2017 NHL Draft Profile: Klim Kostin is a risk worth taking
6/16/2017 - Injury has caused Kostin to fall, but it shouldn’t scare San Jose. A shoulder injury in January Expand
6/16/2017 - Injury has caused Kostin to fall, but it shouldn’t scare San Jose. A shoulder injury in January followed by subsequent surgery in February not only ended Russian winger Klim Kostin’s season, but caused the 18-year-old to slip on many draft boards. Despite the injury, Kostin still finished the season as NHL Central Scouting’s top-ranked European skater, which is a testament to his mix of size and skill on the wing.
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 207 pounds, Kostin boasts the strength on and off of the puck that you’d expect from a big, physical winger, as well as a dynamic offensive skillset, NHL Director of European Scouting Goran Stubb told NHL.com:
"He's close to a complete package with a good combination of size and mobility with great moves and dekes...He has a very good release but is also unselfish and can set up scoring chances for linemates. Excellent puck-handler, effective in traffic. He's hard to knock off the puck, has good vision. Plays a simple but effective Collapse
Sharks to play Vegas for first time this preseason
6/15/2017 - Games against Anaheim and Arizona are also on the docket. The San Jose Sharks will play six games Expand
6/15/2017 - Games against Anaheim and Arizona are also on the docket. The San Jose Sharks will play six games this preseason, all against the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, and NHL newcomers Vegas Golden Knights, the team announced today.
San Jose will play its first-ever game against Vegas on September 21st, when they host the Golden Knights. Sharks fans looking to make their first trip to Las Vegas to see the team play the expansion Golden Knights a T-Mobile Arena should clear their calendar for October 1st, when San Jose wraps up its preseason slate in Sin City.
The full schedule is as follows, with home games listed in bold, and applicable broadcast information in parentheses.
Tuesday, September 19: Anaheim, 7:00 PM PST
Thursday, September 21: Vegas, 7:30 PM PST
Saturday, September 23: at Arizona, 6:00 PM PST
Thursday, September 28: at Anaheim, 7:00 PM PST
Saturday, September 30: Arizona, 7:00 PM PST (98.5 KFOX)
Sunday, October 1: @ Vegas, 5:00 PM PST (98.5 KFOX)
The NHL will announce Collapse
2017 NHL Draft Profile: Shane Bowers
6/14/2017 - Shane Bowers brings a little bit of everything, but not too much of anything Drafted in the early Expand
6/14/2017 - Shane Bowers brings a little bit of everything, but not too much of anything Drafted in the early rounds of two consecutive QMJHL entry drafts, Canadian center Shane Bowers chose instead to develop in the USHL, and preserve his ability to play in the NCAA, likely under direction from agent Pat Brisson. In so doing, Bowers has also committed to playing in the NCAA for the Boston Terriers in 2017-18, a decision that may have precipitated his fall to the mid-20s or second round in many mock drafts.
The Sharks, however, are in a position of patience this draft, and can well afford to wait a few years to develop a well rounded defensive center like Bowers.
While the consensus opinion on Bowers seems to be that of a player who is very good at many things, while not excelling noticeably at any of them, Bowers has exceptional skill in one of the harder areas to teach: skating. Bowers’ seems to excel in North-South play, and his acceleration and top speed will be hard for defensemen to match. Collapse
Expansion Draft Extravaganza: Choosing the Central
6/13/2017 - We begin our mock expansion draft with the central division. The time has come to begin selecting Expand
6/13/2017 - We begin our mock expansion draft with the central division. The time has come to begin selecting the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural roster in our Expansion Draft Extravaganza.
We’ll be picking the team division by division, and we begin with the seven teams in the Central Division. You’ll need to select one (1) player from each team in the seven polls below. The player with the highest number of votes from each team will be the player Vegas selects in our Expansion Draft Extravaganza. Any player not listed is exempt or was part of the team’s protection list.
Here are the rules to keep in mind, courtesy of the NHL:
* The Las Vegas franchise must select the following number of players at each position: 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.
* The Las Vegas franchise must select a minimum of 20 players who are under contract for the 2017-18 season.
