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Ducks Linked To David Carle, Jay Woodcroft, Joel Quenneville

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Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek is in the midst of his second search for a head coach after just his third full season in the club’s top role. After failed tenures with Dallas Eakins and Greg Cronin, Verbeek is pulling out all of the stops. Anaheim reportedly interviewed top coaching prospect David Carle and former Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft recently, and plan to also hold a second interview with record-holding head coach Joel Quenneville, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun added that the trio of heavy-hitters aren’t the only names on Anaheim’s list.

Whoever lands in the Ducks’ head coaching vacancy will have one clear goal for next season: making the postseason. Verbeek put heavy emphasis on that goal in Anaheim’s final press conference of the season, and said he would be aggressive in the coaching circuit and free agency to achieve that goal. The Ducks haven’t made the postseason since 2018, when they closed a six-year run of playoff berths by getting swept by the San Jose Sharks. That Ducks squad leaned on clearly aged veterans – including a 32-year-old Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and a 33-year-old Ryan Kesler. Kesler retired and Perry left after the subsequent season, while Getzlaf hung up the skates in 2022. Those departures thrust the Ducks into a rebuild that Verbeek hopes to end with a return to the playoffs in 2026.

Anaheim will have some dazzling coaching candidates to choose from. Leading the pack is the coach with the second-most wins in NHL history. Quenneville hasn’t been deemed as a clear front-runner for the vacancy, but a second interview is a mighty bode of confidence for a man who was barred from coaching from 2021 to 2024, due to his involvement in assault allegations from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. There was only one coaching vacancy by the time Quenneville was reinstated late last summer, and he reportedly wasn’t considered for the role. That makes attention from Anaheim particularly notable, marking Quenneville’s first chance to prove himself after not coaching a full, 82-game season since 2019-20. He won three Stanley Cups with the dynasty-era Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Two strong candidates will headline the competition for Quenneville’s bid. Carle has gained plenty of acclaim from the hockey world after leading the University of Denver to two national championships in 2022 and 2024. Those rings have been intercut by a conference final loss in 2023 and a frozen four loss this season. He also won back-to-back World Juniors gold medals in each of the last two seasons. Carle has staked his claim as one of the most accomplished coaches in college hockey – a remarkable feat considering he is still only 35-years-old, with just seven years of head coach experience under his belt. Carle did withdraw his name from consideration for the Chicago Blackhawks coaching vacancy, and is expected to return to the Denver Pioneers next season – but a strong pitch could convince the burgeoning coach to move to Southern California.

Woodcroft doesn’t have the multiple years of championship pedigree of Quenneville and Carle, though he did lead the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to a Calder Cup in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He was promoted to the NHL partway through the following season and led the Oilers to a pair of playoff berths before being axed after a 3-9-1 start to the 2023-24 season. He is another young head coaching candidate with 20 years of experience behind pro benches. That could serve him well as Anaheim looks to strike a balance between winning now and building for their future.

Sharks' Andrew Poturalski Awarded AHL MVP

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  • While not much went right for the San Jose Sharks this season, their AHL-affiliate does have something big to celebrate. San Jose Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski was announced as the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player, per a league release. Poturalski, 31, scored 73 points in 59 games to lead the Barracuda to their best record since 2019 (while missing the final three weeks of the regular season due to injury). Poturalski has had a phenomenal AHL career, securing three scoring titles and two Calder Cup championships. However, he has never been able to showcase that success in the NHL, appearing in just nine games with three assists.

San Jose Sharks Sign Matt Davis To AHL Contract

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For the second time in as many years, the San Jose Sharks organization has signed another National Championship-winning netminder out of the University of Denver. The Sharks AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, announced they’ve signed goaltender Matt Davis to an AHL contract through the 2025-26 season.

The news comes exactly two years and 12 days since the Sharks signed Magnus Chrona out of the Pioneers program. Davis, who played as Chrona’s backup for his freshman and sophomore campaigns, won the first National Championship of his career in 2022. Once Chrona transitioned to professional hockey, Davis was given the reins in southern Denver once the 2023-24 season began.

It’s a move that worked out well for the program. Davis was flat-out electric in his first season as the Pioneers’ starter, managing a 25-5-3 record in 34 games with a .917 SV% and 2.34 GAA, including two shutouts. He backstopped the University of Denver to a second-place finish in the hotly contested NCHC Conference. He helped knock out the University of Massachusetts, Cornell University, Boston University, and Boston College en route to their 10th National Championship in program history.

