philadelphia could look at short-term starter, such as impending free agents Antti Raanta from Arizona or Robin Lehner (RFA) from Buffalo. However, more interestingly, they could also look for a long-term fit. Both Elliott and Neuvirth are only signed through next season. If they could send one or the other back in a trade, they could look to acquire a starter with term on his contract. That could be as easy as bringing in Lehner or Mrazek with the intention of extending them. Either one could do the job for a few years, bridging the gap to star prospect Carter Hart. It could also open the door to Detroit’s other goalie, Jimmy Howard, who could benefit from a change of scenery with one year left on his deal. The Vancouver Canucks could entertain moving Jacob Markstrom during a down year, though he may not be much of an upgrade over Philly’s current stable and is signed for two more seasons. One possible dark horse candidate would be Colorado starter Semyon Varlamov, who has been outplayed by backup Jonathan Bernier this season and is signed through 2018-19 at an expensive $5.9MM cap hit. For those of you thinking Carey Price though, think again.

Minor Transactions: 2/18/18

February 18, 2018 at 10:07 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With a full slate of games last night, the Vegas Golden Knights continued their winning ways. With their victory over the Montreal Canadiens, the first-year expansion team has become the NHL points leader once again as the team now has 82 points so far this season. With a seven-game matchup today, many NHL teams will be making moves today. Check back in as those moves are made throughout the day.

The New York Rangers announced they have assigned goaltender Brandon Halverson to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. He was recalled Saturday to serve as backup to starter Henrik Lundqvist against the Ottawa Senators. However, due to Lundqvist’s struggles against Ottawa, Halverson did manage to make his NHL debut last night, allowing one goal and saving five shots in 12:33 of action. Halverson was a second-round pick in 2014. With backup Ondrej Pavelec out with a strained MCL, the team had called up Alexander Georgiev from Hartford, but he was out Saturday with the flu. Halverson’s assignment would suggest that Georgiev should be ready for the team’s next game on Thursday.
The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz tweets that the San Jose Sharks have recalled forward Daniel O’Regan from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL for today’s game. The scribe suggests that Tomas Hertl might not be ready to play yet after leaving Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury when he crashed into the boards. He already missed one game. O’Regan has been up and down for much of the season. He has played 17 games for the Sharks this year and has four assists. O’Regan has seven goals and 18 assists in 30 games with the Barracuda.
The Dallas Stars announced that they have sent forward Jason Dickinson to Texas of the AHL. He has played in 13 games with Dallas this season, averaging 9:19 per night while being held off the scoresheet. He has been more productive at the minor league level though, recording 22 points in 33 contests.

Penguins, Sharks Showing Interest In Tomas Plekanec

February 11, 2018 at 5:50 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Penguins and Sharks have expressed an interest in Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports (video link).

The 35-year-old has struggled offensively this season with just 20 points (5-15-20) in 55 games but is having a career year at the faceoff dot (51.9% success rate) and has been deployed in key defensive situations which is the type of role that buying teams would likely intend to use him in.

Pittsburgh’s desire to improve their third line center position has been well-known throughout the season, even with their earlier acquisition of Riley Sheahan. Acquiring Plekanec would allow them to move the former Red Wing down to the fourth line while giving them someone to use against the top opposition forwards. However, the Pens have very limited cap room at the moment – less than $1MM in full-season salary per CapFriendly which will present a challenge for GM Jim Rutherford.

As for the Sharks, they are without Joe Thornton for the foreseeable future so they have an opening to fill down the middle. Kypreos notes that there is some question as to whether he will be able to return in time to play meaningful games down the stretch. Accordingly, it’s not surprising to see San Jose have some interest in adding another center and unlike Pittsburgh, they have more than enough cap room to bring someone in.

Plekanec, who we profiled as a trade candidate last month, is in the final season of a two-year, $12MM contract and the Canadiens will likely need to retain a significant portion of that to help facilitate a move if they decide to move him.

However, it’s not a guarantee that he will be traded. In the same segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted that Montreal may very well try to re-sign Plekanec who has only played for the Canadiens in his 14-year career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 2/11/18

February 11, 2018 at 4:25 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

With the NFL season over, the NHL seems to have increased their Sunday games from just a handful to a nine-game set today. With a busy weekend, there should be quite a bit of movement on many NHL rosters today.

