Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

Free agency is now just a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Sharks.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Alexander Barabanov – Barabanov isn’t expected to return to San Jose this summer, instead set on testing free agency after what was a turbulent season. Barabanov played in just 46 games, missing time with a menagerie of injuries – from a broken finger in October, to illness in December, and then a season-ending ankle injury in late March. And he wasn’t particularly effective on the ice, posting just four goals and 13 points to go with 12 penalty minutes and a -24. It was a disappointing encore to Barabanov’s strong 2022-23, when he scored 15 goals and 47 points in 68 games. But he’ll enter the open market with the confidence that teams are at least interested in his services. The Sharks reportedly had a Trade Deadline move that would have sent Barabanov to the New York Rangers shutdown due to complications with salary retention. He’ll get a chance to connect with New York one-on-one on July 1^st.

F Mike Hoffman – The extent to which any of San Jose’s depth players were impactful this season is hard to gauge. Hoffman wasn’t spared from the tough year, posting a career-low 10 goals and 23 points this season, though he still outpaced many of his bottom-six peers in scoring. Hoffman was serviceable, and his $4.5MM cap hit went a long way towards helping the Sharks reach the cap floor. He’ll be set for a deal much closer to league minimum this summer, though the chance to secure cheap, veteran experience in what’s bound to be a very young lineup could be tempting for San Jose.

F Kevin Labanc – Labanc is also expected to move on from the Sharks this summer after a fall-out with Sharks head coach David Quinn. He was a healthy scratch for much of the year, ultimately appearing in just 46 games and recording nine points. Labanc has fallen a long way from his breakout 2018-19 season, when he posted 17 goals and 56 points in 82 regular-season games, then added nine points in 20 playoff games. But he hasn’t been able to rediscover that scoring, with his 15 goals and 33 points last year the closest he’s come. Labanc has a modest 82 goals and 225 points across 478 career games, all coming in San Jose. That stat line should be enough to earn him a low-stakes contract on the open market, from a team hoping a change of scenery can rekindle Labanc’s scoring potential.

G Devin Cooley – The Sharks acquired Cooley in a last-minute trade at the Trade Deadline, sending the Buffalo Sabres a 2025 seventh-round pick to bolster their goaltending corps after moving Kaapo Kahkonen. And while certainly a minor move, a string of injuries would force Cooley into the NHL lineup near the end of the season. He played in the first six games of his NHL career, posting two wins and saving 167 of the 192 shots he faced, good for an .870 save percentage. They were noteworthy performances, especially when juxtaposed by Mackenzie Blackwood’s five-game losing streak and .890 save percentage to end the season. Cooley hasn’t played himself into a lineup role just yet but he was strong when called upon, even beating out Magnus Chrona for the team’s backup role. San Jose is almost certain to bring in more depth this summer, after having to lean on five different goaltenders this season. That’ll leave no shortage of competition for minor league minutes, though Cooley should enter next season as a favorite to start for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.

Other UFAs: F Justin Bailey, F Ryan Carpenter, F Brandon Coe, F Jacob Peterson, D Jacob MacDonald, G Eetu Makniemi

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Luke Kunin – Kunin established himself as a core member of the Sharks this season, while serving in his first season as one of the team’s alternate captains. While not his best year statistically, Kunin was one of San Jose’s few spark plugs – ready with a deserved goal, heavy hit, or scrappy fight any time the team needed a boost. And while his performance only amounted to 11 goals and 18 points on the year, his intangibles were enough to earn a spot at the 2024 World Championship with Team USA, where he added three points in seven games. His benefits in San Jose know no bounds per David Quinn, who told Erika Towne of Fear The Fin, “I can’t say enough about that guy. I would go to war with him any day. You want him on your team every day. He’s always the guy doing it. So it’s just who he is; it’s who he’s been his whole career.” And while Quinn’s time in San Jose has ended, his sentiment remains – Kunin is popular. The Sharks will likely look to lock up Kunin for as long as they can this summer.

F Filip Zadina – Zadina was one of San Jose’s few beacons of hope this season, posting the most goals and points of the team’s bottom-six – though that only amounted to 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games. Still, he was one short of the career-high 14 goals and 24 points he posted with the Detroit Red Wings last season, and seemed to look a bit more comfortable making individual plays in the San Jose system. The team signed him to a one-year, $1.1MM contract last summer, hoping his play would earn him much more of a payday this year. That hasn’t entirely panned out, though Zadina’s season was likely enough of a lateral step to warrant a new deal. He’ll look to breakout on that deal, supported by San Jose’s influx of top end prospects Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.

D Calen Addison – The Sharks acquired Addison in one of the first trades of the season, sending Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-round pick back to the Minnesota Wild. And San Jose was clearly excited about the addition, awarding Addison roughly 20 minutes of ice time each night through his first 11 games. But his play didn’t keep up and Addison ultimately found his everyday role on the team’s bottom-pair. He posted just 12 points in 60 games with the Sharks while searching for that role, and while his play was enough to warrant minutes over fringe lineup piece Marc-Edouard Vlasic  and the oft-injured Ty Emberson. Addison still has potential, though he’s running out of time to prove it. The Sharks will be laying out his leash with the price and term of his deal this summer.

Other RFAs: F Thomas Bordeleau, F Jack Studnicka, D Henry Thrun, D Ty Emberson

Cap Space

The Sharks have a very busy summer ahead, with a total of 17 players facing the open market. But they’ll have more than enough room to both bring back their choices of the bunch and search for major additions on the open market, boasting $37.22MM in cap space, the second-most in the league. They aren’t likely to spend that full amount, though the additions of Celebrini and Smith could be enough to sway a few notable free agents to the lineup. San Jose will hope that’s the case, as they look to give their next generation of stars the best platform to start their career from.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Network.