* The Las Vegas franchise must select players with an aggregate Expansion Draft value that is between 60-100% [$43.8 Collapse
Expansion Draft Extravaganza: Vote on San Jose’s protection method
6/12/2017 - How many players should the Sharks protect? The NHL’s Expansion Draft is just over a week away, Expand
6/12/2017 - How many players should the Sharks protect? The NHL’s Expansion Draft is just over a week away, and Fear the Fin’s Expansion Draft Extravaganza is kicking into high gear! Thank you to everyone who submitted a protection list and wrote a Fanpost, as they will be put to use over the next ten days or so.
But we still need your help! Over the next two days, you and your fellow readers will determine 1) how many players San Jose will protect and 2) who San Jose will protect via a site-wide vote.
Today, we’re figuring out the former. San Jose’s options for their protected list are as follows, per the NHL’s official rules:
a) Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender
b) Eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goaltender
So put yourself in Doug Wilson’s shoes! What should the Sharks do? You have until 11:59 PM PST tonight to vote for the Sharks’ protection method.
Tomorrow, we’ll hold a vote determining which players will be protected in our site-wide mock expansion Collapse
Matthew Henriques hosts Fear the Fin to talk Expansion Draft
6/9/2017 - Toronto vlogger chats with Sie on the Sharks’ protection list Toronto-based vlogger and Expand
6/9/2017 - Toronto vlogger chats with Sie on the Sharks’ protection list Toronto-based vlogger and communications student Matthew Henriques (@MattJLHenriques) has been working on a video series to go over every team’s possibilities for the expansion draft. Earlier today, he hosted me to go over the options for the Sharks.
You can watch the rest of the series (with several appearances from other SB Nation writers) on his YouTube channel here.
Watch our chat below: Collapse
Ex-Shark of the Week: Douglas Murray
6/7/2017 - The towering Swede is this week’s ex-Shark. The first thing you need to know about Douglas Murray Expand
6/7/2017 - The towering Swede is this week’s ex-Shark. The first thing you need to know about Douglas Murray is that he is beloved. When he left the Sharks, players and coaches alike were effusive in a way you rarely see. Dan Boyle sang his praises to the San Jose Mercury News:
“I think everyone talks about his physical play, but he had a huge heart. He always worked his ass off out there, which I appreciated. Guys in the East, forwards in the East, if they don’t know who he is they’re going to know shortly. He’s got to be possibly the hardest hitter in the game, I would think.”
The second thing you need to know about Douglas Murray is that he was a 6’3’’, 245-pound defenseman. He played like a 6’3’’, 245-pound defenseman. He would fight, he would body you off of the puck, and he would hit. Oh, would he hit:
But he was also beloved because, for a little while, he was a damn good hockey player. That part of him was deeply underappreciated by the Sharks fanbase while it was happening, and it’s Collapse
#HotSharksTakes: Millennials are killing the San Jose Sharks
6/5/2017 - We take a thinkpiece trend to the logical extreme. Editor’s Note: Inspired by Andrew Sharp’s Expand
6/5/2017 - We take a thinkpiece trend to the logical extreme. Editor’s Note: Inspired by Andrew Sharp’s excellent #HotSportsTakes series at Grantland (R.I.P.), we will occasionally attempt to write the worst Sharks column on the internet. This is satire (or an attempt, at least), and should not be taken seriously.
Today, we try to capitalize on the trend that’s taking the internet by storm: thinkpieces blaming millennials.
Casual dining restaurants.
The wine cork.
Hangout sitcoms.
The hallmarks of many of our lives, and the victims of the world’s most destructive generation: millennials.
Yes, those millennials have left a trail of ruin that would make Darth Vader and the Terminator blush. Not satisfied with the long list of casualties to their name, millennials have a new target standing in their way, and it should make Hasso Plattner toss and turn in his SAP-branded sheets each night.
Many see the San Jose Sharks’ youth movement as a good thing, that the team will be able to turn the page Collapse
The Daily Chum: What saying “Stick to Sports” really says
6/4/2017 - There’s a common theme to the issues we don’t want athletes to talk about. For as quiet as he is, Expand
6/4/2017 - There’s a common theme to the issues we don’t want athletes to talk about. For as quiet as he is, Jonathan Toews isn't afraid to speak his mind about the things that matter to him. Earlier this season, he made it clear that while he doesn't support Trump, there's still plenty of debate about him among players in the locker rooms. Directly political statements, though, still evade most soundbites.
