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Jets, Sharks Make Minor Deal

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Ken Weibe of Sportsnet reports that the Winnipeg Jets have traded the rights to Leon Gawanke to the San Jose Sharks for Artemi Kniazev. Kniazev is the biggest name in the deal, having been drafted 48th overall by the Sharks back in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Over the last two years, Kniazev has been a quality defender for the Sharks AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. In a combined 121 games at the AHL level, Kniazev has scored 12 goals and 44 assists. Only standing at six feet tall, Kniazev is not a physically imposing force on the blue line by any means but does move the puck very well and possesses strong acceleration, giving him the ability to drive the play. Kniazev has one year remaining on his entry-level contract which will pay him $789K at the NHL level this season.

Gawanke, on the other hand, was a much lower draft pick compared to Kniazev, going 136th overall to the Jets in the 2017 NHL Draft. Even though his rights are now owned by the Sharks organization, it is unlikely he will play in San Jose, given that he has already committed to playing for Adler Mannheim of the DEL next season. However, as the team looks to incorporate exciting young players into its development structure, the team could convince Gawanke to return. Over the past four years playing for the Manitoba Moose, Gawanke has played in a total of 207 games, scoring 35 goals and 79 assists.

 

San Jose Sharks Acquire Anthony Duclair

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6:32 pm: San Jose has made the trade official, sending Lorentz and their 2025 fifth-round pick to Florida for Duclair.

5:42 pm: The San Jose Sharks have traded for Florida Panthers winger Anthony Duclair, according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman. Goldman adds that forward Steven Lorentz is expected to be part of the trade heading back to the Panthers, though there could be more moving pieces involved.

Duclair brings a more dynamic asset to the Sharks after he landed on his feet in Florida as a top-line player. Last season, he recorded just two goals and nine points in 20 games with the Panthers, missing much of the season recovering an Achilles tear. Duclair’s skill set and ability to generate scoring chances make him a valuable asset for the Sharks, however, as they sorely need some high-end skill in their lineup (even though they’re rebuilding). He’ll never provide much value defensively, but it’s not much of a concern for a Sharks team that doesn’t anticipate being competitive next season.

In return, the Panthers acquire a fine bottom-of-the-lineup forward in Lorentz and nearly $2MM in cap space, helping them fortify their fourth line while opening up some more cap space to replace Duclair’s top-nine on the open market in the coming days. He could very well center their fourth line next season after recording 10 goals and 19 points in 80 games with the Sharks last season.

San Jose Sharks Sign Fabian Zetterlund

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The San Jose Sharks have signed RFA forward Fabian Zetterlund to a two-year deal worth $1.45MM per season, the team announced.  The contract comes just one day after the team non-tendered him to avoid giving him the ability to file for salary arbitration.

The 23-year-old came to San Jose just before the trade deadline as part of the Timo Meier trade.  He was productive in a depth scoring role with the Devils, notching 20 points in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night prior to the swap.  Unfortunately for Zetterlund and the Sharks, he wasn’t able to produce at the same level, collecting just three assists in 22 games.

Still, despite the sluggish start to his time in San Jose, it wouldn’t have made much sense for the Sharks to part with a young forward with at least a brief track record of some NHL success at this stage of their rebuild.  He’s likely to remain in a bottom-six role to start next season which might not yield too many scoring opportunities early on but he should have a chance to lock down a full-time spot for the first time in his career and if he can do that, he could be part of their plans for a while.

While San Jose technically signed Zetterlund as a UFA, he remains under team control through the 2026-27 campaign.  The contract is slightly backloaded with a $1.4MM salary next season and a $1.5MM salary in 2024-25; the latter represents his qualifying offer in 2025 where he’ll once again be eligible for arbitration.

San Jose Sharks Sign Three Players

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The San Jose Sharks have signed enforcer Givani Smith to a two-year contract worth $1.6MM, or $800K per season, the team announced. They’ve also signed forward Ryan Carpenter to a cheap one-year, two-way contract as well.

The team would later announce a two-year, two-way contract for minor-league enforcer Scott Sabourin. He recorded a career-high 33 points and 177 penalty minutes in 51 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators last season.

