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Sharks Sign Macklin Celebrini To Entry-Level Contract

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A little after a week drafting him with the first overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft the San Jose Sharks have locked up their new player. The team announced they have signed Macklin Celebrini to a three-year, entry-level contract starting in the 2024-25 NHL season.

According to Puckpedia, Celebrini will make a base salary of $877.5K each year of his entry-level deal. Additionally, the team has offered Celebrini the maximum amount of signing bonuses possible, as he will receive a signing bonus of $97K, Group “A” performance bonuses totaling, $1MM, and Group “B” performance bonuses of $2.5MM in all three years which could bring his AAV up $4.475MM if all conditions are met.

The signing confirms that Celebrini will suit up for the Sharks next season as players become ineligible for NCAA participation after signing professional contracts. The young prospect will become a one-and-done player with Boston University and move to the Bay Area to start his professional career.

It was not a bad lone collegiate season for Celebrini as he joined the Terrier program after spending one season with the Chicago Steel of the USHL in the year prior. In 38 games for Boston University this past season, Celebrini scored 32 goals and 64 points which was good for third in league-scoring in his freshman campaign. At the end of the season, Celebrini was named the Hockey East Player of the Year, Hockey East Rookie of the Year, Hockey East Scoring Champion, Hockey East Three Stars Award, and the Hobey Baker Award winner.

Celebrini became the youngest player in NCAA history to win the Hobey Baker and the fourth freshman all-time behind Paul Kariya (1993), Jack Eichel (2015), and Adam Fantilli (2023). Celebrini became the unanimous best prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft by achieving such a dominant season in the American collegiate scene. He will continue his rise to stardom in the Sharks organization as the team looks to rebuild its team from the ground up. San Jose has not quite taken the next step to be considered a playoff contender for the 2024-25 NHL season but they should be exciting to watch with Celebrini and former fourth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Will Smith, on the roster after signing his entry-level contract at the end of May.

Ty Emberson Files For Arbitration

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Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and originally produced by the National Hockey Leaguer Players’ Association, 14 players have elected for salary arbitration this summer. The deadline for team-elected arbitration is tomorrow. Friedman also notes the arbitration hearings will happen between July 20th and August 4th. To add context, not every one of these players will appear for a hearing with their respective teams as they may continue to negotiate on a new contract. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet. Here is a list of the players that have elected for arbitration:

F Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
F Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
D Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
D Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)
D Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
D Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
D J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
F Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Sharks Sign Carl Grundström To Two-Year Deal

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The Sharks have signed left winger Carl Grundström to a two-year, $3.6MM contract, per a team release. The team also officially announced a two-year deal for Ty Dellandrea, as reported earlier Thursday. Grundström’s deal will carry a $1.8MM cap hit until expiry in 2026.

Grundström spent the 2023-24 season with the Kings, where he’d spent his entire NHL career to date after being acquired from the Maple Leafs as part of the Jake Muzzin trade in 2019. The 26-year-old winger was limited to 50 appearances last season by injury, posting eight goals and four assists for 12 points.

The 2016 second-round pick was a solid fourth-line checking winger from the moment he entered the league five years ago, and little has changed since. In 236 career showings in L.A., the Swede had provided solid depth offense with 40 goals and 67 points while recording 564 hits. He’s stayed mostly disciplined despite his physical play, never tallying more than 26 PIMs in a single season.

With the Kings looking to shore up their defensive depth, they dealt Grundström’s signing rights to their NorCal rival in exchange for stay-at-home defender Kyle Burroughs last week. It took a few days, but San Jose now has him under contract, avoiding a potential arbitration hearing. It’s a $500K raise annually over Grundström’s previous deal. He’ll compete for ice time with other grinders like Klim Kostin and Luke Kunin in San Jose’s bottom six.

Sharks Sign Ty Dellandrea To Two-Year Deal

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The Sharks have signed right winger Ty Dellandrea to a two-year, $2.6MM deal, according to PuckPedia. He’ll cost $1.3MM against the cap in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Dellandrea, 24 later this month, has 151 games of NHL experience, all of those coming with the Stars over the past four years. An RFA this summer, the Sharks acquired his signing rights from Dallas for a 2025 fourth-round pick on June 19.

The 2018 13th overall pick looked like he had locked down a full-time NHL role after playing in all 82 games for Dallas in 2022-23, but he fell out of favor in the most recent campaign. In that 2022-23 season, Dellandrea scored nine goals with 19 assists for 28 points with a +9 rating. He was deployed in fourth-line minutes at even strength but was an important part of the Stars’ penalty kill, averaging just over two minutes per game there to bring his nightly average to 14:12.

But in 2023-24, he played just 42 games for Dallas, posting nine points and a -10 rating. He spent the whole season on the NHL roster but sat for about half of it as a healthy scratch, including a nearly three-week stretch in January. He averaged 12:40 per game on the year, still seeing significant usage shorthanded when dressed, but his even-strength minutes were reduced by a decent margin.