There are certain issues players are still willing to speak on. For Toews, that's climate change. He took the issue to social media on Friday:
Do you believe in climate change? Whether you're super pumped that we are putting 'Americans first' or you are absolutely outraged at the idea that we are taking yet another step backwards in dealing with a major global problem, the only way to solve this argument is to try and set your own agenda aside and see how this affects everybody. The only lie we tell ourselves is that we are more special than other life forms on the planet. Well, we're Collapse
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Drafting in the Wilson Years: The First Rounders
6/16/2017 - What has Doug Wilson done with his first round picks? First round draft picks are incredibly Expand
6/16/2017 - What has Doug Wilson done with his first round picks? First round draft picks are incredibly valuable in the NHL. It is the best opportunity for teams to add a player who will contribute to the their success on a team-friendly contract.
That said, not all first rounders are equal; the odds of drafting a franchise changing player drop off significantly after the first few picks. Often, it makes sense to trade away a first round pick, if the other team values that pick more highly than they should.
During Doug Wilson’s tenure as General Manager, the Sharks have frequently made trades involving first round picks. Some of these trades have worked out amazingly well—Brent Burns and Logan Couture are members of this team because of such trades. Other trades have, uh, not worked out so well. Let’s take a look at what the Sharks have done with first round picks since Wilson was hired in 2003.
Draft Year: 2003
Was there a trade? Yes and no. This is the no section. The Sharks used their own Collapse
Expansion Draft Extravaganza: Picking the Pacific
6/15/2017 - Our mock expansion draft rolls along. Our first (and only, barring the league growing to 32 teams) Expand
6/15/2017 - Our mock expansion draft rolls along. Our first (and only, barring the league growing to 32 teams) Expansion Draft Extravaganza moved into the mock draft phase two days ago, and the beginnings of the Vegas Golden Knights roster are taking shape.
Below is where our iteration of the Knights stands, complete with salary cap space, and progress towards the benchmarks Vegas must hit as part of the Expansion Draft. Keep these in mind as you make your picks a little further down in this post.
Players under contract for 2016-17 (7/20)
Salary Cap space: $51,033,333
Forwards (4/14)
Carl Soderberg (C, $4,750,000)
Cody Eakin (C, $3,850,000)
David Perron (LW, $3,750,000)
Calle Jarnkrok (C, $2,000,000)
Defensemen (3/9)
Jonas Brodin (D, $4,166,667)
Mark Stuart (D, $2,625,000)
Trevor Van Riemsdyk (D, $825,000)
Goaltenders (0/3)
And now, without further adieu, we pick from the Pacific Division.
Anaheim Ducks (h/t Chardougla for protected list)
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames (h/t Joonas danskee Collapse
The Daily Chum: Don’t look to NHL as parity precedent
6/14/2017 - There may not be superteams, but there is still a parity problem. In the wake of the Golden State Expand
6/14/2017 - There may not be superteams, but there is still a parity problem. In the wake of the Golden State Warriors’ second championship in three seasons, and their first since signing superstar forward Kevin Durant last offseason, some media and fans alike have lamented the state of the modern NBA. Already, just two days after the conclusion of the season, decrying the league’s lack of current (and future) competitiveness has become a common refrain, despite the fact that the NBA Finals drew the sport’s highest ratings since Michael Jordan’s last appearances for the Chicago Bulls.
Some critics will specifically mention a lack of league-wide parity, and even look to the NHL as the shining example of what is possible when every team has a chance at the title. After all, NBA legend and cloud-yeller Charles Barkley said as much a couple weeks ago.
pic.twitter.com/zeK08PiRhP— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 6, 2017
Naturally, the #PleaseLikeMySport crowd went crazy. But Barkley was Collapse
Expansion Draft Extravaganza: Who to protect in San Jose?
6/13/2017 - Who are you keeping in our mock draft? You, dear reader, have spoken. The San Jose Sharks will Expand
6/13/2017 - Who are you keeping in our mock draft? You, dear reader, have spoken. The San Jose Sharks will protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender in our Expansion Draft Extravaganza.
Now, comes the hard part, as we determine who is protected. According to the NHL’s official rules, each team must expose the following players:
i) One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2017-18 and b) played in 40 or more NHL games the prior season OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.
ii) Two forwards who are a) under contract in 2017-18 and b) played in 40 or more NHL games the prior season OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.
iii) One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18. If the club elects to make a restricted free agent goaltender available in order to meet this requirement, that goaltender must have received his qualifying Collapse
Reports: Boughner to be named Panthers coach Monday
6/10/2017 - There will soon be an opening on the Sharks bench. San Jose Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner Expand
6/10/2017 - There will soon be an opening on the Sharks bench. San Jose Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner will be named head coach of the Florida Panthers on Monday, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie and confirmed by the Sun-Sentinel. It's a homecoming of sorts for Boughner, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent in 1994 but never played a regular season game with the team.