Unqualified by the Florida Panthers, the Sharks should know exactly what they’re getting in Smith. One of the most underrated enforcers in the game, Smith has always shown an ability to lay some heavy hits and drop the mitts as well. As San Jose starts employing younger talent on the ice, Smith will provide some extra safety for those players.

Beginning last season with the team that drafted him, Smith was traded to the Panthers from the Detroit Red Wings in a three-team swap also including the Anaheim Ducks. His ice time was significantly decreased in Florida, but Smith still added a powerful presence to the team’s bottom six. In 34 games for the Panthers, Smith scored one goal and three assists, racking up 63 hits and 72 penalty minutes.

Carpenter is a well-traveled bottom-sixer who has largely played in the NHL over the past few seasons save for last year, when he played mostly in the AHL. Carpenter scored 21 goals and 44 points in 51 AHL games and provides defensively sound bottom-six play when in the NHL.

He has some playoff experience and actually began his career with the Sharks, meaning with this deal he returns to San Jose after a half-decade playing elsewhere.

San Jose Sharks To Sign Kyle Burroughs

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The San Jose Sharks are signing UFA defenseman Kyle Burroughs to a three-year deal worth $1.1MM per season, says CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.

Set to turn 28 later this month, Burroughs secures a solid pay raise from the league-minimum $750k cap hit he played 2022-23 on. While he has just 95 career NHL games to his name, Burroughs’ defensive prowess, and physicality impressed during his time with the Canucks.

The Sharks aren’t looking to compete for Stanley Cups anytime soon, but need to add some value to their blueline and Burroughs accomplishes exactly that.

He’ll make the Sharks more difficult to play against, an important quality for a team that could end up losing quite a few games, and could have value later down the line as a flip-able trade asset if he gets more NHL games under his belt and earns an increased role under head coach David Quinn.

A three-year term for Burroughs is certainly a risk, but if he can continue the upward trajectory of recent seasons he could quickly make his $1.1MM cap hit look like a steal.

Sharks Expected To Sign Mackenzie Blackwood

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Some eyebrows were raised yesterday the Sharks opted to non-tender goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood just days after trading for him.  However, in the end, he will be suiting up in San Jose as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that Blackwood will be signing a two-year deal with San Jose.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the contract is expected to carry a $2.35MM AAV.

As has been the case with several players that have re-signed already today, the Sharks didn’t want to run the risk of Blackwood filing for salary arbitration and going to a hearing.  As a result, they opted to not tender him the $3.36MM qualifying offer and are now getting him for an amount that’s considerably lower.

Things have not gone well for Blackwood in recent seasons as he has consistently battled injury issues and has battled inconsistency when he has been in the lineup.  He has started just 79 games in the three seasons, posting just a .897 SV% and a 3.19 GAA.  Last season, he wound up losing his backup spot to Akira Schmid late in the year and wasn’t dressing for their playoff games, a clear sign that he wouldn’t be back for 2023-24.

Blackwood will now form a tandem with returning netminder Kaapo Kahkonen, a duo that will be among the cheaper duos in the NHL with a combined cap hit of just $5.25MM.  It will also be one of the younger duos as both goalies are just 26.  For a San Jose team that doesn’t have a true goalie of the future in the system, this coming season should serve as a tryout for both of them to prove that they’re worthy of a long-term look with the Sharks or elsewhere.  It’s a tandem with some upside if both play to their perceived potential but if recent struggles repeat themselves, it could be a tough year for an already rebuilding San Jose franchise.

Sharks And Canucks Have Discussed Tyler Myers Trade

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There has been an expectation for a while now that the Canucks will look to move the final year and $6MM that Tyler Myers has remaining on his contract in an effort to free up some cap space this summer.  In a recent appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Sharks are a team that’s believed to have discussed a Myers trade with Vancouver to the point that there has been a deal on the table for several weeks now.

It’s worth noting that Myers has a $5MM signing bonus that is payable in the new league year.  For many players, the payment date for those bonuses is July 1st.  However, Myers is one of the exceptions with his bonus believed to be payable in mid-September.  With that in mind, it’s possible that this could be the hold-up in a swap although Seravalli suggested that this isn’t necessarily the case.