Time is slowly running out for Dellandrea, who scored 70 points in 47 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds in his final season of junior hockey, to develop offensively. The Sharks still likely see upside in Dellandrea as a potential future third-line fixture with a solid two-way game, especially considering his strong showing in his one full season in the minors (50 points in 68 games with AHL Texas in 2021-22). They can be patient with his development, too – he won’t be UFA-eligible until 2028.

The Sharks have been focused on adding some more NHL-experienced talent to protect their developing forward prospects in recent weeks. They claimed forward Barclay Goodrow off waivers, signed Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg in free agency, and brought in depth winger Carl Grundström in a trade with the Kings, although he’s still an RFA in need of a deal. That’s likely GM Mike Grier’s next order of business after getting one done for Dellandrea today.

San Jose Sharks Announce Full Coaching Staff

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The San Jose Sharks have announced their full coaching staff for the 2024-25 NHL season as well as a few new hires. Assistant coach Brian Wiseman, goaltending coach Thomas Speer, video coach Nick Gialdini, and assistant video coach Cody Ward will all return to the organization as the team has hired Doug Houda and Jeff Ulmer as assistant coaches.

Houda joins the Sharks organization after spending the last two years in the same role with the New York Islanders. It is interesting to see Houda earn a job as quickly as he has considering his lackluster performance with the Islanders’ penalty kill over the last two seasons. Before being hired in New York to serve as the team’s penalty kill coach, the team sat fourth in the NHL in the 2021-22 season with an 84.19% penalty kill. Since Houda’s hire, the team fell to ninth place in the 2022-23 season with an 82.19% success rate and even further to the league’s worst last year with a 71.49% success rate.

Ulmer earns his first role on an NHL bench after spending the last three years with the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, the Abbotsford Canucks. Focused primarily on the team’s powerplay and forward group, the AHL Canucks finished sixth in scoring in the AHL while sitting second in their division with a 23.0% clip on the powerplay.

In the front office, the Sharks also announced the hire of former power forward Ryane Clowe as the team’s new assistant general manager. Clowe assumes his new role after being a special advisor to general manager Chris Drury of the New York Rangers last year. The former player has vast experience with the Sharks organization already as he suited up in 432 games for San Jose between 2005-2013 and scored 101 goals and 217 points in the process.

Sharks Sign Andrew Poturalski

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According to an announcement from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks have signed forward Andrew Poturalski to a two-year, two-way contract. With several prospects hoping to make the jump to the AHL level this season, the Sharks organization has added one of the premier minor league scorers over the last several years.

Poturalski originally came to professional hockey with the Carolina Hurricanes as an undrafted free agent from the University of New Hampshire. Most of Poturalski’s career has been spent in the AHL as he’s collected only six games at the NHL level since the start of the 2016-17 NHL season. Now 30 years old, Poturalski’s trophy case already carries the 2021 and 2022 John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s top scorer, the 2019 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, and Calder Cup rings from the 2019 and 2022 AHL playoffs.

Outside of his most recent Calder Cup victory in 2022, Poturalski has also helped the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, appear in back-to-back Calder Cup finals. There is quite a lot of work to be done with the Barracuda as the team has not qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs since the 2020-21 AHL season.

It will be difficult for AHL San Jose to find a more capable player, however, as Poturalski seems to win wherever he goes. Over the last three years, Poturalski has scored 54 goals and 194 points in 169 regular season games while scoring another 13 goals and 45 points in 47 postseason contests.

Sharks Notes: Celebrini, Chernyshov, Afanasyev, Ulmer

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Sharks first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini will decide whether he’s turning pro for 2024-25 shortly after this week’s development camp ends, he told reporters yesterday (via San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng). The high-end two-way center prospect won the Hobey Baker Award for the top player in college hockey last season after recording 64 points in 38 games for Boston University as a freshman and didn’t turn 18 until well after the season had ended.

It’s overwhelmingly likely he’ll be in the San Jose lineup come opening night, as Peng says he’s been led to believe Celebrini is turning pro for months now. Only two first-overall picks out of college in recent memory – Erik Johnson (2006) and Owen Power (2021) – have returned to school after their draft year. In Johnson’s case, it wasn’t a return, either. He’d spent his draft year in the U.S. National Team Development Program before attending the University of Minnesota in 2006-07. Either way, both players were defenders, and neither was viewed as the true franchise talent Celebrini is.