Boughner, who spent the last two seasons on Peter DeBoer's coaching staff, interviewed for the Florida job, as well as for the opening with another team from his playing days in the Buffalo Sabres, last month. He nearly left the Sharks last offseason, when he was a finalist for the Colorado Avalanche's opening that Jared Bednar eventually filled.
Boughner's second season with the Sharks was his third as an NHL assistant. He was an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010-2011, but previously coached the OHL's Windsor Spitfires from 2006-2010, winning two Memorial Cups, and then again from 2011-2015. Collapse
Vlasic’s agent: Extension talks “going well”
6/8/2017 - Another extension appears inevitable. Extension talks between the San Jose Sharks and defenseman Expand
6/8/2017 - Another extension appears inevitable. Extension talks between the San Jose Sharks and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic are “going well,” Vlasic’s agent, Bob Sauve, told Friend of the Blog Kevin Kurz.
Vlasic is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but can sign an extension as early as July 1. Sauve told Kurz that he will speak with the Sharks soon, in the hopes of doing just that.
The 30-year-old defenseman is entering the final year of a five-year, $21.25 million deal that was one of the best value contracts in the league, and is likely due for a substantial raise. Vlasic’s consistently been one of San Jose’s most reliable defensemen during his tenure in teal, but struggled this past season with his customary tough assignments and alongside usual partner Justin Braun.
The Vlasic news comes a day after TSN reported that extension talks were “very positive” with San Jose’s other notable 2018 unrestricted free agent, goaltender Martin Jones. General manager Doug Collapse
Could Jaromir Jagr be a fit in San Jose?
6/6/2017 - Whether or not they contend, the Czech legend makes some sense. This weekend, the New York Post’s Expand
6/6/2017 - Whether or not they contend, the Czech legend makes some sense. This weekend, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reported that the San Jose Sharks are among a handful of teams interested in former New Jersey Devils winger Ilya Kovalchuk. It made sense, given Kovalchuk’s expressed desire to return to the NHL, as well as his connections to San Jose’s coaching staff.
The Sharks will have some competition for Kovalchuk’s services, though, as Elliotte Friedman told the NHL Network yesterday that the interest Kovalchuk “goes deeper” than previously reported. Couple that with the fact that the pick-strapped Sharks will have to trade for Kovalchuk, and it may be too difficult to work out a reunion with head coach Peter DeBoer.
Reuniting DeBoer with another winger who played for him in New Jersey won’t require the same investment, and might be a more realistic possibility. I’m talking, of course, about pending unrestricted free agent Jaromir Jagr.
I mentioned the 45-year-old Jagr satirically Collapse
Announcing Fear the Fin’s Expansion Draft Extravaganza
6/5/2017 - We need your help! With the NHL’s first Expansion Draft in 17 years right around the corner, Fear Expand
6/5/2017 - We need your help! With the NHL’s first Expansion Draft in 17 years right around the corner, Fear the Fin is going to do things a little differently. Instead of solely relying upon our crack writing staff to mock the draft, we’re going to also rely upon you, dear reader, as we introduce Fear the Fin’s Expansion Draft Extravaganza!
How It Works
Fear the Fin’s writers and readers will individually create protection lists for 29 of the league’s 30 teams.
Instead of assigning the Sharks to a single writer, we will conduct two separate, community-wide polls. The first will determine how many players the Sharks protect in our mock draft, and the second will determine which players are protected.
We’re still finalizing what the actual mock draft will look like, and will announce that when all of the protection lists are finalized..
What We Need From You
Every team but San Jose, Carolina, Dallas, Montreal, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay is up for grabs. You, dear reader, will Collapse
The Daily Chum: How much will we hate the Golden Knights?
6/3/2017 - A new Pacific Division team means new opportunities for rivalries. Building a new rivalry usually Expand
6/3/2017 - A new Pacific Division team means new opportunities for rivalries. Building a new rivalry usually takes time. There’s some kind of major slight involved, or a bunch of smaller slights that add up, or sometimes just a particularly brutal playoff series. For most fans, it takes awhile to definitively say “Yeah, we hate those guys.”