The 33-year-old looked to be a two-way threat when he first came to the NHL with his best two offensive seasons coming during his first two years with Buffalo.  However, he has become more of a defense-only player, especially in recent years as he has managed just a single goal in each of the last two years with Vancouver.

However, he has logged more than 20 minutes per game throughout his career and while he may be better suited for a lower role at this point, the fact he can still cover tough minutes might be appealing to a team like San Jose which isn’t exactly loaded with proven blueliners and is trying to move their top one in Erik Karlsson.  In-season, he’ll have a prorated salary of just $1MM which could only help from a trade value perspective.

Considering what the market has been for teams looking to dump salary, Vancouver shouldn’t be expecting much of a return, if any, to clear Myers off the books.  But if they do have a viable option on the table to take on the contract, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them take it, either now or even if they have to wait until closer to training camp when the bonus is paid off.  If a deal is either done or agreed on in principle, Vancouver could be a team to watch for when the market opens up less than 24 hours from now.

Sharks Still Negotiating With Mackenzie Blackwood

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In a somewhat surprising move, the San Jose Sharks opted not to qualify goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood today, just days after acquiring his rights from the New Jersey Devils for a 2024 sixth-round pick. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Sharks and Blackwood were not close in their brief contract discussion prior to today’s qualifying deadline. Discussions between the two parties remain ongoing, but the 26-year-old netminder could absolutely land with another NHL team after the market opens Saturday.

The Devils moved on from Blackwood with better options available internally. He was due a rather rich qualifying offer of $3.36MM, a number he won’t come close to on the open market after his performance last season. The Sharks would surely like to keep him – after all, they do have a vacant spot in their goalie tandem with James Reimer not returning – but it doesn’t seem they’re prepared to pay over market value to keep him around and would rather have just thrown away the draft pick.

San Jose Sharks Extend Jacob Peterson

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The San Jose Sharks announced that they have signed trade-deadline acquisition, Jacob Peterson, to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but one could assume it will be for the league minimum at $775K at the NHL level.

Before arriving in San Jose, Peterson had spent the entirety of his career with the Dallas Stars organization, until he was traded at last year’s deadline to the Sharks for Scott Reedy in a minor-league swap. So far in his young career, Peterson has recorded 77 games played at the NHL level, scoring 14 goals and 11 assists split between Dallas and San Jose. Primarily playing in the AHL for the Texas Stars, Peterson scored 13 goals and 13 assists in 44 games before his move to the Sharks organization.

In only eight games played for the San Jose Barracuda, Peterson got off to a scorching start with the team, scoring one goal and five assists. Once recalled via an emergency loan in late March, Peterson finished off the season with the Sharks. Currently, San Jose is in the midst of a rebuild, so it would be unsurprising to see Peterson spend the majority of his time at the NHL level next year.

 

Markus Nutivaara To Retire

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According to Yle Urheilu’s Tommi Seppala, San Jose Sharks defenseman Markus Nutivaara is calling it a career due to a hip injury. That injury cost Nutivaara his 2022-23 season, meaning he only suited up for preseason games as a member of the San Jose Sharks.

Nutivaara signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Sharks after a 2021-22 season where injuries again limited him severely, this time to only one regular-season game with the Florida Panthers. Nutivaara isn’t even 30, meaning these accumulated injuries have caused him to retire likely far earlier than he otherwise would have.

Although it’s undoubtedly quite a disappointment to see his career end prematurely due to injuries, Nutivaara can definitely look back on his playing career with pride.

The Oulu, Finland native worked his way up the junior ranks in his home country before breaking into Liiga, Finland’s top league, in 2014-15. He won a Liiga title with Karpat that year and was drafted 189th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nutivaara spent one more year with Karpat before heading to North America, where he would make it as a full-time NHLer as a rookie. He got into 66 games for Columbus and played over 13 minutes a night as a 22-year-old blueliner.

He would go on two play two more seasons as a regular for Columbus, peaking in 2018-19 when he averaged nearly 18 minutes of time on ice per night and scored 21 points. He was on the Blue Jackets team that achieved a historic upset series sweep over the at-the-time record-setting Tampa Bay Lightning.

While the injuries dragged down Nutivaara’s career after that point, he concludes his time as a player having proven himself in the world’s toughest league and achieved championship glory in the top league in his home country.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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