Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks
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 Loan Leo Sahlin Wallenius To AHL
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
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
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
- 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
- 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.
Sharks’ Logan Couture Announces Retirement Due To Injury
April 15: As expected, Couture told reporters today that he’s unable to continue his playing career (via Pashelka). He’ll presumably remain on long-term injured reserve (if necessary to keep San Jose cap-compliant) for the remainder of his contract, which carries an $8MM cap hit through 2026-27.
April 14: The San Jose Sharks are planning to hold a joint press conference with team captain Logan Couture on Tuesday where Couture is expected to announce the end of his playing career due to injury, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. The news was originally reported by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Couture has been working to recover from Osteitis Pubis, a condition that causes inflammation of the joints between pubic bones.
Couture made a detailed effort to return to game shape after receiving his diagnosis ahead of the 2023-24 season. He had to miss the first three months of the campaign to rehab, but told NHL.com in December of 2023 that he was optimistic and trending upwards. Couture said at the time:
Finally, knock on wood, everything continues to go well and I’m over that hump and things can continue to trend to me getting back to practicing with the guys.
He would skate in his first game of that season just over one month after delivering that quote – and recorded an assist in his return. But Couture’s comeback was short-lived, and he’d end up back out of the lineup due to his injury after just six games. His final game, on January 31st of 2024, will now stand as the last of Couture’s storied NHL career.
There’s a short list of players whose name is more ubiquitous with Sharks hockey than Couture’s. He spent all 16 seasons of his NHL career with San Jose, after being drafted by the team with the ninth overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft. Over the years, Couture worked his way up to the fifth-most games (933) and fourth-most points (701) in franchise history. He also ranks third in goals (323) and fifth in assists (378).
Couture played through his NHL rookie season on the 2009-10 Sharks – a legendary squad in franchise history that featured the likes of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle, Ryane Clowe, and Joe Pavelski among many others. Couture only scored nine points in 25 games – the minimum to qualify a rookie season. He found his spot in the NHL lineup before the end of the regular season and went on to support San Jose with four goals in 15 playoff games as the team chased a loss in the Western Conference Finals. Couture would play his first full season in the following year. He scored an impressive 32 goals and 56 points in 79 games during the regular season, and added 14 points split evenly in 18 playoff games to again push the Sharks to a loss in the Western Conference Finals.
With his legs under him, Couture quickly became a locked-in piece of the Sharks’ daily lineup. He held down a set-and-forget
role as San Jose’s second-line center throughout the 2010s, serving as the young-and-reliable punch behind Thornton, Marleau, and Pavelski as the trio aged. He routinely rivaled the 30-goal and 60-point mark during the regular season, and consistently found a way to grow to point-per-game scoring in the postseason. That sentiment rang loudest during the 2015-16 campaign, when Couture was forced out of 30 regular season games by a broken fibula – but then returned for a dazzling 10 goals and 30 points in 24 playoff games. He was the beating heart of the Sharks lineup that summer, and pushed the team to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history, only to be beaten by the dynasty-era Pittsburgh Penguins.
San Jose’s routine appearance in the postseason would fizzle out just three years after their run to the Cup Finals. Couture scored 20 points in 20 games of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs to push the team to one last run to the Conference Finals, but their walls crumbled soon after. Couture missed 30 games of the 2019-20 season with a fractured ankle. His next full season was in 2020-21, on a Sharks lineup without Thornton and soon to part with Marleau, Brent Burns, and Erik Karlsson. The Sharks continued to tear down through 2023-24 – sending Timo Meier to New Jersey in 2023 and Tomas Hertl to Vegas in 2024. Through all of the change and fluctuation, Couture remained the proud consistent – holding strong to the captaincy and welcoming an increasingly younger roster with open arms.
Couture’s support of the Sharks has stayed consistent even as he’s faced career-ending injury. He’s supported rookie head coach Ryan Warsofsky for much of this season, helping to make lineup decisions and adjust star rookies to the next level. He enters retirement still in firm grip of San Jose’s captaincy – and surely with a coaching or development role soon to come. Stepping onto a pro team’s staff will likely coincide with Couture handing the Sharks’ “C” to one of the team’s future superstars – most likely Macklin Celebrini. That handoff will mark yet another meaningful step in Couture’s journey as a Sharks legend, even if the details surrounding it are unfortunate. Couture’s only hardware during his NHL career was a Gold Medal at the 2017 World Cup – though his presence as a consistent leader, strong two-way forward, and top-echelon franchise scorer will almost certainly earn the Guelph, Ontario native respect from local Hall of Fames over the coming years.
Sharks Land Top Draft Lottery Odds, Jan Rutta Wants To Re-Sign
- The San Jose Sharks have mathematically clinched last spot in the NHL and earned the top odds at the upcoming draft lottery per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. The Sharks will hold a 25.5 percent chance at securing first-overall for the second consecutive season, while the Chicago Blackhawks will hold a 13.5 percent chance and the Nashville Predators an 11.5 percent chance. Many have claimed OHL defenseman Matthew Schaefer as the consensus top pick, though he has only played in 17 games this season due to a collarbone fracture. If not Schaefer, the top pick is likely to go to OHL exceptional status forward Michael Misa or Boston College top center James Hagens. The NHL Draft lottery is set to be held on May 7th.
