The San Jose Sharks have sent minor league forward Vincent Praplan to the Florida Panthers in exchange for future considerations. Praplan was signed by the Sharks in March 2018 and has been playing all season for the San Jose Barracuda.
Praplan, 24, has 16 points in 27 games for the Barracuda but there have already been rumors of a potential return to Switzerland after the season. His one-year entry-level contract will expire at the end of 2018-19, at which point Praplan would be an arbitration eligible restricted free agent. There’s a real chance that the Sharks were not intending to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the year, something that the Panthers may be more willing to do.
It’s interesting that this deal comes just after the Panthers watched Micheal Haley return to the Sharks, but there is no way they could have guaranteed he fell all the way to San Jose in the waiver process. Instead, it likely is just a favor to the player or organization to provide a better opportunity down the stretch.