Even though Davis did not receive any awards in the NCHC Conference, he was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and the HCA’s Goaltender of the Month for March. Remarkably, Davis had an even better season in 2024-25.

He finished his senior campaign with a 29-10-1 record in 40 games with a .924 SV% and 2.07 GAA. Unfortunately, despite knocking out Providence College and Boston College, the Pioneers ran into a red-hot Western Michigan University in the Frozen Four, ending their chance at a repeat victory. Still, he earned one NCHC Conference award, the 2024-25 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Davis finished his NCAA career with a 63-17-4 record in 90 games with a .921 SV% and 2.13 GAA. Assuming Yaroslav Askarov becomes a full-time netminder for the Sharks in 2025-26, Davis has every opportunity to become the Barracuda’s leading man.

Sharks Reassign Zack Ostapchuk, Jack Thompson

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The Sharks announced they reassigned center Zack Ostapchuk and defenseman Jack Thompson to AHL San Jose on Tuesday. Both were injured to end the regular season last week but will now head to the Barracuda to suit up in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Ostapchuk was brought in at the trade deadline from the Senators as part of the return for winger Fabian Zetterlund. Ottawa selected the 21-year-old early in the second round of the 2021 draft, the same year San Jose landed cornerstone rebuild piece William Eklund with the No. 7 overall pick. After getting his first taste of NHL action in a seven-game trial late last season, Ostapchuk spent most of 2024-25 in the NHL. He appeared in 56 games for Ottawa and San Jose, but the 6’4″, 212-lb pivot didn’t demonstrate much offensively.

The Alberta native averaged just 9:25 per game – still seeing less than 10 minutes of ice time in 13 games down the stretch with the Sharks – and was limited to four points (one goal, three assists) as a result. However, he was decent on draws (48.6 FO%) and was a factor physically with 110 hits on the season. He also helped drive play for the Sharks at even strength in his limited minutes down the stretch. He spent most of his time centering a checking line with Barclay Goodrow and Carl Grundström and helped the trio control 51.4% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.

Ostapchuk will be making his Barracuda debut when he suits up for them in the postseason. He’s eligible to play in the AHL playoffs because he was on assignment to AHL Belleville when Ottawa and San Jose executed their trade, so he was briefly on the Barracuda’s roster before the Sharks recalled him. He had 2-9–11 in 15 showings with the B-Sens earlier this season.

The 23-year-old Thompson also spent a solid portion of the season on the Sharks’ roster. Acquired from the Lightning in last year’s Anthony Duclair trade, the offensive-minded righty managed 4-6–10 with a minus-nine rating in 31 games while averaging 15:47 per contest. Half of his assists came on the power play, where he was sometimes deployed on the second unit and averaged 1:08 per game.

While not an overly physical one-on-one defender, the 6’1″ rearguard is willing to block shots and had good possession results in his rookie season. San Jose controlled 45.4% of shot attempts and 50.4% of expected goals with Thompson on the ice at even strength, both around or above team averages. Both he and Ostapchuk are candidates to start next season on the opening night roster, particularly the former, although he requires a new contract as a pending restricted free agent. He’ll now aid the Barracuda in the postseason after posting 3-11–14 in 27 regular-season AHL contests.

Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  First up is a look at San Jose.

As expected, it was another tough year for San Jose.  They integrated two of their top prospects into the lineup in forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith while acquiring their goalie of the future in Yaroslav Askarov.  From a long-term prospect standpoint, they’re doing well.  But the on-ice product this year didn’t yield many points with the Sharks finishing last in the standings once again.  That means that GM Mike Grier has a big checklist to take care of this summer.

Add A Veteran Goalie

While Askarov is their goalie of the future, their goalie of the present has been in flux in recent years.  Mackenzie Blackwood, Kaapo Kahkonen, Vitek Vanecek, and Alexandar Georgiev all had opportunities over the last couple of seasons but none of them were able to get the job done.  The first three have since been traded or let go in free agency while Georgiev won’t be retained either.  Meanwhile, although Georgi Romanov has shown some promise, he’s far from being ready to take on a full-time role in the NHL.  As a result, they’re going to need to look outside the organization to fill this spot.