The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled forward Nikolay Goldobin from the Utica Comets of the AHL. He returns almost a month after he was sent down. The 22-year-old 2014 first-round pick has nine goals and leads the Comets in assists with 21 assists. He has played 14 games for the Canucks this season. He has two goals and two assists, but has averaged just 12:01 of ice time for the NHL club so far this year.
After losing backup goaltender Malcolm Subban to injury, the Vegas Golden Knights have officially recalled goaltender Manny Lagace from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Lagace had his moments earlier this season while starting for Vegas, while both Subban and Marc-Andre Fleury were out. Lagace was 6-6-1 in 14 games. He had his ups and downs as he carries a 3.79 GAA and a .872 save percentage during that time. He has a 2.65 GAA and a .907 save percentage in Chicago.
The San Jose Sharks made a couple of moves as they have recalled defenseman Tim Heed and Rudolfs Balcers from the San Jose Barracuda. For Heed, this is one of many moves over the last few days. He was sent to the Barracuda on Wednesday, recalled the following day and then sent back to the Barracuda Friday. He played one game for the Barracuda. For the Sharks, the 27-year-old offensive defenseman played in just 27 games this season and has three goals and eight assists. Balcers gets his first call-up to the Sharks. The 20-year-old wing has 12 goals and 31 points this season for the Barracuda.
The Vegas Golden Knights made a second move for the day as they have recalled forward Paul Thompson, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. This will be the first time the 29-year-old has been recalled for Vegas as he’s spent the whole season in Chicago of the AHL. In 48 games with the Wolves, Thompson has 14 goals, 26 points and 82 penalty minutes. He did play 21 games with the Florida Panthers last year and had three assists.
The Minnesota Wild announced they recalled defenseman Nick Seeler from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. The team also announced the have assigned forward Viktor Loov to Iowa. Seeler, 24, has played 49 games for Iowa and has two goals and 10 assists on the year. If he plays Tuesday, it would be his NHL debut. Loov, was just picked up Thursday in a minor trade from New Jersey. The 25-year-old did not get into a Wild game, however. Loov had five goals and 12 assists in 36 games for the Binghampton Devils of the AHL before the trade.

Eastern Notes: Hurricanes, Nash, McDonagh, Van Riemsdyk

February 11, 2018 at 3:48 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 10 Comments

The Carolina Hurricanes are by no means out of the playoff hunt. Afterall, they have won two in a row and currently are clinging to the second and final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. However, the team might end up being sellers at the trade deadline as the young team have quite a few trade chips that could help this team down the road, according to The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required).

The scribe writes that the Hurricanes have quite a bit of depth on the blueline and it should get deeper soon. The team already has captain Justin Faulk leading the defense and although he’s not having as good of a campaign as a year ago, he might make for a good trade chip especially as the defensive salary cap will rise for the team next season. Carolina already have Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce under contract and both their extensions will kick in next year at a combined $9.325MM. Defenseman Noah Hanifin will be a restricted free agent next year and should get a solid raise. The team has rookie Haydn Fleury back next year and likely will have 2016 first-rounder Jake Bean coming in. This might be the right time to make a move for a scoring forward.

Duhatschek also notes that the team, who recently waived Marcus Kruger and Josh Jooris, could also look to move another pair of veterans at the deadline including Derek Ryan and Lee Stempniak. Ryan is an excellent face-off specialist and would make a solid bottom-six center and is an excellent story, while Stempniak, is starting to find his groove after missing much of the season. Ryan has 11 goals and 26 points this season, while Stempniak has played in just 14 games, but has one goal and five assists so far.

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that New York Rangers winger Rick Nash has set his 12-team trade approved list and the veteran revealed that he chose teams based on their chances to win the Stanley Cup this season. “I included the teams that I think have the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup and are also places I think would be good for my family,” the 33-year-old father of two young children said. “And, yes, that does include teams in Canada. I’m not excluding that as a possibility.” Nash says he would consider changing the list if a certain team not on the list shows interest in him. Brooks adds that several teams have shown interest including the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning and possibly the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Brooks also notes that the Tampa Bay Lightning have quite a bit of interest in adding defenseman Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. They believe that with Victor Hedman and McDonagh at the blueline, the chances Tampa Bay could win a Stanley Cup would increase heavily. However, the scribe notes that the Rangers should demand 19-year-old defensive rookie Mikhail Sergachev as the asking price for the veteran defenseman.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten some interest in veteran forward James van Riemsdyk recently, Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston said during Saturday’s Headlines’ segment on Hockey Night in Canada. Johnston said two teams were told they have no plans to trade van Riemsdyk before the deadline. The 28-year-old goal scorer, who has 22 goals so far this year, will be an unrestricted free agent this year, but according to Johnston, has not received any contract extension offers yet. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos added on the segment that the main reason is because van Riemsdyk refuses to take a hometown discount.

Could Thornton Be Done In San Jose?

February 10, 2018 at 5:37 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 4 Comments

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that alarms should sound after San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton refused to say that he will definitely be back this season. That’s a surprise considering he is a player who last year played through torn MCL and ACL injuries during the playoffs. Historically, he’s been a player who goes out on the ice no matter how hurt he is, so the idea that he might not be back this season suggests the injury is worse than people think. Could he have already played his last game as a San Jose Shark?

