The Sharks have a couple of decisions to make with their goaltending over the offseason. The first is deciding who of their three netminders will move and the second is how much to pay Kaapo Kahkonen (unless he’s the one they move which is an unlikely scenario). Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now provided an overview of what Kahkonen’s market could look like this summer. As a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility, the 25-year-old is heading for a raise but with just 60 career NHL appearances under his belt, he won’t have a lot of leverage heading into talks. Accordingly, Kahkonen seems likely to slot in a tier or two below the top backups which would put him in the low-$2MM to $3MM range, depending on how long the deal is. Moving one of James Reimer or Adin Hill would free up the bulk of the cap room to give Kakhonen that type of deal.
Sharks Rumors
San Jose Sharks Sign Max Veronneau
The San Jose Sharks have signed Max Veronneau to a one-year contract, bringing him back to North America after two seasons overseas. The financial details were not released by the team but Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reports that the two-way deal has an NHL salary of $750K. PuckPedia provides even more details, confirming that the deal is for 2022-23 and includes a minor league guarantee of $400K.
Shin Larsson, the Sharks supervisor of European scouting, released a statement on the deal:
Max had a great season this year in Europe, leading the Swedish Hockey League in goals and being named the SHL’s Most Valuable Player. He has produced at every level offensively and previously was an ECAC Champion with Princeton. We look forward to him joining our organization.
Veronneau, 26, certainly did have a great season in the SHL. In 51 games he scored 34 goals and 60 points, showing just why he was so coveted out of Princeton University in 2019. At that time, he was one of the top undrafted free agent targets for several NHL teams and ended up signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators. After two frustratingly inconsistent years, which included a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs just weeks before professional sports shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Veronneau was left unqualified and became an unrestricted free agent once again.
After spending last season with Oskarshamn IK in the SHL, this year he moved to Leksands where he dominated the league in almost every offensive category. His return represents an interesting lottery ticket for the Sharks, and at the very worst a strong contributor for the San Jose Barracuda.
Brendan Brisson, Thomas Bordeleau Sign AHL Tryouts
Another pair of top college prospects have turned pro, as Brendan Brisson has signed a tryout agreement with the Henderson Silver Knights and Thomas Bordeleau has signed one with the San Jose Barracuda. Notably, both players would not be eligible to be assigned and play with the Silver Knights had they signed entry-level contracts with the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks respectively, so this is a way to get some AHL games first. At any point, the NHL squads could sign them and insert him into the lineup, should they have the cap space to carry the extra contract. If not, entry-level deals for 2022-23 will likely follow.
Brisson and Bordeleau are both Michigan standouts, and more Wolverines to leave the program behind in the last few days. They follow the likes of Matty Beniers, Owen Power, and Kent Johnson to professional hockey, though they won’t jump directly into the NHL lineup like their former teammates.
Selected 29th overall in 2020 Brisson, 20, has taken a clear step forward in each of his post-draft seasons. As a freshman for Michigan in 2020-21, he recorded 21 points in 24 games, while helping the U.S. take home gold at the World Juniors. This year, his offense exploded, with 21 goals and 42 points in 38 games, just barely coming in behind Beniers for the team lead. He was also selected to the U.S. Olympic team, where he scored twice in four games.
A tireless worker and creative play-driver, Brisson can generate opportunities for himself and his linemates with equal frequency. Returning to college likely would have put him in the conversation for the Hobey Baker or at least the national scoring race but there wasn’t a lot of extra development necessary for him to make an impact at the professional level. He should do that right away for the Silver Knights, who have seven games left in the regular season but have already clinched their spot in the Pacific Division playoff race.
Bordeleau, 20, was the 38th pick in 2020 and took a similar path, though his freshman season was even more impressive with 30 points in 24 games. This season he had 37 in 37, finishing third among Michigan forwards and fourth overall. Unfortunately, Bordeleau was robbed of two different opportunities to play at the World Juniors thanks to COVID testing; one year it was his positive result, another his roommate’s. It was actually when several of his teammates left for the Olympics that his game really rounded into form, given more responsibility and ice time. He’ll likely get that same opportunity in the coming years in San Jose, should he see extended time in the minor leagues.
A natural center that can fit any role, Bordeleau may end up topping out as a middle-six option at the NHL level. But with his offensive upside, work ethic, and penalty killing ability, there’s a long professional career ahead of him. That starts, for now at least, with the Barracuda, who are unfortunately only going to play a few more games this season. They’re last in the Pacific and are not going to make the playoffs, with just five games remaining on the schedule.
San Jose Sharks Sign Nick Cicek
The San Jose Sharks may still be working with an interim general manager but that won’t stop them from signing contracts for next season. The team has signed minor league defenseman Nick Cicek to a two-year entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports that the deal will begin in 2022-23, and carries an NHL cap hit of $837.5K.