Askarov will be starting a two-year, $4MM bridge contract next season and while he’s their long-term solution between the pipes, he only has 16 games of NHL experience while injuries have limited him to 35 games so far (though that will go up at least a bit more in the AHL playoffs).  With that in mind, he may not be getting penciled in as their undisputed number one goalie.  That means that they’ll enter free agency as one of the teams potentially looking for a short-term starter.

The good news for the Sharks is that there shouldn’t be too many teams looking for that type of goaltender.  The bad news is that there aren’t many, if any, of those players out there.  Consider that there is just one pending UFA who played more than 41 games (half the schedule) this season.  That was Georgiev and we know he’s not coming back.

Someone like Jake Allen would make sense for the Sharks.  He’s used to being in a rebuilding environment already from his time with Montreal and could theoretically be the strong-side platoon goalie next season before flipping roles with Askarov the following year.  Ilya Samsonov didn’t have a great market last summer but if there’s a shot at a short-term path to being a starter, he could be intrigued by the Sharks while if they want a bit of potential upside, Daniel Vladar is the youngest UFA goalie on the market as he won’t turn 28 until August.  It’s not a deep list to choose from by any stretch but Grier should be able to land a short-term partner for Askarov to get through the next year or two.

Eklund Extension Talks

If it feels like William Eklund has been around for a while, he has.  He saw close to the maximum NHL time without starting his contract in his first two seasons so he already has 174 career appearances at the top level under his belt.  He still has one year left on his deal which means he will be eligible for an extension on July 1st.

In 2023-24, the 22-year-old had his first full NHL campaign and did pretty well, notching 16 goals and 29 assists in 80 games.  Had he been eligible, he likely would have received some down-ballot Calder Trophy voting but by virtue of playing more than six games in the previous two seasons, he was no longer eligible for the award.  He improved on those numbers this year, tallying 17 goals and 41 helpers in 77 appearances, finishing second to Celebrini in team scoring.  Drafted seventh overall in 2021, the hope was that Eklund could become a core center for the Sharks.  Things haven’t gone well when he has played down the middle but he has settled in nicely as a core winger and is someone Grier will likely look to get locked up now.

While there are some big-ticket contracts coming in a couple of years from now, San Jose’s cap situation is about as clean as they come; only one player is signed past the 2026-27 campaign.  In other words, there’s ample room for Eklund and the two rookies (Celebrini and Smith) to ink long-term deals without needing to be worried about complicating things cap-wise down the road.

Finding the right price tag will be interesting.  The projected increases to the salary cap for the next few years bring a new element into play that we haven’t seen before and it’s one that’s going to make contracts like this go higher than they have before.  Under the older system that didn’t have projections, an AAV starting with a seven on a long-term deal would seem like a reasonable range for Eklund.  But with the quicker increases, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his camp aim higher than that to get him to put pen to paper on a new deal early.

Leverage Cap Space

Let’s dig into their cap situation a little further.  Per PuckPedia, the Sharks have nearly $44MM in cap room for next season.  Their most expensive pending restricted free agent is Klim Kostin ($2MM) but he’s a non-tender candidate.  Most of their other RFAs are coming off entry-level deals and are likely heading for bridge contracts that won’t be too cost-prohibitive.  They only have a handful of spots to fill on their roster and a lot of spending to do simply to get to the spending floor of $70.6MM, a number they’re nearly $20MM below at the moment.

Unfortunately for San Jose, acting as a third-party retainer in a trade is probably off the table.  Two of their three retention slots are encumbered through 2026-27 (Tomas Hertl’s runs through 2029-30) and while the Brent Burns one will come off the books, that will only happen on July 1st.  The bulk of the heavy trade activity tends to happen before free agency opens up so they probably won’t be able to use it early.  Additionally, they probably will want to keep a spot available to help facilitate a trade in-season closer to the trade deadline as they’re likely to be sellers once again next season.

But teams looking to offload a pricey contract should be calling the Sharks.  They can easily absorb a big-ticket expiring contract or two and pick up some future assets (likely draft picks) for doing so.  They could also look to take on a multi-year deal like they did with Barclay Goodrow last spring if they feel the player can be part of their medium-term plans.  Again, in most of those instances, they’d be compensated for alleviating the other team’s cap concern.  It’s low-hanging fruit, so to speak, but utilizing some of their cap space to take on some unwanted deals will garner them some future assets and assuming the player isn’t injured, the moves would also upgrade their roster as well.