Take Nashville, for example. After the 2015-16 playoff series against them, a good chunk of Sharks fans were dreading their return to San Jose. With the triple overtime game that the Sharks should’ve won, there were some lingering hard feelings.
But with the Sharks out of playoffs and the Predators facing off against the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final this year, plenty of Sharks fans are pushing for Nashville to take out the team that defeated the Sharks last post-season.
Some rivalries are conditional. Most need time to build, something the budding Nashville rivalry didn’t get before playing a team the Sharks fans hate more.
Vegas is going to get a head Collapse
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2017 NHL Draft Profile: Nic Hague is a big, boom-or-bust blueliner
6/15/2017 - You can’t spell Hague without “h-u-g-e.” Nic Hague is big. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound Mississauga Expand
6/15/2017 - You can’t spell Hague without “h-u-g-e.” Nic Hague is big. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound Mississauga Steelheads defenseman’s impressive size makes him hard to miss on the ice, but Hague is not just a big body.
Hague’s strong fundamentally on defense, with sound gap control and positioning as he uses his long reach to his advantage, disrupting opposing forwards’ with strong stick work. He also uses his size well, and told Sportsnet in March that he “really pride[s] [himself] on not getting beat.” But Hague doesn’t consider himself just to be a defensive defenseman, and likes playing on offense, too.
“I really like being put in those situations,” he told The Hockey News in September. “I don’t consider myself just to be a shutdown guy; I like to jump up in the play and I feel comfortable on the power play.”
In his second season in the OHL this year, Hague finished 12th among OHL defensemen in scoring with 46 points, and fourth among draft-eligible, under-19 blueliners in the “O.” That Collapse
Expansion Draft Extravaganza: Who did we protect from San Jose?
6/15/2017 - The results from our poll are in. As part of our Expansion Draft Extravaganza, we held a reader Expand
6/15/2017 - The results from our poll are in. As part of our Expansion Draft Extravaganza, we held a reader vote on which players the San Jose Sharks should protect ahead of next week’s Expansion Draft. Earlier this week, nearly two thirds of voters chose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender.
This protection method left the readers with some interesting decisions to make, and led to some even more interesting results. Let’s take a look at the voting for each position group.
Forwards
The first five forwards (Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl, Melker Karlsson, and Chris Tierney) received over 80% of the vote from our readers, while the sixth (Jannik Hansen) got a nice percentage of votes.
San Jose had to expose two forwards under contract next year and that played 40 or more games last year, or 70 or more over the previous two seasons. After the reader vote, the only two forwards that met said requirement were Joel Ward and Mikkel Boedker, who Collapse
2017 NHL Draft: Kailer Yamamoto’s small stature shouldn’t scare Sharks
6/13/2017 - The Sharks can take advantage of other teams’ fears. The last high-scoring, undersized Spokane Expand
6/13/2017 - The Sharks can take advantage of other teams’ fears. The last high-scoring, undersized Spokane Chiefs prospect went undrafted. The same fate that befell 5-foot-8 Tyler Johnson is unlikely to happen to 5-foot-9 Kailer Yamamoto.
With 99 points in 65 games this season, Yamamoto finished sixth in the WHL in points, and fourth among draft-eligible players. It was the second straight season in which Yamamoto scored over a point-per-game, who now has 227 points in 190 WHL games.
Size has mattered not for Yamamoto, as his dynamic offensive skillset has compensated for his lack of size. He’s also performed well in competition against players in his age group, scoring over a point per game in the Ivan Hilinka Memorial Tournament and the under-18 World Junior Championships a season ago.
Because of this, he’s drawn favorable comparisons to Johnson, whose mother taught Yamamoto how to skate, as well as Calgary Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau,If Yamamoto were bigger, he’d likely be a can’t-miss Collapse
2017 NHL Draft Profile: Nick Suzuki is undersized and underrated
6/12/2017 - An intriguing blend of youth, skill, and versatility. Nick Suzuki may look small, but he Expand
6/12/2017 - An intriguing blend of youth, skill, and versatility. Nick Suzuki may look small, but he certainly doesn’t play that way. One of the youngest players in this year’s NHL draft, Suzuki offers a blend of smarts, speed, and skill that makes him one of the most intriguing offensive players in this year’s draft.
