The San Jose Sharks took advantage of the expansion draft frenzy by acquiring Adin Hill from the Arizona Coyotes just before the roster freeze went into effect. The Coyotes were at risk of losing Hill for nothing in the draft, so turned him into a goaltending prospect and second-round pick before Seattle had the chance to claim him. The Sharks won’t be under the same pressure and Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweets that they are not expected to make any side-deals with the Kraken before Wednesday’s draft.
As the draft approached, it seemed more likely that the Sharks would make a deal with Seattle to take one of the team’s high-priced assets than to protect an extra player or two. Instead, they decided (or were forced) to protect all of the aging stars, not leaving much for the Kraken to choose from. If the expansion club takes someone like Dylan Gambrell, who recently re-signed with the team, it certainly wouldn’t be too painful given they were willing to trade him just a few days ago. A side-deal certainly isn’t necessary to protect any of those that are currently exposed.
One has to wonder if this is an opportunity missed, even if it would have cost the Sharks a hefty price. While Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic would have been the top candidates for a side-deal trade where Seattle received something to take on their contracts, both have no-movement clauses that they would have had to agree to waive. It’s Brent Burns then that is the real discussion piece since he has no such protection. The Sharks could have left the 36-year-old defenseman available and worked on a deal for Seattle to assume the $8MM cap hit. That price would have been substantial, but given the team doesn’t have a ton of other prime targets, perhaps a trade could have been achieved.
Instead, the Sharks protected Burns and will seemingly go into another season with $26.5MM tied up in three aging defensemen. His deal, which runs through 2024-25, will actually expire first among the three. Karlsson is signed at $11.5MM through 2026-27 and Vlasic at $7MM through 2025-26. It’s going to be difficult for the Sharks to put together a contending team with that kind of money tied up. Though it would have been painful, a side deal may have been the best option.
Of course, the recent history of trading with an expansion team may be weighing heavily on the minds of many general managers around the league. In 2017, quite a few teams worked out deals with the Vegas Golden Knights to direct their expansion selections, and almost none of them paid off. In fact, many became abject failures that set up the Golden Knights for success while stripping multiple valuable assets out of the original organization. There is a chance, at least, that Burns lives up to his hefty contract for the next four seasons or that the entire group experiences a bounce-back campaign, meaning a trade would have been a huge mistake. There’s also the potential that San Jose GM Doug Wilson did try to work out something like a Burns-trade, only to be rebuffed by Kraken GM Ron Francis completely. Seattle has full say over how they construct their team and whether they want to take on any bad money at an early stage.
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
Boy, I hope nobody suggests they fire Doug Wilson for *this* ! ;)
DarkSide830
EXTEND DOUG WILSON
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@DarkSide830 – I knew you’d come through! :)
jdgoat
I know he’s been a bit of a bust to this point but if I’m Seattle I still take a stab on Ryan Donato.
dave frost nhlpa
Donato is on my Seattle selection in our war room.
@MacJab you know we would never want to fire a GM that hands out life bonuses. LOL.
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@Dave – :)
Nha Trang
I passed on Donato for my own mock draft, simply because Seattle’s going to have to take five or six league minimum contracts, and I just couldn’t see anyone on the Sharks’ exposure list that stirred me. Might as well grab some 1st line AHLer here.
urban schocker
Seattle has some leverage with so many teams hamstrung by the flat cap, but teams are wary of the mess made in dealing with Vegas in 2017. I suspect Francis may have overplayed his hand and many teams will just let the chips fall where they may after the flurry of trades prior to the roster freeze, instead of gaming the selections. Fascinating for us arm chair GMs and fans to strategize.
The Kraken paid a steep price $750M? For the privilege of taking a pound of flesh. Wednesday should be a fun reveal.
kingcong95
Wilson wouldn’t have had an ounce of leverage if he wanted to side deal. I have no problem with this, but that doesn’t mean he had to protect Burns.
tgslug84
Sharks should be moving on from WIlson. Not having a top 10 protection in the Karlsson deal for the prior draft and losing Stutzle should have been enough for them to fire him.
jdgoat
That’s the karma he gets for the Hoffman trades. Extend Doug Wilson!
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@JD – It’s official! We now have a bandwagon! Go, Doug, Go!
Mr. Nobody
As much as I loathe Wilson, I can’t blame him for not protecting the pick. I mean, obviously you’d rather be safe than sorry but how often does a team go from a Game 6 loss in the Conference Finals to 29th in the league in 1 year? I’m not gonna blame him. That one could have happened to any one in that situation. What he should be fired for is re-signing Karlsson to an 8 year, $92 million contract instead of spending that money on a Top 6 winger, a better goalie and some depth. Had he done that they probably would’ve been back in the playoffs. We already had Burns. We didn’t need Karlsson. I think the only reason he traded for Karlsson was because he wanted to go all-in for Tavares and when he ultimately lost, he felt that he needed to do something big. He didn’t have to re-sign him though.
compassrose
I haven’t looked up pay scale or cap. I was wondering is the Carey Price price tag too high for him? I remember him from the Canucks and the Olympics-for Canada. He also has a $10 mill bonus coming. Does Seattle pay that or do the Canadiens. Is he the best goalie available ? Is there a young still improving goalie available? I would prefer a veteran goalie to keep the D in shape and players respect him.
I was also wondering what the chances of Ovechkin leaving and signing here. I think it would be a huge bonus to get him. I am excited to see both drafts. I like watching the first couple days of all the drafts. I record them if I can’t watch live.
kingcong95
Price is looking at a major knee or hip surgery. That’s why he’s not going to get selected.
Donovan Voigt
Ovechkin will not leave the capitals he openly said he wants to finish his career either in Washington or back home in Russia
Skute23
FIRE DOUG WILSON!!
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@Skute23 – You’re late! We’ve already extended him…twice!
lapcheung39
X2
backhandinbaptist
EXTEND UNCLE DOUGY!!!!