Add A Bridge Center

One area that they might have to turn to free agency to try to fill is center.  Mikael Granlund logged heavy minutes for them to take some pressure off Celebrini while allowing Smith to ease in on the wing.  Following his trade to Dallas, Smith stayed away from his natural position with Alexander Wennberg taking on a bigger role.  Wennberg isn’t a true top-six option at this point while it appears that they weren’t comfortable putting Smith there yet.  We also know Eklund has settled in on the wing so they’d likely prefer to keep him there as well.  Accordingly, there’s a top-six opening to be filled.

The challenge here for the Sharks will be selling themselves in a market where a lot of teams, including some very competitive ones, will be trying to fill that particular role.  This is where their cap space can be an asset as they can comfortably overpay on a shorter-term offer or if they find someone they like longer-term, they’ll be more comfortable than most adding a year or two if it helps get something done.

In terms of who they’d likely consider, the top veterans are probably out of reach.  Granlund makes a lot of sense and he didn’t close the door on a return following his trade to Dallas.  Sam Bennett is one they’d likely be interested in but it would be surprising to see San Jose be the top bidder there if he makes it to the open market.  Ryan Donato could be more of an upside swing if they think his breakout year with Chicago could be repeatable.  Brock Nelson is one they could afford but they might have to overpay on term to get something done.  There are some options out there but they won’t be the easiest to get.

On top of trying to fill that spot, adding a bottom-six option as well would be useful with both Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin being shipped out at the deadline.  Ty Dellandrea and Zack Ostapchuk finished out the year in those spots but it wouldn’t be shocking to see them try to upgrade on the third line at a minimum.  This one could be filled via the trade route but it’s a bit easier to land these types of players in free agency.  Either way, while the Sharks are still in a spot where they don’t need to be loading up with several additions, they will want to look for some help down the middle in the coming months.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images.

Sharks Sign Leo Sahlin Wallenius

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The Sharks signed one of their promising prospects on Friday, announcing that they inked defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius to a three-year, entry-level contract.  While the team didn’t reveal financial terms, the deal will carry a $940K cap hit and a $975K AAV including bonuses, per PuckPedia.

The 19-year-old was a second-round pick last June, going 53rd overall after an impressive season with Vakjo’s Under-20 team, one that saw him collect 11 goals and 31 assists in 43 games.  He also briefly saw time with their Under-18 squad and represented Sweden at the World Under-18 Championship.

This season, Sahlin Wallenius bounced around a bit.  He had 14 points in 8 games for Vaxjo at the Under-20 level but also saw time in Sweden’s two professional leagues as well, suiting up in 14 games for Nybro in the Allsvenskan where he had six points and 16 more appearances for Vaxjo in the SHL, where he picked up five points.  In between, Sahlin Wallenius also played in seven games with TPS in Finland’s top division where he added three more points.

Sahlin Wallenius has one year left on his contract in Sweden.  It wouldn’t be surprising for him to play the year there, likely at the SHL level, and then head to North America for the 2026-27 season.  If that happens, his contract will slide next season and have three years remaining on it heading into that 2026-27 campaign.

Sharks Notes: Celebrini, Mukhamadullin, Gushchin, Schuldt, Carlsson

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Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will suit up for Canada at the upcoming World Championship, reports Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest.  The rookie was actually originally named to the squad last year but ultimately didn’t play.  The number one pick last year, Celebrini had an impressive rookie campaign, tallying 25 goals and 38 assists in 70 games to lead San Jose in scoring, five points ahead of William Eklund, who will play for the host Swedes.  Meanwhile, Miller adds that it’s unclear if their other top rookie, Will Smith, will play for Team USA at the event.  Smith was fourth on the Sharks in scoring with 45 points in 74 games.