Joe Will, interim GM, released the following statement:
Nick has a strong track record of leadership in his career, having been the captain of the Portland Winterhawks last season, and he has even been an alternate captain for the Barracuda this year in select games. Among AHL rookie defensemen, he’s top 10 in scoring and top 15 in goals. Nick has a bright future and we’re excited to add him to our NHL defensive depth.
Cicek, who will turn 22 next month, joined the San Jose Barracuda this season after going undrafted out of junior and has been outstanding from the drop of the puck. With 23 points he sits ninth among all AHL rookie defensemen in scoring, just one point behind Artemi Kniazev for the team lead despite playing in seven fewer games than the second-round pick. The 6’3″ Cicek has also racked up 60 penalty minutes, including a pair of fights. One of those came after Andreas Englund hit San Jose forward Jeffrey Viel, earning Cicek a misconduct for instigating.
That mix of skill and toughness is obviously an attractive package, especially when it comes in someone that is so lauded for his leadership as Will points out. Whether Cicek can continue his development and become an NHL player remains to be seen, but the Sharks obviously like what he has done this year enough that they’ve rewarded him with a contract that makes it possible.
Latest On San Jose Sharks GM Search
After long-time General Manager Doug Wilson stepped aside from his position for health reasons, the San Jose Sharks will head into rare territory for their organization: searching for a General Manager. The team has had just two GM’s in the last 30 years, between Dean Lombardi and since 2003, Wilson.
On tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek provided some insight and speculation on what the Sharks’ GM search could look like, and who could be in consideration for the position. In terms of the type of candidate they might want, Friedman believes that the organization would like a GM who is willing to be visible, who will talk to the media and fans, and who can help to expand their market.
Friedman also notes that the team might be interested in a candidate who has no history with the organization, or who might even be somewhat off the radar, as far as expected candidates go. Lastly, Friedman adds that the Sharks may want to not only hire a GM, but expand their front office altogether, increasing the amount of thoughts and ideas within the organization from what they previously had.
While it is curious to potentially change the dynamic of a front office after an incredibly long and successful run by one GM, the Sharks have struggled amid what appears to be a rebuild these past few seasons, and a refreshed change of thought and opinion could help the organization transition to a new group on the ice. As mentioned by Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast earlier, the Sharks organization is not one to be keen on a true rebuild, so any new front office with refreshed perspective would still have to see eye to eye with ownership on the short and long-term plans for the team.
With the talk of perhaps bringing in someone a bit unknown, Jeff Marek gave a name for a possible suitor: Arizona Coyotes’ Assistant General Manager John Ferguson. Ferguson is a well-known name around the NHL and with the Sharks, having interviewed for their GM role already in 2003, when the job was given to Wilson. Since then, Ferguson has bounced around and was notably a scout for the Sharks under Wilson, who was pivotal in drafting a cornerstone player in Tomas Hertl, says Marek. Most recently, Ferguson interviewed for the open Anaheim Ducks GM position after previous Ducks GM Bob Murray resigned. However, that job went to Pat Verbeek.
Time will certainly tell how the Sharks navigate their search, and as Friedman also added, the team is comfortable taking their time in evaluating their options and making a decision. A change of pace from the front office they have had in place for nearly two decades could be what is needed to turn the team back into the perennial Stanley Cup contenders they were just a few years ago. However, moving on from a front office, and a General Manager, who have brought the team so much success will be a difficult task, and replacing a figure like Doug Wilson will be that much harder.
Snapshots: Ekblad, Sharks, Valimaki
While he may not be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, things are still looking positive regarding the health of Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Head coach Andrew Brunette said today that Ekblad remains week-to-week, but he has started skating and should return sometime in early May. That makes it seem likely that Ekblad will at least make an appearance during Florida’s First Round series, which will likely be against the Washington Capitals. It will be the second season in a row where Florida starts the playoffs without their star defenseman due to a lower-body injury, but this time around, it seems he’ll be ready to step in shortly after. Ekblad will have finished his regular season with 15 goals and 42 assists for 57 points in just 61 games, which is still currently eighth among all NHL defensemen.
More from around the NHL today:
- While San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson had been on a medical leave of absence since November, his departure announcement from the organization today still came as a shock. Long-time assistant GM Joe Will has taken duties since then, and he’ll remain in the interim position, but team president Jonathan Becher said today that the Sharks will hope to have a new GM by the beginning of next year. With that, it’s entirely possible that the Sharks head into a draft and free agency period with Will still at the helm of the club. That may not be an entirely bad thing, considering his familiarity with Becher and the club, but it takes away the chance for his successor to craft their roster ahead of next season.
- After being sent down early in the year and falling out of favor with head coach Darryl Sutter, the Calgary Flames have brought top defense prospect Juuso Valimaki back up to the big club from the AHL’s Stockton Heat. Valimaki played in 49 of the team’s 56 games last season, recording 11 points and never touching AHL ice. But after just two assists in eight games this season in limited minutes, the team opted to send Valimaki back down to the minors, where he had 17 points in 30 games. The team has no injuries on defense, so it’s a clear sign that the organization wants to see what effect his AHL stint this year had on him and whether he can be relied upon to play minutes for the team in the playoffs if injuries strike.