Trade Candidates: Radim Vrbata

February 8, 2018 at 8:20 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

With the trade deadline approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 26th.

The last time that the Florida Panthers went out and added a veteran Czech forward, it worked out perfectly. Jaromir Jagr was an All-Star and the Panthers were Atlantic Division champions. GM Dale Tallon may have been hoping that lightning would strike twice when he added Jagr’s countryman, Radim Vrbata, this off-season. It didn’t. In fact, Vrabta’s tenure in Florida has been an unmitigated disaster, as the 36-year-old is on pace to have the worst offensive season of his long, successful NHL career.

Nevertheless, Vrbata has shown time and time again to be a lethal weapon when he finds the right line chemistry and, despite what they say, even on teams other than the Coyotes. Vrbata’s decline in production could be a sign of his age, but some teams may gamble on it instead being a product of his surroundings and will look to acquire the experienced scorer at a bargain price. The Panthers are not as far out of a the playoff picture as some might think – six points back with two games in hand as of this writing – but that won’t stop them from entertaining offers on several players, especially Vrbata. The veteran forward hasn’t worked out in Florida and wouldn’t be much of a loss for the Cats, so a trade could wind up as a win-win for both sides.

Contract

Vrbata signed a one-year deal with Florida this summer that carries a $2.5MM base salary, his cap hit for the year. Vrbata can earn an additional $1.25MM in performance bonuses and, interestingly enough, a trade to a contender could trigger one of them; Vrbata earns $250K if his team makes the playoffs this season. He also earns $250K each for 10 goals, 15 goals, 20 goals, and 45 points. With just 5 goals and 13 points thus far, he realistically has a shot at only $500K in bonuses for 10 goals and a playoff berth. This overage would count against next season’s cap.

2017-18

The myth surrounding Vrbata has always been that he doesn’t perform outside of Arizona. While past campaigns in Colorado, Chicago, and Vancouver have indicated otherwise, this season in Florida has only added fuel to that fire. Vrbata has skated in 35 games for the Panthers this season, missing five games due to injury, five to illness, and another six (and counting) as a healthy scratch. Even when he’s been on the ice, Vrbata has been invisible. He’s outside the top ten in goals, assists, and points among Panthers and his impressive power play production has dried up, reduced to just four points on the year. On top of that, Vrbata has the third-worst plus/minus on the team and, as he has his whole career, plays with little physical or defensive ability. As a result of his poor play, the 16-year NHL veteran is seeing the least ice time of his career. The Vrbata experiment in Sunrise did not work out and will soon be over, either via trade or the end of the season.

Season Stats

35 GP: 5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points, -8 rating, 14 PIM, 78 shots, 13:05 ATOI, 44.3 CF%

Potential Suitors

So who would want to trade for such an uninspiring asset? Unfortunately for Vrbata, the Coyotes aren’t an option as they are as far from a deadline seller as any team could be. However, Vrbata has found success elsewhere before in his career and he can do so again. Especially at this point in his career, Vrbata is the perfect deadline depth acquisition: a hired gun who doesn’t need to be relied upon to be a team’s best player. With the right fit, Vrbata can score in bunches down the stretch and in the postseason. Several playoff-bound teams are known to be looking for a scoring winger, including the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and San Jose Sharks. All three teams have the infrastructure where Vrbata could settle in to a middle-six role depending on which personnel he fits best with. Top contenders like the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning – if the Bolts are willing to bring Vrbata back for a second go-round after his disappointing prior stint – could also use the luxury of bringing in a veteran winger, but could also survive if he doesn’t work out and ends up a frequent scratch.

However, where Vrbata is likely the best fit is not with a bona fide playoff team, but instead a fringe team looking to make a minor addition in hopes of increasing their odds of seeing the postseason. The Calgary Flames, who won’t trade away any high draft picks, might be happy to take a look at Vrbata if the price is a late pick or low-end prospect. The Colorado Avalanche, the team that drafted Vrbata, and New Jersey Devils have both stated that they won’t derail their long-term plans by chasing expensive rentals, but could pursue the affordable Vrbata, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes could also be options if they are closer to a playoff berth come deadline day.

Likelihood of a Trade

Predicting whether Vrbata’s 2017-18 performance will outweigh his career production in the eyes of this year’s buyers is impossible. There is a clear need for a veteran winger with a scoring touch on many teams, including some not even mentioned, but whether they target Vrbata over any number of other options (even including Panthers teammate Colton Sceviour) remains to be seen. If anyone does come calling though, it would be a surprise to see Florida turn down the best offer. The Panthers will continue to push for a playoff spot of their own, but Vrbata won’t play a real part in that plan whether he is traded or not. The signing was a failure, but Florida can still turn it into a positive if they are able to get something back in return for trading Vrbata.

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