Elsewhere out of the Bay Area:

  • San Jose is also facing a similar decision from their third pick of the draft – Russian winger Igor Chernyshov, who they picked up with the first pick of the second round (33rd overall). While he was under contract to continue with Dynamo Moskva in the Kontinental Hockey League, that may no longer be the case. Mikhail Zislis of Sport-Express reports he’s terminating the deal to head to North American juniors. Chernyshov’s agent, Dan Milstein, followed up to Peng that there’s “nothing imminent” about Chernyshov’s decision for next season but did confirm it was up in the air. If he is joining the junior ranks on this side of the Atlantic, it would be with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. They selected Chernyshov in today’s CHL Import Draft.
  • While one Russian is getting closer to San Jose, another appears to be leaving. Peng reported earlier this week that RFA forward Egor Afanasyev is set to sign a two-year deal in the KHL, presumably with CSKA Moskva, who owns his rights. The Sharks acquired Afanasyev’s signing rights in a swap with the Predators last month, sending 2020 first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt the other way. He made just two NHL appearances with Nashville last season but had 54 points in 56 games on assignment to AHL Milwaukee.
  • On the off-ice side, the Sharks are reportedly adding to their coaching staff in the form of former AHL Abbotsford assistant Jeff Ulmer, The Hockey News’ Max Miller reports. It’s unclear in what capacity, although there is one assistant opening on the Sharks’ bench under first-year head coach Ryan Warsofsky. Ulmer, 47, had spent the last three seasons in the Canucks organization as an assistant in Abbotsford and was also a member of the Coyotes’ player development department from 2019 to 2021.

Minor Free Agent Signings: Pacific Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Pacific Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Anaheim Ducks

none

Calgary Flames

G Devin Cooley (two years)
F Martin Frk (one year)

Edmonton Oilers

D Connor Carrick (one year)
G Collin Delia (one year)
F James Hamblin (two years)
D Noel Hoefenmayer (one year)
F Noah Philp (one year)

Los Angeles Kings

F Glenn Gawdin (two years)
F Tyler Madden (one year)
F Jack Studnicka (one year)
D Reilly Walsh (one year)

San Jose Sharks

D Lucas Carlsson (two years, $800K cap hit)
D Jimmy Schuldt (one year)

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro (one year)
D Nikolas Brouillard (one year)
D Maxime Lajoie (one year)
F Mitchell Stephens (two years)

Vancouver Canucks

G Jiří Patera (one year)
F Nathan Smith (one year)

Vegas Golden Knights

F Zach Aston-Reese (one year)

Sharks To Sign Alexander Wennberg

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The Sharks are signing UFA center Alexander Wennberg to a two-year deal worth $5MM annually, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

It’s clearly above market value for Wennberg, likely signed with the intent to help San Jose stay above the $65MM cap floor. But that doesn’t mean the addition is devoid of value for the Sharks, who desperately need veteran talent to help avoid overworking rookies like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, both of whom project to slot into the opening night lineup.

Wennberg is what he is at this stage of his career, recording between 30 and 40 points for three years in a row. The 29-year-old has logged heavy minutes over the past few years, averaging around 18 minutes per game since 2020-21, certainly more than he’s suited for. But he does manage decent possession numbers in defense-oriented usage at even strength, and he’s been a fixture on the Kraken’s penalty kill since they signed him in free agency three years ago. He’ll remain a top PKer as he makes the move to San Jose via a brief stop in New York thanks to a deadline deal to the Rangers in March.

He struggled to produce in postseason action for the Blueshirts, limited to one goal and one assist in 16 games. He’ll look for a fresh start in San Jose, where he’ll get a solid paycheck and is joined by veteran additions Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Toffoli up front to help add some much-needed secondary scoring.

Sharks Sign Tyler Toffoli To Four-Year Contract

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Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports that forward Tyler Toffoli will sign with the San Jose Sharks once free agency opens up at the top of the hour. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, the Sharks will pay Toffoli a total of $6MM per season.

Since the start of the 2021-22 NHL season, Toffoli has played for four different teams on a tour across Canada and the Atlantic coast of the United States. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports the contract will be a four-year agreement between the Sharks and Toffoli, giving the scoring winger a sense of stability for the time being.

Regardless of the constant change of scenery, Toffoli has kept pace as one of the better-scoring wingers around the league. In 156 games over the last three years split between the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, and Winnipeg Jets, Toffoli has put up 54 goals and 122 points. Achieving back-to-back 30-goal campaigns over the past two years, Toffoli may be a good bet to reach the 40-goal total for the first time in his career as he should be expected to log heavy minutes for the Sharks.

Not only does Toffoli bring valuable offensive prowess to a young San Jose lineup, but the veteran forward has appeared in four postseason runs over the last five years. In those four trips through the Stanley Cup playoffs, Toffoli has racked up 11 goals and 25 points over 46 games while also winning the Stanley Cup as a member of the Los Angeles Kings back in 2014.

All that compiled into one player is what makes this such a dynamic signing for the Sharks. The organization was desperate to improve upon a 2.20 GF/G and 20.19% powerplay percentage from a season ago. In Toffoli, the team adds that in addition to a veteran with plenty of playoff experience.

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