Feb. 9: Gawanke has cleared waivers and will now sign with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports Friday.
Feb. 8: The San Jose Sharks have placed defenseman Leon Gawanke on waivers for the purpose of contract termination, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The 24-year-old has spent all season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he leads defensemen in scoring with eight goals and 27 points through 38 games – the highest point-per-game pace of Gawanke’s five-year AHL career. This success comes after Gawanke tied for the league’s lead in goals scored by a defenseman last season, with 20 through 68 games.
The Sharks acquired Gawanke in a minor-league swap this summer, sending Artemi Kniazev to the Winnipeg Jets in return. Winnipeg has also seen their acquisition move away, with Kniazev starting the season in the AHL but moving to the KHL’s Kazan Ak-Bars in the new year. Gawanke signed a one-year, two-way, $775K contract with the Sharks that he is now poised to terminate. If he does clear waivers, he will get the change to negotiate as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
Gawanke was a fifth-round selection in the 2017 NHL Draft. He made his professional debut two seasons later and has since spent all of the last six years in the AHL – save for a six-game stint with Germany’s Berlin Polar Bears during the 2020-21 season. Gawanke has been the top-scoring defenseman on his team in four of his pro seasons, but whether that will be enough to earn him a new deal is yet to be seen.
I wonder why A) the Sharks haven’t given this kid a chance what do they have to lose? And B) why the kid wouldn’t stick it out with that kind of AHL success…my guess is homesick and no NHL stints.