More from San Jose:

  • Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin underwent successful shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, relays Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 23-year-old suited up for 30 games with the Sharks this season, collecting nine points and 51 blocked shots while averaging a little over 18 minutes a night of playing time.  Mukhamadullin also had nine assists in 21 games with the AHL’s Barracuda.  He’s expected to push for a full-time lineup spot next season.
  • The team announced (Twitter links) that they’ve assigned forward Daniil Gushchin and defensemen Jimmy Schuldt and Lucas Carlsson to AHL San Jose. Gushchin got into a dozen games with the Sharks this season, notching just one assist.  Meanwhile, Carlsson had a goal and three assists in 13 games while Schuldt was held off the scoresheet in his eight outings, his first NHL action since late in the 2018-19 campaign.  The Barracuda recently clinched a playoff spot and will certainly be happy to have one of their top scorers and two of their better blueliners back for the postseason.

Sharks Won’t Re-Sign Alexandar Georgiev

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Sharks general manager Mike Grier has informed goaltender Alexandar Georgiev he won’t be offered a contract extension before reaching unrestricted free agency in July, Georgiev told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News late last night.

It’s been a difficult two seasons for the 29-year-old. While he led the league in wins in back-to-back seasons behind a powerhouse Avalanche team in 2022-23 and 2023-24, he didn’t receive any Vezina Trophy consideration in the latter year due to poor individual stats. The Bulgarian native posted a .897 SV% and 3.02 GAA in 63 games for Colorado last year, below-average numbers at face value. The Avs bled quality chances against more than usual in 2023-24, though, so those stats still translated to 5.0 goals saved above expected on the year, per MoneyPuck.

But heading into 2024-25, Georgiev’s seat in Colorado was hot as he entered the final season of a three-year, $10.2MM deal. Young backup Justus Annunen had outperformed him down the stretch, and he was underwhelming in the Avs’ playoff action. Georgiev had a .894 SV% and 2.95 GAA in 11 games as Colorado was ousted in the second round by the Stars.

Both Georgiev and Annunen were borderline unplayable at the beginning of this year, and both were traded by mid-December. Annunen went to Nashville for veteran backup Scott Wedgewood, while Georgiev was sent to the Sharks in a deal for Mackenzie Blackwood after posting a porous .874 SV%, 3.38 GAA, and an 8-7-0 record through 17 starts and one relief appearance.

As expected, things only improved marginally for Georgiev behind one of the league’s worst defenses in San Jose. He was a workhorse for the team with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov and backup Vítek Vaněček missing significant time with injuries (and the latter ended up being traded to the Panthers at the deadline), starting 30 of 52 games after the trade. He logged a 7-19-4 record, a .875 SV%, and a 3.88 GAA. Across 49 showings on the year, his lowest workload since 2021-22, he allowed 17.9 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck. Only the Flyers’ Samuel Ersson (19.9) conceded more.

With Askarov primed to take on a starter/1A role in the NHL next season and more stable backup options available on the free agent market, it makes sense that the Sharks wouldn’t be interested in bringing Georgiev back to the organization. Whether there will be NHL offers available for Georgiev remains to be seen. There might be a couple of teams banking on a rebound to at least league-average play amid a relatively thin goalie market this summer, but otherwise, a return to Europe may be in the cards. Before arriving in North America with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent in 2017, he was a star in Finland’s Liiga with TPS, posting a .920 SV% across 51 games there.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images.

Jan Rutta Could Return For Finale

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  • Veteran defender Jan Rutta was on the ice for the San Jose Sharks’ morning skate and could be inserted back into the lineup, per Max Miller of the Sharks Hockey Digest. Miller noted that Luca Cagnoni was sent back down to the AHL yesterday, perhaps clearing a path for Rutta’s return. Rutta missed nearly two months with a lower body injury before recently returning to the lineup. However, the team opted to sit Rutta out in game two of a back-to-back on Monday. Rutta recently expressed his desire to re-sign with the Sharks. The 34-year-old is set for free agency this summer but has enjoyed his opportunity to play in San Jose. On the season, Rutta has produced nine points, 80 blocked shots, and a minus-three rating.

Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni

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  • The San Jose Sharks have assigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni back to the minor leagues after recalling him to play in their latest game, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Cagnoni recorded an assist and two penalties in roughly 18 minutes of Monday’s overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The score was his second assist in six NHL games this season, on top of eight penalty minutes and a minus-four. Cagnoni was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on Wednesday – high praise after he led all rookie defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 49 points in 62 games this season. Cagnoni had a breakout season in his first professional campaign, and already seems to be outperforming his fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He will look to keep a good year going as the San Jose Barracuda prepare for a playoff push.

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