Suzuki was one of the OHL’s best players this past season as a 17-year-old. He scored the fourth-most goals (45) and fifth-most points (96), and led the Owen Sound Attack as an alternate captain to their best regular season and postseason finish since 2012-13. He also played in every situation this season, and was a fixture on Owen Sound’s top power play and penalty kill units.
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Nick Collapse
The Daily Chum: Coping with a Cup finalist facing elimination
6/9/2017 - Here’s some unsolicited, extremely unhelpful advice. So, your favorite team trailing three Expand
6/9/2017 - Here’s some unsolicited, extremely unhelpful advice. So, your favorite team trailing three games-to-two to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-ever Stanley Cup Final, with the season on the line on home ice. It’s going to be your team’s last meaningful game in front of you until October (unless you count the preseason), and there’s a chance that last chance to watch can end with Sidney Crosby and his teammates lifting the Stanley Cup fan over their heads.
This is the situation Nashville Predators fans find themselves following a loss in last night’s Game 5. But fans in the Music City should fret not, as San Jose Sharks fans were in those same shoes (skates? What’s the proper cliche here?) just last year!
Who better to provide unsolicited advice on this situation, then, than us. We don’t really have any advice on how your team can avoid the same fate that befell the Sharks last year, but a list of the three most important coping mechanisms for any Stanley Cup finalist facing Collapse
Report: Sharks, Jones headed towards extension
6/8/2017 - The goaltender could be re-signed next month. The San Jose Sharks have had “very positive” talks Expand
6/8/2017 - The goaltender could be re-signed next month. The San Jose Sharks have had “very positive” talks with goaltender Martin Jones, and could sign him to an extension as early as July, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
As mentioned on Insider Trading, very positive contract talks between Sharks and Martin Jones camp. All signs point to early July extension— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 7, 2017
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told reporters at his end-of-season press conference that re-signing Jones and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was among the team’s top priorities this offseason.
“Both of them are extremely important to get under contract and we can start those discussions in the next little while,” Wilson said at the time.
The question is not whether the Sharks will re-sign Jones, but for how long and for how much. Earlier this offseason, we projected that Jones’ next contract will likely be in line with Corey Crawford and Cory Schneider’s (six or seven years, Collapse
Sharks re-sign Grosenick
6/5/2017 - A two-year deal for the Baz Bastien Award Winner. The San Jose Sharks re-signed goaltender Troy Expand
6/5/2017 - A two-year deal for the Baz Bastien Award Winner. The San Jose Sharks re-signed goaltender Troy Grosenick to a two-year contract extension, the team announced this afternoon.
UPDATE (3:17 PM PST): The contract is a two-way deal, with an NHL salary of $650,000, according to Friend of the Blog, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz.
Grosenick just ended the best season of his career, winning the Baz Bastien Award as the American Hockey League’s best goaltender. He set career-highs in save percentage (.926) and wins (30), finishing tied for second and second in each category, respectively.
The 27-year-old netminder was set to become an unrestricted free agent following the completion of a two-year deal he signed in 2014. The first year of the contract was a two-way deal, meaning Grosenick was played a different salary in the AHL and NHL, while the second was a one-way deal worth $600,000 at either level.
Grosenick is now the only goaltender in the organization with NHL experience signed Collapse
Report: Sharks among Kovalchuk suitors
6/4/2017 - Is a reunion with DeBoer in the cards? The San Jose Sharks are interested in acquiring Ilya Expand
6/4/2017 - Is a reunion with DeBoer in the cards? The San Jose Sharks are interested in acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.
Much like the interest of teams other than San Jose, the Sharks' is driven by Kovalchuk's connections to the current coaching staff, according to Brooks:
[T]he Blues (with assistant general manager Martin Brodeur), Maple Leafs (with general manager Lou Lamoriello) and Sharks (with coach Pete DeBoer and assistant Johan Hedberg) are among more than a half-dozen clubs who have expressed interest in Kovalchuk.
The 34-year-old Kovalchuk played for DeBoer and alongside Hedberg in New Jersey from 2011-13. The Russian forward retired from the NHL in 2013 to return home and play for SKA St. Petersburg, three years into his 15-year, $100 million contract.
The Devils still hold Kovalchuk's rights, so the Sharks would need to acquire Kovalchuk via trade. San Jose would be able to sign Kovalchuk as an unrestricted free agent next summer if Collapse
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