- Sticking in San Jose, defenseman Jan Rutta expressed his desire to re-sign with the Sharks to Curtis Pashelka of Mercury News on Sunday. Rutta is set to enter unrestricted free agency this summer and told Pashelka that he’s happy to have a chance to slot into San Jose’s lineup routinely. The 34-year-old defenseman has recorded nine points and a minus-three in 53 games this season, while typically filling a third-pair role. His plus-minus is the second-highest among Sharks defenders with at least 20 games played this season, behind only Jake Walman’s minus-one. Walman was traded to the Edmonton Oilers at the Trade Deadline.
Sharks Recall Daniil Gushchin, Luca Cagnoni, Jimmy Schuldt
Call it even more of a youth movement for the Sharks. They’ve recalled winger Daniil Gushchin and defensemen Luca Cagnoni and Jimmy Schuldt from AHL San Jose ahead of their final two games of the season, per a team announcement.
The promotions for the youngsters and the veteran Schuldt come amid a late-season rash of injuries. They’ll likely be dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight against the Canucks after recent call-up Thomas Bordeleau sustained an undisclosed injury last night against the Flames, per Max Miller of The Hockey News. The 23-year-old, who was making his season debut, joins a long list of injured Sharks that also includes Klim Kostin, Cameron Lund, and Zack Ostapchuk on offense and Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Jack Thompson on the back end.
San Jose’s wave of late-season injuries poses a challenge, but the team will find a silver lining in their chance to ice more up-and-coming talents. Gushchin should immediately fill in Bordeleau’s role in the team’s bottom-six, giving the Russian standout a chance to find his first NHL goal of the season. Gushchin made the Sharks roster out of training camp but was quickly assigned to the minors after netting just one assist in 10 games. He quickly returned to the world of top-AHL scoring with the Barracuda, ultimately recording 27 goals and 48 points in 54 games on the season.
Those numbers rank Gushchin second on the team’s offense in goals and points. It’s an ever-so-slight downtick from the 54 points he scored last season, though that total also ranked Gushchin second on the Barracuda’s offense. He’s managed at least 40 points in each of the last three AHL seasons – the first of his pro career – but has struggled to translate that scoring to the top flight. Through 16 career appearances in the NHL, Gushchin has just two goals and five points. This recall will mark a chance for Gushchin to buck his low-scoring trend before the Sharks’ season comes to an end.
Meanwhile, Cagnoni and Schuldt will once again battle for minutes on the Sharks’ blue-line. The pair have both seen routine call-ups this season and offer very different skillsets. Cagnoni led all AHL rookie defensemen in scoring this sesaon with a proud 49 points in 62 games. He’s a dominant puck-mover and playmaker, but only managed one assist in the first five games of his NHL career earlier this season. Schuldt – the captain of the Barracuda – is much more a stay-at-home, physical defenseman. That point is made evident by his 21 points in 62 AHL games, and no points in six NHL games, this season. Schuldt has become a top defensive-defenseman at the minor-league level, and held onto strong lineup roles through stints with five different AHL clubs over the last six seasons. Both Cagnoni and Schuldt are expected to step into the lineup for San Jose’s final games, giving both players a chance to chase the first goal of their NHL careers.
Sharks’ Nikolai Kovalenko Eyeing KHL Return
It’s looking unlikely that Sharks pending RFA winger Nikolai Kovalenko will sign a new contract with San Jose. The 25-year-old has been unhappy with his deployment after the Sharks acquired him from the Avalanche in December and is considering a return to the Kontinental Hockey League with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod next season, his father, ex-NHLer Andrei Kovalenko, told Russia Hockey.
“It was understandable when Nikolai played in the third line of Colorado in the first half of the season, after all, this club is a contender for the championship, the competition in the top lines is extremely high,” Kovalenko said (translated from Russian). “In San Jose, with all due respect, the situation is different. It is obvious that there are personal sympathies on the part of the coach – and there is no agreement with the management policy. Watch the Sharks’ games – and you will see who deserves what.”
“I know that Nikolai’s agent is in contact with Torpedo’s management, and various options are possible,” Kovalenko continued. Nizhny Novgorod still holds Kovalenko’s KHL signing rights after he left the club last year to report to the Avalanche.
A sixth-round pick by Colorado back in 2018, Kovalenko arrived in Denver last spring to much fanfare. He’d been one of the KHL’s top scorers over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, scoring 32-57–89 in 98 games with Torpedo after they acquired him from Ak Bars Kazan. He made his NHL debut for the Avs in the 2024 playoffs after a brief AHL stint and, unsurprisingly, made Colorado’s opening night roster.
But even amid a plethora of injuries for the Avs out of the gate, Kovalenko never commanded anything more than a third-line role. After averaging 12 minutes per game through his first 28 appearances, posting four goals and eight points, Colorado dealt him to San Jose in the trade that saw Mackenzie Blackwood head to Denver.
As the elder Kovalenko alluded to, Nikolai’s ice time has barely changed in San Jose. In and out of the lineup due to injury, he’s averaged 12:24 per game. Despite that, his offensive production has increased, totaling 3-9–12 through 26 games post-trade. He’s also seen increased usage in the past three games, averaging north of 15 minutes per night during that stretch, and has a three-game point streak as a result.
He’s shown the ability to be a dependable top-nine presence with even some upward second-line mobility, boasting acceptable possession impacts while playing a physical game. He’s recorded 24 blocks and 79 hits in 54 total appearances and would be on pace for 30 points over an 82-game schedule. Nonetheless, he believes he’s capable of more and won’t achieve that development with the Sharks.
Even if Kovalenko opts to return to Russia, the Sharks can retain his signing rights until 2027 by giving him a qualifying offer. If he desires an NHL return before then, he’ll either need to sign with San Jose or get them to trade his rights for an asset.