Doug Wilson Steps Down From Role With San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks will be under new management next season for the first time in two decades. Doug Wilson announced today that he is stepping down from his role as general manager of the Sharks. Wilson had been on medical leave since November, and Joe Will will continue as interim GM until a new one is found. There is not yet a timeline for that search, but owner Hasso Plattner explained that it will be “guided by the organization’s ability to interview all of the desired prospective candidates.”
Wilson released a lengthy statement, which in part read:
Finally, I want to thank everyone who has reached out during my leave of absence. While I have made great progress over the last several months, I feel it is in the best interest of the organization and myself to step down from my current duties and focus on my health and full recovery. I look forward to continuing my career in the NHL in the future.
Given the title of general manager in 2003, Wilson led the Sharks to the playoffs on 14 different occasions and captured the Pacific Division title five times. They only reached the Stanley Cup Final once, and never did win it, but his time at the helm brought an almost unparalleled level of regular season success. The team averaged more than 45 wins and 100 points during his run.
Wilson was also ultimately responsible for drafting franchise icons like Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl, and Timo Meier, as well as acquiring Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. While it never ultimately resulted in an NHL championship, his time in San Jose certainly brought the city and Sharks’ fans a lot of wins.
In 2020, Wilson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, celebrating his outstanding playing career that spanned more than 1,000 games. That included two seasons as captain of the Sharks, a few years before he joined the team as the director of player personnel in 1997, his first role with the team. In all, it’s been more than three decades since he has called any other NHL organization home.
William Eklund To Play In Swedish Junior Playoffs
When the season came to an end recently for Djurgardens SHL squad, many San Jose Sharks fans wondered if William Eklund would be on his way back to North America to play in a handful of games down the stretch. Not so fast, as instead, Eklund is set to join the junior Djurgardens team to help them try and win a U20 championship according to hockeysverige.se.
The squad will take on Rogle in the semi-finals on Saturday, and have a huge boost with the 19-year-old forward joining up. Eklund, who was selected seventh overall by the Sharks in 2021, showed early on that he could likely handle himself at the NHL level right away. In nine games with the Sharks he managed four assists and was arguably the team’s most dynamic offensive presence early on. After those nine games and before the first year of his entry-level contract was burned, San Jose loaned him back to Sweden where things haven’t gone quite as well.
In 29 games with the senior club, Eklund managed to score just a single goal and register 14 points. That’s after tallying 11 goals and 23 points in 40 games at the same level last season, numbers that drove him up draft boards and into the international hockey spotlight.
Notably, if Eklund returned and played even one more game for the Sharks, his contract would kick in, making him a restricted free agent in 2024. If he doesn’t play again for the Sharks this season, that deal will slide forward, buying the team another year of entry-level control. Importantly though that isn’t the case for the AHL; if Eklund joined the San Jose Barracuda for the stretch run, his contract status would not change.
Unfortunately, it’s not like there’s much to play for down on the farm. The Barracuda are in dead last in the entire AHL with a 20-36-5 record and have just seven games remaining in the regular season. Given that the Sharks are also not in a playoff race, giving Eklund the chance to lead his old junior team to a championship seems like the better move, at least in development terms.
Sharks Considering Shutting Labanc Down For The Season
Not long ago, it looked like the Sharks would soon be welcoming winger Kevin Labanc back to the lineup for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury back in December. However, as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News notes, the team is now considering shutting the 26-year-old down for the rest of the season. Labanc visited the surgeon who performed the surgery on Thursday and got the green light but with San Jose out of the playoff picture, they may err on the side of caution and avoid any possible risk of him reaggravating the injury.
San Jose Sharks Activate Mario Ferraro Off Injured Reserve
The San Jose Sharks activated 23-year-old top-pairing defenseman Mario Ferraro off injured reserve today, as the team announced on Twitter.
Prior to the injury, Ferraro was in the midst of a solid follow-up to his pseudo-breakout campaign in 2020-21. San Jose’s 49th-overall selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Ferraro had two goals, nine assists, 11 points, a -7 rating, and an average time on ice of 23:19.
Ferraro sustained a leg injury on February 26th that was expected to keep him out of the lineup for six weeks, meaning his return to the lineup comes ahead of schedule. Ferraro played just 13 shifts in that night’s game against Boston before suffering the injury, landing on the injured reserve list two days later.
The Sharks went 6-7-2 with Ferraro out of the lineup, but their goals against per games played average was 3.27 during that timeframe, up from the team’s season-long mark thus far of 3.15. Ferraro has continuously been thrown to the wolves the past two years, commonly playing alongside Brent Burns, but the young defenseman has held his own despite seeing some of the toughest minutes in the league.
Ferraro could return tonight when the Sharks host the Dallas Stars.